To Play or Not To Play
We want our children to study hard and get a good grip of their future. Our children want to play computer games. This annoys us and annoys them equally. We get tired of explaining them about hazards that await gamers. They get tired of our ignorance to a fact that gaming is a big time reality. We accept it or not, but millions and millions of people of all ages play computer games every day. When we were young, people watched BBC, CNN and other media channels. Today, this channels are strongly out shadowed by Twitch Streaming and Broadcasting. For those of you who are “new” in the town. Twitch is a platform for people who stream what they play and others can simply watch and interact. Last year, 3 million people broadcasted their games. You go to YouTube it is the same gold rush for watching what others play. Games become inseparable part of our everyday life. They became a new norm. Children belong to strong gaming communities. The central debate for parents should not be whether playing games is evil or not. Debate should concentrate on much serious questions:
1. Do children learn something new?
We also played games to develop our cognitive skills. We forgot that as we grew into parents. Yes, our games were much more physical. Although, computer games have things to offer as well. They give sensation of strategizing, fast-thinking, focusing, memorizing and building a skill-set. As for the parents the good news is children that play these games (especially 3rd world countries) become better language user. (Default language of menu is English.) They grow their vocabulary. This is a very important foundation for language learners. So if your child plays Fortnite make sure he/she learns 1000+ words for every day English.
2. Do children balance games with physical activities?
Yes, playing means sitting for too long. Spinal cord and blood circulation suffers big time. We cannot put all the blame onto child’s shoulder. Are we involving them into physical activities? Do they sweat daily? Do they walk or run? This determines a healthy balance. If there is a balance the experience of playing games becomes much more reasonable. And, your children appreciate time that you spend with them. Do you spend time with them? This question requires entire article. The matter of the fact is, most of the parents don’t. They have tons of things to do. At least this is what they say in order to justify alienation from children. Playing computer games is also a great escape from loneliness for little hearts. They find refuge in virtual friends and characters. Some of them live in the state of “hikikomori” (total isolation in personal space). This becomes dangerous for the family unity.
3. Do you play together with them?
Get the game console in your hands and try to adapt to this new environment. If it is desktop sit next to them and be their game-buddy for a while. (Stream together.) Ask questions. Tell them to teach you the whereabouts. Let them feel the connection. They will appreciate your attempts. Playing games is a new reality and the faster you adapt, the bigger are the chances that your child will endure its challenges. Children are very pragmatic. They obverse this world more than you think they do. They see money in the gaming. They see numbers and they see things that many parents neglect. It can sound funny but to many kids this is already a career. They spend 4–8 hours daily practicing for ESports Tournaments which give millions of dollars in prize money. Today, kids look up to children like Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, Jaden Ashman, Ethan Gamer and etc. They have new hero models. The central question for the parents is “Shall we give it a shot?” We can write many things in this article but the final decision belongs to families themselves. Every household has its own story and own truths.
4. Do you have a certain awareness of the future?
Global pandemics showed us how things can change and shut down. You can go to internet to see how people from corporate background suddenly found themselves on the financial edge. There are so many uncertainties about future. Thanks to Covid19 we have a textbook example. On the other hand, when there is darkness, it is much easier to see the light. The positive things about the lock-down was the immense grow in online education, online games and online viewership. Numbers show explosion towards Chess games and streaming services. Tournaments and sponsors give more money to such causes. If you are certain about your child’s future think again. Nothing is the same anymore. Nothing will be. May be our children know their way out. May be we as parents need to navigate their options, their passion and desires with our maturity and wisdom. May be 2021 is the era of parents and children playing more games together and streaming it. But, to be realistic it will happen slowly for majority of households. We still have a foundational belief in Ivy League Schools and traditional education. It is still about class and social acceptance. It is still about comfort zones that parents feel good within. (Not willing to change fast.)
Note: It is highly essential to monitor your children’s behavior while they play. Do not let them isolate themselves in their rooms for too long. This usually ends bad for their psychology. There are tons of activities that they can involve themselves. They can register for speaking classes, for debate clubs, they can do sports, play an instrument and relax from the virtual reality in a much healthier way.
It is hard to be a parent. Especially, if your child is a gamer-genius. It would be much harder if you did not invest time in researching about this new world and its growing opportunities.
