An extended weekend with the family playing together (and obviously bickering too) has got me thinking about an issue that we have to address regularly - when a child gets hooked on a particular computer game. For a while recently we had an absent child - he was there in body, but there was no interaction with us or his siblings and all he could think about was when he could get home to play his game.
We talked to our friends and our family. We tried allowing him to play as much as he wanted until he got fed up (that just didn’t happen). We tried restricting it to specific times (that just caused arguments and resulted in his “killing time” until it was allowed). We tried removing it all together (all hell broke loose and life was unpleasant for everyone).
Finally we hit on something that seems to have worked - we talked to him! Myles and I sat down and discussed with our son what would be a suitable compromise. We talked about how he was missing out on family time by playing his games all the time, that his brother and sisters missed him and how there were many more interesting things that he could be doing. So far, so “in one ear and out the other”, but then we asked him what he thought. Together we drew up a contract scheduling out agreed times for gaming. He signed the contract, content that he had been part of the decision making process.
Three weeks in and things are going well. Our son doesn’t feel punished by having his game time restricted yet the rest of the family see more of him. Of course there are still times when he wants to play outside the agreed times, but he backs down more readily in the face of the contract and we in turn are more likely to concede to those extra 5 minutes!
If you have any more tips for getting them away from their consoles, please let me know! www.mimitoys.ie