Thanks! I have 5 year old daughter and indeed we play quite a few games together and we watch cartoons... I love it, being a parent is extremly fun if you can get to the point of reliving you childhood in a better way. It's not a "responsability", it's a joy.
Bill Gate's unprivileged children
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Thanks! I have 5 year old daughter and indeed we play quite a few games together and we watch cartoons... I love it, being a parent is extremly fun if you can get to the point of reliving you childhood in a better way. It's not a "responsability", it's a joy.
I don't agree mate
I've always been an avid gamer, always played a lot and I also played waterpolo for like 15 years to a semipro level and used to read a lot about pretty much anything.
I don't think forcingly limiting something is a good idea: I think it's much more effective to explain pros and cons, propose a broad range of interests and then let them choose their way.
Obviously, you sometimes have to intervene if something is taking up a very large percentage of your kids time and take them back to a more healthy balance. Once in a while.
D'oh. I think that learning foreign languages and reading History are probably the two single more important things you can do with your time to broaden your culture and, at the end, your effectiveness in anything you do.
It's a bit hard to explain this concept in a foreign language for me
)), but I tend to read a lot about History and I feel this helps me a lot when it comes to interact with other people, also at work. And, of course, I couldn't do my job if I didn't learn another language, but this is just a single case. But I also studied latin (what a beautiful language), a bit of german and french. And for some odd reasons I'd love to learn arabic, it's so interesting.crystalcube
Newcomer
Its interesting not just from parenting point of view, but what is the business model of gaming industry? After all their are only 24 hrs in a day and if the business model is based on 45 minutes per day what kind of attach rate are we looking at ? Wouldn't it be bit hypocritical for Billy G. to dictate only 45 minutes per day for his own kids while MS (influenced by him) plans that everyone else' kids spend longer hours ? lot of assumptions here but it doesn't seem that gaming industry is based on 45 minutes/day play time.
I for one happen to enjoy reading history books (esp politics&music) and try (though usually get bored and fail) at delving into new languages but I think you have missed what Dregun is saying. Intellectualism, reading for the sake of reading is a waste of time unless it applies to what you already love. I sometimes get this feeling when I'm reading a large book on politics or philosophy (say hobbes,sart...etc) and then say to myself, "I know this shit is boring but I have to talk to so and so about it." or "I already know this but maybe _____________ articulates it better. Most of the time I fight this feeling only to finish a book and feel that my hours were wasted.
.Melchiah.
Regular
If gaming and internet browsing should have time limits, then shouldn't sports, reading, listening to music, and watching TV, have time limits as well?
My kids get ZERO gaming and TV during the week (Sunday night through Friday afternoon).
They can EARN up to 2 hours of gaming/TV - to be used on the weekend - through good behavior and work around the house. They get to watch movies (not TV) on Friday and Saturday night. They almost never choose TV with their earned time (they prefer their DSs or PS2) and rarely use the whole time earned.
The results is better grades, a strong love of reading (my 8 year old reads at a 5th grade level now) and more outdoors activities.
Highly recommended.
They can EARN up to 2 hours of gaming/TV - to be used on the weekend - through good behavior and work around the house. They get to watch movies (not TV) on Friday and Saturday night. They almost never choose TV with their earned time (they prefer their DSs or PS2) and rarely use the whole time earned.
The results is better grades, a strong love of reading (my 8 year old reads at a 5th grade level now) and more outdoors activities.
Highly recommended.
I should add that I think letting kids (especially young ones) decide how much TV or gaming to do is akin to letting them pick all the foods they eat. They need years of nurturing and education to make good decisions in both areas. Just as parents who let their kids subsist on McDonalds and candy wind up with FAT kids, so do parents who let their kids veg-out for hours wind up with veg-heads.
Once they're older and wiser they can make better decisions and take control.
Once they're older and wiser they can make better decisions and take control.
QFT
I remember as a child being more a television watcher and later in life decided to transist from television and console games to pc's. My parents used to monitor and restrict my television times, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing what's important and what's not. Good grades was often rewarded with an increase in daily time I could spend watching tv. It's funny to see how the roles of television and gaming have reversed dramatically. It's probably been eight years since I spent more than 1 hour watching tv in one sitting, in fact I don't even have cable or a television larger than something I can place on my nightstand next to my bed, and I like to game as much as humanly possible in my adulthood. Personally, I think Bill sounds like a responsible parent. He's definitely my canidate for most important person to ever walk the face of the earth.
does remind me of that french program. Father and 14 year old son went online gaming somewhere , totaly addicted. skippin class 2-3 days in the week.. it was pathetic. And even worse, the father was even more addicted then his son. The moment his wife plugged out his adsl modem and trew it out of the window, they where fighting in front of the camera.. it was hilarious
.Melchiah.
Regular
Do you frequent blowing opinions completely out of proportion? Please, warn me now so when you repeat offend, I won't be surprised. We can gripe about the scales of importance until both you and I are blue in the face, with our hands around each other's necks. But in the end, I'll still be an ignorant forum poster who apparently has no perception of priorities.
If you need further clarification, be advised I think Bill Gates is a swell guy.
correct
no offense but this brought tears to the eyes,
heres someone who just posted gates is the most important person to ever walk the face of the earth. (surely the ultimate honour)
+ then complains about someone else was blowing opinions completely out of proportion
my nomination for classic exchange of the week
btw personally, i do believe gates is a very important person
Semitic languages have a certain draw to them. Structurally, they have some of the beauty that a language like Latin has retained. Classical Arabic has a lot of "frozen" forms that are very old Semitic forms that date back thousands and thousands of years. And structurally Semitic languages, once you break through the conceptualization issues, are a blast as they tend to be very structured and have a lot of common sense in form and practice... especially compared to something like English.
As for the children and gaming, I think there is always a balance to be had. I was an avid gamer as a teen and as a late teen began a web mag for gaming and gaming technology. I think as in baten's example one of the key thrusts is parental interaction (kudos baten), and as you note exposure, exposure, exposure to many things and allow children to explore those areas of interest. But I think Mize summarizes how I feel pretty well, specifically about young children who are still experiencing significant developmental growth.
Thanks Mize. The last sentance conceptualizes my thoughts well in a much more concise way
As children become older they become wiser and make better decisions. Through that process I see it as my job to nurture them and participate with them in a variety of activities to engage their minds. Kind of a phasing out so to speak.Good points baten, especially the importance of spending a lot of time with your children. I like your post, so I hate to nitpick, but I don't see it as a tension between, "Stiff rules /or/ spending time playing games and TV". You can spend time with your children doing other stuff as well
This is my opinion, but I really do find that there is better stuff for me to do with my children than to watch TV with them. Obviously lifestyle plays a role in this (we live near the country and have a lot of hobbies and activities that take up most of our time) but I cannot fathom finding time for TV in my life. I can barely fit any video gamng in haha Maybe if video games were as much fun as playing with my kids I would find more time for it Ahhh the good old days. :smile: My dad and I did that a lot when I was a child as well. Multi-boot for the win! My memory has been blunted by the years, so I now oddly have positive memories of DMAs and IRQs! Playing MOO, Reach for the Stars, WC1, Spaceward Ho!, and so forth with my dad are some of my fondest memories growing up, mainly because of the time we spent together--most of it spent putting together a new computer as if it were some puzzle. If memory serves me correctly Sound Blaster cards were a pain in the you know what!
I don't agree mate
I've always been an avid gamer, always played a lot and I also played waterpolo for like 15 years to a semipro level and used to read a lot about pretty much anything.
I don't think forcingly limiting something is a good idea: I think it's much more effective to explain pros and cons, propose a broad range of interests and then let them choose their way.
Obviously, you sometimes have to intervene if something is taking up a very large percentage of your kids time and take them back to a more healthy balance. Once in a while.
You are an exception I think
. I have to agree with what he said. Research have shown that kids in US (but this is a global phenomenon) spend too much time in front of TVs and computer monitors sucrificng important time which could have been used more creatively. I dont remember the numbers of hours spent in other activities and monitors compared to previous generations right now but I remember that the numbers were extremely worryingsome and are getting from bad to worse.Similar threads
