Your children enjoy Minecraft, use it regularly and sometimes overdo it. While your kids don’t seem to exhibit all the problematic behaviors of kids who are overly engaged with Minecraft, there is a risk that they may become overly focused on the game.
At the same time, their interest in Minecraft appears to lead to the development of some new skills and interests which can be very powerful tools for future education and employment. Playing Minecraft also allows them to practice executive functioning skills such as planning, organization, time management, and flexibility.
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When you eat, you drop LOTS of crumbs on the floor.
This doesn’t count if you’re under the age of about six. If you’re over that age and when you eat you get more of your meal on the floor than in your mouth it’s a likely sign of two things: You’re a very messy eater and you might need to take a break from playing Minecraft.
Also, bonus points if you eat whole pies and have acquired a taste for cooked mutton.
Parents are also important.
So why do I think you’re right? Equilibrium. Children (and many of us adults) need to learn balance. For his computer time, if he wants to play Minecraft? Great! But he shouldn’t spend all his free time on the computer. He needs to read, to run and to relate to people even in real life.
- Validate your point of view. This is “nourishing” screen time.
- Compare this to healthy food. Playing this game is comparable to eating slices of low-fat turkey. But we wouldn’t want him to also eat lean sliced turkey for every meal and several snacks a day.
- Discuss the balance. What would your husband want your child to do other than that?
- Keep the time played with his father as a separate and protected time. This means that he can play 2 hours a day by himself and play Minecraft with his father whenever they want. This is bonus time.
Play is play
In fact, based on our emerging research on children playing the popular Minecraft game, playing on screen may be very similar to playing off screen. And no one is saying that playing is bad for children.
Play is so strongly linked to positive social, developmental, cognitive and physical outcomes that the UN has declared the opportunity to play as a basic human right for children around the world.
Step 1: What is your motivation?
Take some time to think about why you play Minecraft and why you want to stop. The more clarity you have about why you are doing what you are doing, the easier it will be to take positive action to change it.
These are the four main reasons why people play video games: