October 26th, 2008

How Video Game Challenged Are You?

by MaliaKim

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Would you know the toggle from the touch pad if your child invited you to play his video game?

Studies show that parents rarely, if ever, play video games with their kids. Most simply fork over the money to buy the games without having knowledge of the themes, characters or ratings of the games their kids play. If you are one of these moms or dads, experts have two words for you: Get involved.

Child psychologists say children are much more apt to follow their parents guidelines and advice when it comes to video games if they show them that they are interested in the popular form of entertainment.

Other tips from the experts include:

Helping your children pick out video games. This is especially important if you have young children. Parents should look for games that are void of violence and don’t promote stereotyping.

Never purchase or rent a video game without first checking the rating on the game.

If you have older children, who go shopping for video games without you, be sure to discuss the types of games you are comfortable with them playing.

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If your kids don’t extend an invitation, then just sit down and join in. Play with your kids so you get a better idea of what they are staring at for hours on end. Also, parents should note that some video games are designed so that they become more violent the longer you play them. Prepare to spend more than just a few minutes playing a video game with your child.

Don’t set up a computer or video game console in your child’s room. Rather, experts suggest you place the video game in a high-traffic area in your home so you can closely monitor what your kids are playing.

Limit the amount of time your child spends playing video games. While it might not be necessary to ban game playing outright, you should establish rules for how much time per day your kids can play video games. Also, once you make the rules be sure to enforce them. Some parents have “not until homework is completed” or “only on the weekend” rules.