Young children and video games

[Taustin Powers]

Parental question:

At what age do you start letting your kids play video games? My son is turning six in four weeks. He has played some simple logic games on the iPad before, but not much. I also let him mess around with a car racing game on my old PSP a few months go, but that was only one time. He currently has no idea what the PS5 and Switch in my living room do.

He is a Lego maniac, and I am tempted to get him into Minecraft a little. At his young age, would this stimulate or stifle his creativity? It would also be his first introduction to games on a 55“ screen. Too soon?

 

[Nermal]

I was probably playing games by that age (Boulder Dash was a particular favourite) and I think I turned out OK

 

[44267547]

I don’t think it’s necessarily about the age with gaming, it’s probably more about the actual content that your children are exposed to (I.e.- Blood/gore, suggestive themes, profanities, ect.). I was playing on an Atari at a young age, and I’ve had almost every gaming system made with the exception of a Sega Genesis, my parents mostly allowed sports teams, Mario, Duckhunter, Ninja Gaiden, things like that. But as a parent yourself, you have to make a decision of what you think is appropriate for your child to play, which I see no harm in Minecraft or Lego related games.

I would also think you want games that stimulate some type of challenge thinking or something that provokes thought to solve puzzles, that could be fun and educational.

 

[0128672]

Along with these suggestions, I would add setting a good example and reinforcing on-screen time limits and the importance of physical activity and outdoors playtime and exploration.

 

[Taustin Powers]

Thanks all, good input!

 

[cosmichobo]

I have 3 boys - 13, 8 and 5. All 3 play Minecraft and Terraria... 5yo has enough skills to "get by", whilst the other 2 are better at building castles etc, or going to kill the Endo-whatever.

Ultimately, whilst there's plenty of studies been done over the past 40+ years into whether games/tv are bad for kids, with results probably based on who provides the funding - as I see it, the future of the job market is going to be tech heavy, so having your kids being fluent in tech is a good thing.

My 13 and 8 yo's both do basic programing; 13yo moreso.

We've been letting the 13yo play Assassins Creed for a few years, but the younger 2 don't get to watch. I wouldn't let him play a game like COD... but happy enough for him to play AC given it's more fantasy based. (Ok - I know, it's historically kind of accurate - but - you know what I mean...)

 

[casperes1996]

I'll add that I think games have been immensely positive to my creativity growing up as well as educational in many ways. I'm Danish yet I spoke rather good English before I even got to school, mostly because of video games.

I used to play a sort of game with friends where imagination was driving a plot and we'd swap out games on my PS2 to act as almost mini-games to our imagination-driven play.. Like we'd have a story going in our play including toys and such, and then there'd be a fight and we'd put on Dragon Ball and then a car chase and we'd put on Need For Speed or whatever car game I had, I can't really remember..

I am a bit of a "back in my days" about video games though. I feel like there's a lot of predatory monetisation, advertising and such in games that I think make it harder to recommend as much freedom around video games as I had growing up. I mean OP sounds like they know their way around the games industry but I've heard enough tales of parents winding up with empty bank accounts after their kids found out you could buy gems in crappy iPad game number 600 to be wary of that sort of thing.
I propose guiding the child towards not just safe games in terms of content not being super violent or whatever, but also just quality content and games that don't have designs entirely focused around emptying your wallet. I wouldn't let a child play God of War but I'd equally not want a child playing the iOS Dragon Ball Legends game - I loved Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball games as a kid, but back then they were actual games and not just vessels to sell you "upgrade materials" and virtual playing cards.

 

[casperes1996]

My 13 and 8 yo's both do basic programing; 13yo moreso.

As a software developer, I can say that games is often a trigger for getting folks into the hobby/industry - It can spark the interest in making things with code

 

[cosmichobo]

As a software developer, I can say that games is often a trigger for getting folks into the hobby/industry - It can spark the interest in making things with code

Believe me, I hear you! I was very proud when he (13yo) showed me some of the games he'd created (I think using Hopscotch). Some he'd replicated existing games that he played, but others were his own vision.

Back in the day... when I learned HyperCard and C+, I was in loving with programming... started an IT degree and it just didn't work out, but now I build complex spreadsheets for Finance, and my programming days have a huge part to play.

 

[Macalicious2011]

Video games are much better for cognitive development than dumb iPad games that doesn't require you to use your brain. Just poke, poke, poke trial and error.

I have a 5 year old daughter and 2.5 year old son. A few months ago I bought a small Series X controller for my daughter and a pawpatrol game.

She likes it. Next month I will buy a used switch and later this autumn, I will introduce her to minecraft.

 

[diamond.g]

Video games are much better for cognitive development than dumb iPad games that doesn't require you to use your brain. Just poke, poke, poke trial and error.

I have a 5 year old daughter and 2.5 year old son. A few months ago I bought a small Series X controller for my daughter and a pawpatrol game.

She likes it. Next month I will buy a used switch and later this autumn, I will introduce her to minecraft.

Parental controls are also pretty robust on Xbox and Switch.

 

[Feyl]

I've been playing video games since I was 3. Apart from "safe" games like Sonic, Mario, etc. I also grew up on games like DOOM, Quake, Duke Nukem, Unreal, Max Payne and many more legends and I'm not a criminal or a violent human being now. Thanks to games and computers I learned how to read and also speak English (it's not my native language) way before I went to school. So my advice is to let your son play anything you decide that's ok and what he would seem to like also and see how the kid is gonna react to it. Creative games are very good I think and I'd recommend some story based games too if you find something that your kid would be able to handle it from the gameplay aspect.

As an example my niece is 5 years old and she loves Spider-Man and Horizon Zero Dawn on Playstation. If you have PS5 I'd say a good choice for your son might be Ratchet & Clank as the first big game he'll play and might enjoy. The whole family could play with him and you all might enjoy it because it's almost like a Pixar movie.

 

[Macalicious2011]

Creative games are very good I think and I'd recommend some story based games too if you find something that your kid would be able to handle it from the gameplay aspect.

I will buy my kids a couple of games for the Switch and let them explore and find their genres.

I am starting to find that shows on Netflix or youtube don't hold my 5 year old daughter's attention long enough. She will need 30-60min of engaging gaming per day to carry her through long and boring winter weekends.

When I was young, I was drawn to fighting and strategy games like red alert, roller coaster tycoon and sim city. Surprise surprise, I work in strategic roles.

Others might discover their talents of find their passions in sports, RPG or racing games.

 

[44267547]

Parental controls are also pretty robust on Xbox and Switch.

This is a good point. Parental controls never existed on ‘early age’ consoles. With kids today and ‘digital downloads’, you can
create those barriers on what content they’re viewing and downloading.

 

[ader42]

Games have age ratings for a reason, use them. Consoles have parental controls which also should be used.

Some children are more empathic than others for example, some hate seeing killing of any kind.

I know a 7 year old that plays fortnite, parents let him watch 18 movies etc. and I think he is mentally unstable - poor parenting. When I was 12 I watched alot of video nasties and started drinking alcohol - I can’t say it didn’t affect me in a bad way.

For a six year old I would suggest starting with a Lego console game well before Minecraft. That first night in Minecraft survival mode with witches and zombies etc. can be kind of intense.

My son is now 12 and particularly likes games where he makes things. He still enjoys minecraft mods etc. on his laptop, still uses Roblox games with his mates to build things like he does in Minecraft. He also likes coding in Python etc.

 

[BlankStar]

I got my 9 yr old daughter her own Switch for her birthday/x-mas and we had a fun time playing Mario together, and she messed around with Animal's Crossing but she hasn't played a lot anymore lately.
I did notice it made her get some more logical insight and her eye-hand coordination got better. Pretty sure video games can be a good thing, but like everything, it's all about balance.

 

[x-evil-x]

I grew up with games in the 80’s. I never really had any rules from my parents. My dad bought me a 3do in 1992 and there was this fighting game “way to the warrior“. Basically a mortal kombat game with fatalities and all that. I got really into games at an early age and mortal kombat was a big one. It was controversial which I thought was fun. I was at the arcade a lot and was one of the best kids that played anything. Was a big part of my life and I just grew with games.
I don’t think the violence had any issue with me but parents seemed to hate the idea of gore in video games especially back then. I’ve had every PlayStation system since and my gaming has just grown with the new games. I honestly think people that are good at games are generally smarter and sharper. Have more ideas and are more creative. I probably started with games around age 7-8. I wouldn’t put any rules on him as far as game type but you could play some stuff with him and show him what it’s like. I’d probably try sackboy on the ps5 it’s a cool game. He’s a little young for a Game like Returnal but it Is an amazing game. I would of loved to of played a game like that with my dad when I was 10. Games can be like movies just more immersive and could really create a bond between you two growing up.

 

[JMacHack]

Tangentially related, but my sisters boyfriends kids were explaining roblox to us the other day, and I looked at my sister and said “it’s weird being on the other side of the ‘explaining video games to adults’ situation.”

As for when it’s okay to introduce kids to games. I’d say that it depends on the child and the game. Minecraft is something that I think kids of all ages would be able to enjoy, along with the standard fare of Mario and the like.

My personal values would avoid letting them play online multiplayer games freely until they’re 15 or 16 though. By that point they probably wouldn’t hear anything worse than what they hear in public school.

I don’t have kids yet, but putting myself into a parental mindset I’d probably share the old games that I like first. That way I could bond with my child while letting them play games in a safe environment. I guided my brother through Ocarina of Time and we still cherish those memories together.

Abstractly, kids tend to want more independence when entering their teenage years. I think a good way to humor that would be introducing them to more mature games. Maybe not stuff like GTA.

 

[Ledgem]

I have a four-year-old and sort of grapple with this one, myself. He hasn't played any games yet. His imagination is so vivid (as was mine when I was little), and he is still getting down what his own body can do. It's not that he can't do two things at once (learning physical manipulation as well as operating in digital environments) but I worry that the digital might supersede the physical.

I also think about how games have changed. I can't remember the exact age I was when I started gaming, but it was back on the GameBoy and NES days, playing Mario and the like. Even though there was violence and killing, it didn't really register that way. Games today, by comparison, are so detailed and life-like in their appearance. Would it hurt their imagination, to have the entire scene and world rendered for them? And what does it do to them, to witness things like that? I don't worry about the sexualization in games quite as much - sometimes it's shocking to re-listen as an adult to pop songs I grew up with and you realize just how sexual the lyrics actually are, which leads me to think that pre-pubescent kids aren't really tuned into it - but violence is a concern.

I think the first game with life-like renderings that I played was a Wing Commander game. I was about nine years old. There was some incompatibility when I played it on my father's computer (or maybe it was just too advanced for me) and I couldn't do much aside from launching from the mothership, but after trying to fly around for a bit my wingmen would make distressed communications and then die. Couldn't do anything about it, not sure why it happened, but invariably I'd return to base and there was a funeral sequence. I think I sat through two of those in total before getting bored of the game. Went off the computer and about ten minutes later I just broke down in tears, clueless as to why. My parents assumed it was the game (likely correctly) and went to return it to the store, and I didn't protest that.

I would like to get my children into gaming at some point, but I'm not sure on the timing. I'll definitely be watching the age ratings (which didn't exist for the earliest part of my childhood), and perhaps try for multiplayer, so that we can process what's going on together. I wouldn't mind digging back to the old NES and SNES games, either.

 

[Macalicious2011]

I honestly think people that are good at games are generally smarter and sharper. Have more ideas and are more creative.

Indeed. Eye coordination, pattern detection, logic and figuring our things out yourself add good skills to develop.

My personal values would avoid letting them play online multiplayer games freely until they’re 15 or 16 though.

Lol. Good luck. Social is multiplayer and multiplayer is gaming. Some kids get into roblox and minecraft at the age of 5-6.

Two weeks ago I installed RecRoom for my 5 year old. To my surprise, putting in her DoB has resulted in a lovely gaming experience.

The rooms available are age appropriate and dialogues from everyone is mumbles. Therefore there is minimal risk of her being exposed to profanity.

 

[trevpimp]

I would see if he wants to play games and if he's interested in what video games can do

You never know if he wants to play games or maybe go out and play sport activities

Do what interests him the most

Minecraft seems like a good game since he likes legos

Good luck 👍

 

[iHorseHead]

I played GTA III when I was like 7-8 yo. 20 years later still have a clean criminal record.

 

[iHorseHead]

As a software developer, I can say that games is often a trigger for getting folks into the hobby/industry - It can spark the interest in making things with code

You may or may not be the right person to ask, but is it too late to get into software development in your late 20s?

 

[casperes1996]

You may or may not be the right person to ask, but is it too late to get into software development in your late 20s?

Absolutely not. I know of people who got into this in their late thirties and made a career change after some learning time. It's not late at all! as long as you're ready to learn, the field is in need of all the software developers we can get basically and with the right mindset it doesn't matter how old you are or where your background already lies. The industry is very open to all sorts of folks from all sorts of angles; Self taught or academically educated.

 

[iHorseHead]

Absolutely not. I know of people who got into this in their late thirties and made a career change after some learning time. It's not late at all! as long as you're ready to learn, the field is in need of all the software developers we can get basically and with the right mindset it doesn't matter how old you are or where your background already lies. The industry is very open to all sorts of folks from all sorts of angles; Self taught or academically educated.

Thank you so much. I currently work at IT Support and I'm honestly so tired of it. Especially the long nightshifts that can be 14h long and at nights you are all alone and it's all on you, which can be very stressful.
Day shifts from 8-16 are okay, but it's the weekends and nightshifts that I highly dislike. Sucks to get yelled at in the middle of the night or early in the morning. What kind of a person goes to work at 4am and calls IT Support and just starts yelling?
There's one guy that constantly calls and yells at everyone, but he doesn't even tell you what's wrong or which computer he has problems with. He just yells and throws stuff (I am dead serious) and the last time I asked him what is exactly wrong and which computer he just screamed that it doesn't work and told me to go f* myself and hung up. So I am pretty motivated to change my life no matter how difficult it will be. Unfortunately I have to self-teach myself, because I often work nearly 200h per month. I asked my boss to give me less work and less hours but I got more. September isn't looking good either.

I already have some sort of experience with Unity and PHP and MySQL and I took Python classes at the university. When I was working at one gaming company as a programmer I decided I will never want to become a programmer and went for IT Support. It's getting worse day by day.
So I'm very motivated to (re-)learn coding.

Thank you so much for your reply.