Q: What if your 11-year-old wants to become an online video gamer?
14 non-to-minimal screen alternative ideas for raising an online video gamer (or how to nurture your kid's interests in a mommy-friendly way)
So what if your 11-year-old wants to become an online video gamer?
Image: A quiet attempt to give our kids a taste of what video gamers do on YouTube.
A: The other day, I was preparing dinner and it was too quiet. You know, that type of quiet that sets off mom-sized alarm bells? Exactly! One of my three sons was up to no good. I didn’t need to see anything; I just knew. Ya feel me? My eldest is 11 and he doesn’t have a cell phone yet. He does have an “always on” campaign to get me to buy him one; essentially, he just constantly asks me for his first cell phone. At this point, I just ignore him, and yet this is why my sons always find a way to confiscate mine! During “silent night,” I caught my eldest in the bathroom. He was pounding on my cell phone playing Geometry Dash some app or another that he or his identical twin brothers keep adding to my phone whenever I turn around. While I do know that one day they’d love to become online video gamers, I’m unwilling to nurture this young interest at this time. Haven’t we all seen the research on screen time? This brings me to today’s topic:
How can we nurture our kids’ interests such as becoming online videogamers when we do not want to nurture their time on screens?
First a story….
Back in Connecticut, an empty-nester neighbor in his 60s was fixing up one of my Pinterest fails so we could rent our home upon our global relocation to Australia. He watched in shock that my sons were watching video game YouTubers. My neighbor would have never imagined that we’d be in a world where kids would gain enjoyment from just watching other kids play video games on the TV. Frankly, by that point, I had been numbed to this idea but it got me thinking, how can I approach nurturing my sons’ interest in a scenario that clashes with some of my preferences for my young guys?
If you are like me then here’s where I netted out. As a parent, it’s our job to uncover our kid’s interests and guide them to nurture it. Are you with me so far?
As someone who has coached more unfilled mid-level corporate employees than joyful and fulfilled ones plugged into exactly what they LOVE to do, I am here to say that you (me) all of us must figure out ways to honor, respect, and nurture our kids’ interests (even the questionable ones).
I’ve gone on to consider the risks many moms express as it relates to this specific interest, then I’ve provided some ways we can use our imagination to derisk them based on their age. Ready to stretch your thinking and still find a way to nurture your child in their younger years as it relates to this one example interest?
Some moms have said that they do not want their kids to be on screens all day pursuing their dreams of becoming videogamers for these reasons:
Tech addiction
Neck problems
Wrist problems
Insomnia
Anxiety
Social isolation
Failure to launch and never leaving home
Becoming device dependent
What others can you imagine? Put them in the comments.
Some of these risks, if we’re honest with ourselves, happen to non-videogamers. What worried parent hasn’t suffered from insomnia? Then as for becoming device dependent. Does anyone else feel like they lost a leg when they can’t find their cell phone? While we are at it, the thought of a lost cell phone makes me anxious just typing about it.
The main idea is that you respect your child’s ability to know when they are fascinated by a topic. You don’t have to love it but honor that they found one interest. Now, let’s make your interest-nurturing efforts age appropriate and mommy-friendly if you have elementary or middle-school-aged kids like me.
Here are 13 non-to-minimal screen alternative ideas to raising an online videogamer (who might later opt out of going this route ultimately, anyways?)
Find local in-person videogame conventions (use your mom-level Google ninja skills to find these)
Start a podcast where your kid interviews videogamers (ex. buy your kid a recording device and contact her heroes)
Go to panel discussions with videogamers (ex. Austin Film Festival will be offering a new videogame storytelling trek in 2023)
Hone in your child’s storytelling skills in a creative writing class (ex. tons of videogame professionals studied creative writing and some even have Ph.D.s in the subject)
Fly to Japan to go to Super Mario World ™
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