Parents,how much video game time daily?

Question

Hi my kids have a playstation and each has a gameboy advance.Recently I became concerned that they were playing these games too much and decided to cut their game time.They have one hour for the playstation each,and limited time on the game boys.Of course they are angry and say that I am not being fair.I told them games were a privelage,not something they could do all day.I have even considered making them earn their game time by doing small chores.Any thoughts?What are your rules regarding games?Thanks and GOD-bless

Answer 1

Okay, I know I'm not a parent, I'm only 13, so you're probably not going to take my answer seriously, but I'm going to answer it anyway. So, with all of the new technology today, I think that one hour a day is too little. Video games are just part of a kids life now. I think that you should have it be maybe 2 hours a day or maybe a little more. You should make sure that they're still doing homework, chores, and that they still have time to play outside, or whatever it is they do to get excersize. And they should always take breaks every half hour. It's up to you, though. You should also try to get them interested in something else other than video games. Not to replace them, but to give them more fun stuff to do that doesn't include sitting around for hours pressing some buttons.  No matter what, they're always going to be angry and think that this is unfair, because you're taking away something that they like, but it's what's best for them.

*EDIT* - Okay, one more thing to add. (Sorry this answer is so long.) It also depends on how much TV and computer time they have. My parents count TV, computer, and video games as the same thing. So if they play video games for two hours, and then use the computer for two hours, and then watch TV for two hours, obviously ... that's not going to work out right. =\ But overall, they should have about 3 hours of video games, computer, and TV combined. (One hour of each, more or less.)

Answer 2

30 mins a day during the school days and unlimited on the weekend.

Answer 3

Well, my parents always had me do my chores, participate family activities, do my homework,  and than I got to play video games, I could play it as long as I wanted, but I had to stop a half our per hour (my sis had seizures from it so my parents became worried). So normally I got to play 2 hours daily.

Answer 4

Thank goodness you pay attention to your children. I think one hour a day is plenty! That adds up to 364 hours a year or 15 WHOLE days a year! How much time a day do they spend reading? My parents had us spend equal amount of time on other activities that were enriching (reading, music, art) for the time spent on video games. Your kids may not enjoy reading but this will do wonders for them long term! By the time they reach age 18 if they continue at the rate of 15 days a year (assuming they are 10 now) they would be playing video games for 120 days of their life. Now imagine if you were not a vigilant parent and they played 3-4 hours a day! They would basically be spending over a year of their short life playing video games. Hmm.....it's amazing to me how parents can then wonder why their children have such short attention spans and make bad grades in school.....

Answer 5

my kids are so involved in sports and outdoor activites that it has never been a problem....our kids watch hardly any tv...and my 16 year old twins spend some time on the computer and computer games, but not much. My triplets are only 4 and they watch no tv...and play some educational computer games....we decided not to let them get use to tv when they were born, and it has worked

Answer 6

Well I believe the best thing you could do in the situation is cut the game play to the weekend, during the school year, if you live in a great place the kids need to be out playing soccer or basketball or something not sitting in front of a video game all eveing,maybe involve them in sports or something that they are interested in to distract them a bit. During the summer However a good way to distract a kid from the video games is to give them something else fun to do like. Like maybe take them to a water park or theme park with a few friends, go to the mall and see a movie, mini golf, going to the park, go fishing, etc, they will be so busy they wont want to play the video games as much. I believe the key here is keep them busy with other things so they wont miss the video game so much,and they won't feel like your punishing them.

Answer 7

I like the idea of working for game-time by doing chores..I'll keep that in mind when my kids are old enough.

But, I play video games, and so does my husband...and an hour isn't usually enough time to complete any level or accomplishment in games nowadays.. so I can understand the kids' frustration. alot depends on how old they are, if they are young..like less than 12 then its enough time, and they should be playing outside. but if they're older there's not as much for them to do otherwise, or unless you're willing to give them something else fun and energetic to do, like a day at the beach or something.

Answer 8

My kids usually want computer time.  

They have 30 minutes a day (provided they have not done anything to have this privilege suspended).

They can EARN extra computer time by doing their chores:

10 extra minutes for loading the dishwasher

5 minutes for putting their laundry away

5 minutes for taking out the trash

Etcetera

Most of the games for the playstation and gameboy aren't educational so they really have no value to a child other than being entertaining.  I would encourage other activities such as reading, logic games, board games, crafts or educational video games (in moderation).

Answer 9

To me it would depend on the game. I will know everything about any games my child would like to have before they have it. As for time no more than 1 hour on any weekday. 2 hours per day on weekends at most.

Answer 10

how old are they? I would allow them a total of 1/2 hr game time. if they are over 14 the 1 hr after everything (homework, chores) is done