7 tips for parents about children and video games

In education for a safe and responsible use of the Internet, it is usual to leave videogames aside and focus on social networks, bad idea; video games are increasingly social and also represent the first contact of most children with the mobile phone.

1. Video games are no longer a hobby
   The video game industry generates more money than the film or music industry. But because of the high price of video games with respect to cinema, it seems that it continues to be a more minority sector than it really is. Today's video games are everywhere, in all ages and on all platforms.
2. A kid plays video games is not bad
   It seems obvious but we all know that from time to time there is news about "video game addiction" or how a kid who got shot at his high school was obsessed with this or that Call Of Duty. Most of these owners seek sensationalism and reality is much more boring: video games are part of the digital entertainment of much of society.
   Another obvious but when one reads things like "videogames cause obesity" or "videogames increase aggressiveness" we must remember that the important thing is not so much the time a child is playing videogames as doing more things: sports, reading, go out with your friends, watch fiction ... If a boy does not get up from the couch because he spends the day playing and therefore worsens his health (physical and mental) the problem is neither the video game nor the fabric of the sofa.
3. Video games are social networks
   Today, even the most childish game you can imagine allows you to contact other players. It does not depend on the graphics. Pixelated games like Minecraft or Roblox incorporate chats and messaging systems with other users. The social or multiplayer component has devoured the format of video games. If you are worried that your child is in contact with strangers on Instagram or WhatsApp you should also check who they play with online.
   Far from frightening us we must value that thanks to these multiplayer experiences, maybe a child who has problems to socialize is able to make friends around a common online hobby. I simply say that we must banish the idea that the game is a solitary experience where we have the child quietly playing in the living room.
4. Video games need supervision at the earliest ages
   Derived from the above: your 9-year-old son will not let him play with strangers without taking a look, right? Well, in the same way, it would be good if you supervised those first games a bit for mainly:
   • Identify what systems the game has to communicate with other players
   • Identify what systems the game has to report / report players that do not have good behavior
   • Put in common with your child what has been discovered and plan what you have to do if one day someone bothers you in the game or finds something unpleasant.
   The sooner these three things are done, the better. It is much more advisable to take a gap one day to sit with him hand in hand and discover a game together to do it as a "shut down" (I think the term is Enrique Dans) when it becomes heavy in plan "I get off this fast on my mobile and I give it to him so that he leaves me alone ".
   Yes, I am a father. Yes, I know that sometimes the kids are exhausted, but precisely if you want to enjoy moments for yourself while your child is playing at your leisure, will you not enjoy it more if you know what he is playing and if he has any problem he will tell you?
5. If you do not understand a game, let your son explain it to you. Show interest.
   If you are very afraid of your ignorance, let your child explain what he likes about that game, ask what you do not understand and show interest.
   The interest in your child's hobbies has a very powerful effect: it will tell you how good the game is but also what's wrong with it. If the game is always a source of conflict at home and one day a person harasses you through a game, you spend money by mistake or you make a mistake you will not say a peep and the problem will get worse.
   Mind you, I'm not talking about you being the father or the mother colleague or that everything is worth. Showing interest in your child's hobbies is not incompatible with establishing schedules, rules and spaces.
   Yes, when your son is giving a game you disconnect him at once or if the time to play is over and that's why he loses a game he will get angry first and then it will pass. It is not a withdrawal syndrome, it is a child.
6. Download games through official systems
   Without entering into legal considerations, the problem of downloading video games through torrents, direct downloads or official stores (in the case of apps) are security. Sometimes it is the games themselves that come with malicious code that can end up infecting the entire mobile phone, sometimes the pages that offer them are those that have dozens of dangerous advertising banners. I understand that as a teenager one cannot afford to have all the fashion games and in his day well I stuck with cracks, generators of serial numbers and similar but it is also true that in his day he did not have things like Steam or the Humble Bundle.
   Since most of the pirated versions are for the computer (the consoles are much more closed systems) it is no wonder you know Steam, the biggest computer game store with brutal offers every two times that make you take the risk of acquiring a game through unofficial channels every time it compensates less. Along the same lines, the Humble Bundle project has been triumphing for many years. No, in it you will not find the last great fashion game but perhaps also worth to teach your child that there are many different types of video games.
7. Play with your child
   It is perhaps the best advice since with it you will realize all the problems derived from not paying attention to the previous ones. Do not you watch TV together from time to time? Did not you read him stories when he was younger? Well, the time has come to sit face-to-face and on the console, the mobile phone or the computer, enjoy a little family game. If your kid is small I am convinced that he will love the idea. If he is already a teenager he will be more reluctant but ask him for a recommendation to try a game and at least he breaks the ice.