My kids’ online gaming drove me crazy — until I joined them
My kids’ online gaming drove me crazy — until I joined them
My kids’ online gaming drove me crazy — until I joined them
By Gina Rich
October 14, 2020
Summary
"The kids are playing Roblox again?" I asked my husband.
Then late in the summer, my kids tried a new strategy: They started pestering my husband and me to play with them.
In Roblox's May survey of teenagers, 30 percent of respondents indicated their parents were "Showing more interest in their online lives, including learning about and playing Roblox with them." Despite my concerns about screen time, the more my kids and I played together, the more I saw that online gaming was affecting our family in positive ways.
Jordan Shapiro, a professor at Temple University and the author of "The New Childhood: Raising Kids to Thrive in a Connected World," was careful to limit his kids' screen time when they were very young.
"We do want to train our kids to be as imaginative, playful and creative with digital tools as they possibly can be, because they're going to work with digital tools and they're going to live their life through digital tools," Shapiro said.
Kids get to lead.Parenting in a pandemic means I'm constantly delivering instructions to my kids: "Wear your mask. Don't touch your face. Social distance." But in the world of "Adopt Me!", my kids are the ones telling me what to do.
If Goldman's avatar got stuck in one of the game's obstacle courses - also called "Obbies" - during a play therapy session, the kids jumped in with encouragement: "It's okay, Mr. Monet. Just relax. You'll be able to get through it."
Playing Roblox enabled my 9-year-old to discover her aptitude for "Glitch building," and now she's teaching me, too.
Understanding the gaming lingo my kids frequently utter has helped me communicate with and relate to them better.
No matter what transpired on a given day, I know that the moment we sit down and dive into the cozy world of "Adopt Me!", my kids and I will be speaking the same language.
Reference
Rich, G. (2020, October 14). My kids’ online gaming drove me crazy — until I joined them. Retrieved November 02, 2020, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/road-to-recovery/2020/10/14/roblox-online-gaming-family-covid/