[saiya-jin]

Well take an inspiration from ultra-rich - don't cheap out on raising your kids and entertain them with potentially addictive games on phones/tablets/computers. They don't expose their kids to any of this till age 7-8 IIRC.

I see it so many times around us - parents are tired, so here ya go kiddo, play with a phone so daddy/mommy can rest. Kids get addicted quickly, then when you take their game away they go mental, try emotional extortion, break stuff, whatever just to get it back.

I know I must have had a mild addiction to PC gaming when being teenager, so many hours, days, weeks and months of wasted life. I won't allow the same thing for my kids, if I can help it. Replace it with physical activities, adventures, travelling, education. Harder, but much more rewarding for everybody involved

[maccard]

At some point (particularly with teenagers) you have to accept they're making a decision. 16 year old me certainly wouldn't have been impressed with a parent pulling the plug on me playing Counter Strike so I could go do something "wholesome" on my own outside. Video games can be a heslthy release/form of entertainment - is it any worse to spend 10 hours a week playing Roblox than watching whatever garbage I was plonked in front of when I was 8 or 9?

[slavik81]

I wonder how many adults would respond better in that situation. It's been a long while since I've had anyone tell me what I'm allowed to do with my free time.

[TomMarius]

If the kid is more interested in playing counter strike than to go geocaching or build a robot with a parent, something is wrong. Obviously everything has limits, too much parent activity is too much, but that applies to counter strike as well.

[maccard]

Just because youre more interested in geocaching and building robots doesn't mean everyone else is. I get that these are just examples, but it's ok for kids to be interested in things their parents aren't.

[TomMarius]

Of course. As I said, limits. Some counter strike is OK, too much is not and it should not be in place of physical and educational activities. The kid certainly should be able to choose their own activities, but these should be educational and physical at least some part of the day. I specifically chose examples of potentially fun things to do because I wanted to show that it doesn't have to be boring study time/ride a bike around the block time.

[IG_Semmelweiss]

No.

First, the super rich can afford it: they have full-time nannies that can help raising children.

Second, an exhausted parent is not going to be parenting. Everyone needs a break.

Third, your approach would have left Bill Gates a nobody. Instead , he was "addicted" to computers. Many high performing and successful individuals are so because they have in effect an addiction which makes them go beyond the ordinary person.

This clues you in on to what is next: parenting does not stop because you turned the TV or Xbox on. It means work:

- work to select and make sure your child can only watch YouTube clips that are beneficial : for example advanced math, learning a foreign language , etc (so that by age 4 he is fluent in at least 2 New disciplines)

-discipline so that you reinforce the learned material, for example sit down to review math, only speak to a child in the foreign language you are trying to teach, practice the sport he sees on a videogame

-patience to review video games so hes only playing games that will help him learn (Crusaders Kings, Europa, MS simulator, etc)

Parenting doesn't stop with videogames. My niece could type faster than her mach teacher because of Minecraft. If she had been my daughter, she would probably been a sysadmin by age 16 (server rental anyone?)