| > I understand the frustration in hearing constant chatter about Minecraft. The amount of energy my kids devote to it is incredible and at times overwhelming I'm more concerned about what affect this has on my kids, not how much it drains me (they always drain me, that won't change). > That being said, the amount of positive coming from their involvement in the game is incredible. Doing any large project requires considerable planning and imagination. "Survival Mode" requires resource management. They develop these skills by doing instead of sitting in a classroom and hearing about them. They read about it because they want to, boosting their reading skills. The run through the whole social scientific process in an authentic way (as opposed to the multi-step process taught in schools). And they even use it as an anchor to discuss other things. My five year old was confused about the word "chest" being used as "things that stores", then the eight year old says, "you know, Chest, like in Minecraft!" Five year old instantly understands. Thats just one example..it happens all the time. Our kids are homeschooled, so I understand the benefit of ad-hoc learning. But I won't make that into an excuse to let them obsess over a video game for months at a time. I would much rather they learn the same skills by building real things in real life. The benefit is that they can actually use these things. For example, we are teaching them how to garden. They will get to eat the fruits of their labor. They helped me actually chop down a few of our trees, and they helped me saw them into firewood. Having done these things with them, and seeing opportunities for even more fun activities, I just can't see Minecraft as anything more than escaping the real world for no sensible reason. |
Just sharing my anecdotes, not trying to change opinions. I'm sure there's some actual research out there on the topic.
*time played, game modes, who/where they play, etc.