So I'm old. I'll admit it.
Started with an Atari and was a console kid growing up. My first NES even had R.O.B.
But the gaming world that I grew up in is very different than it is today.
I picked up a Switch for my son when he was 5 and he was instantly hooked on all things Mario and all things Zelda. Even beat BOTW when he was 6 - which I'm still kind of shocked by. Loved watching it happen as I wasn't playing the game at the time.
But.... then YouTube, Kids Youtube and Roblox happened. We removed YouTube from the iPad and closely monitored Kids YouTube. Roblox happened more.
It's not the time thing that is a concern to me. We limit the amount of time he can play it- typically 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on what else is going on or if it's a weekday/weekend.
It more the... I have no idea what the heck is going on and how to monitor it. I think I have things locked down as best as possible and mom and I have had countless conversations about the implications of online games and who he should or should not be talking to. In fact, he only has three real friends on Roblox. There were three others I had to delete - they didn't seem malicious, more like "hey come try the game I made." I didn't care. Deleted.
Would I love to play other games with him on the Switch or the Playstation? Absolutely. Am I going to push that? Nah. I want to respect the stuff he is interested in. I am however curious if there are ways to keep him more protected than I am currently doing and I'm also curious how to find the people that are safe so that maybe he can interact with other kids his age.
Anyone else solve this question? Can you share insight?
Also... as someone that has no experience in coding generally... has anyone experimented with learning how to do that in Roblox? I think my son would love it but I'm not quite sure where to start.
PS... he has also talked about a desire to stream content - but I don't even know where to start with that one. So... baby steps.
Started with an Atari and was a console kid growing up. My first NES even had R.O.B.
But the gaming world that I grew up in is very different than it is today.
I picked up a Switch for my son when he was 5 and he was instantly hooked on all things Mario and all things Zelda. Even beat BOTW when he was 6 - which I'm still kind of shocked by. Loved watching it happen as I wasn't playing the game at the time.
But.... then YouTube, Kids Youtube and Roblox happened. We removed YouTube from the iPad and closely monitored Kids YouTube. Roblox happened more.
It's not the time thing that is a concern to me. We limit the amount of time he can play it- typically 30 minutes to 1 hour depending on what else is going on or if it's a weekday/weekend.
It more the... I have no idea what the heck is going on and how to monitor it. I think I have things locked down as best as possible and mom and I have had countless conversations about the implications of online games and who he should or should not be talking to. In fact, he only has three real friends on Roblox. There were three others I had to delete - they didn't seem malicious, more like "hey come try the game I made." I didn't care. Deleted.
Would I love to play other games with him on the Switch or the Playstation? Absolutely. Am I going to push that? Nah. I want to respect the stuff he is interested in. I am however curious if there are ways to keep him more protected than I am currently doing and I'm also curious how to find the people that are safe so that maybe he can interact with other kids his age.
Anyone else solve this question? Can you share insight?
Also... as someone that has no experience in coding generally... has anyone experimented with learning how to do that in Roblox? I think my son would love it but I'm not quite sure where to start.
PS... he has also talked about a desire to stream content - but I don't even know where to start with that one. So... baby steps.