14yr old- flash point over him living on his PlayStation
Discussion
kev b said:
We turned off the router at bedtime to stop my son playing online all night.
He guessed the neighbours passwords and used their internet to carry on playing after the rest of the house had gone to sleep.
That's nothing. My 14yo girl hacked the router, changed the admin password (which I had already changed to something difficult), and enabled all of her devices. I had to go in to the event log to find out what she'd done. (And I'm no techie at all, I was utterly confused for days!) He guessed the neighbours passwords and used their internet to carry on playing after the rest of the house had gone to sleep.
Agreed about the addiction. If our 2yo presses the shiny light on the router and turns the internet off, we get screaming from the teenager, to the extent that we have to close all the windows so that the neighbours don't think she's being murdered. Full on, high pitch, shrieking for minutes on end. So much so that when it does go back on, she's exhausted herself and has to go to sleep. Addiction is correct - and a damaging one at that.
Boys, nothing at all like that, solid, boundaried, sensible. But the girl, it's a genuine problem. From Roblox, to TikTok to Insta to Spotify - And I'm no pushover parent.
My nieces are 5 and they have an ipad each. They just sit there for easily a couple of hours just zoned out.
Its quite scary to watch. They do play outside a lot too so I think there is balance but my god its almost like a session with the hypno toad when they are on their ipads.
I think this is going to be a big problem in the next 10-15 years. Once VR / metaverse becomes a thing we are pretty much done for.
Its quite scary to watch. They do play outside a lot too so I think there is balance but my god its almost like a session with the hypno toad when they are on their ipads.
I think this is going to be a big problem in the next 10-15 years. Once VR / metaverse becomes a thing we are pretty much done for.
muscatdxb said:
I know a few 16-20 year olds who spent half of their life glued to PlayStations till the early hours. Their communication skills are not great to say the least.
I view it as a “competitive advantage” for my kids if they come out of it with better social and communication skills and broader interests.
Whereas my kids have picked up a load of 'everyday usage phrases' in different languages (from French to Portuguese to Mandarin) from playing online, and communicate with friend groups covering a wide range of nationalities and cultures instead of the local goldfish bowl... I view it as a “competitive advantage” for my kids if they come out of it with better social and communication skills and broader interests.
holes thousands of years ago as well 
Wow!
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
vaud said:
gotoPzero said:
Once VR / metaverse becomes a thing we are pretty much done for.
Don't worry, it's not catching on. It's been promised since about 1989. But when little Noah or Mia who are currently 8 or 9 start their first job in another 10 years don't be shocked if they are still sat in their bedroom with a VR/MR headset on .... because "geeks" will be a thing of the past and now its normal.
Hopefully AI / nuclear war / Covid 3.0 will have solved our problems by then. (delete as appropriate)
Magnum 475 said:
Wow!
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
Oh my sweet summer child...7&9yo is very, very different from once they're into secondary.
Magnum 475 said:
Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school.
Sorry but they are lying to you, just like they lied when they said their child slept through the night from 3 months.They want to look like ideal parents.
They are probably getting more screen time than that at school and at secondary school it is likely that much content will only be delivered by ipad...
Our XBox is in the living room. My son has to be off by dinner time. If he tried using it at night we’d hear him.
After that he has his phone and laptop but at bedtime they get put in our room.
So, all devices off and away at night, and if they get back on the console confiscate the controllers at night too.
After that he has his phone and laptop but at bedtime they get put in our room.
So, all devices off and away at night, and if they get back on the console confiscate the controllers at night too.
gotoPzero said:
My nieces are 5 and they have an ipad each. They just sit there for easily a couple of hours just zoned out.
Its quite scary to watch. They do play outside a lot too so I think there is balance but my god its almost like a session with the hypno toad when they are on their ipads.
I think this is going to be a big problem in the next 10-15 years. Once VR / metaverse becomes a thing we are pretty much done for.
I have a 5 year old, the iPad only comes out in situations like me and the wife are both sick etcIts quite scary to watch. They do play outside a lot too so I think there is balance but my god its almost like a session with the hypno toad when they are on their ipads.
I think this is going to be a big problem in the next 10-15 years. Once VR / metaverse becomes a thing we are pretty much done for.
Getting it back off her even after an hour is interesting at times
Magnum 475 said:
Wow!
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
7 & 9, eh? Man, are you in for a shock.Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
CivicDuties said:
Magnum 475 said:
Wow!
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
7 & 9, eh? Man, are you in for a shock.Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
Sway said:
Magnum 475 said:
Wow!
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
Oh my sweet summer child...7&9yo is very, very different from once they're into secondary.
Great fun, keep you amused and enjoying a peaceful life.
Magnum 475 said:
CivicDuties said:
Magnum 475 said:
Wow!
Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
7 & 9, eh? Man, are you in for a shock.Ours are 7 & 9. They do not have any devices of their own. They watch at most 90 minutes of TV / kids films per week. They don't play any forms of computer games. There is one 'shared' computer that they can use for homework when required, and that's locked down very tightly so that they can't use it for anything else. Pretty much all of our friends are the same, as are the other kids at school. We're teaching them that there are much better things to do with your life than staring at a screen - they'll do enough of that when they have to start working.
As an avid adult gamer I'd love to spend time gaming with him when he's older, up to a certain limit obviously.
Hoofy said:
It's ok, you can return them if you show your receipts. You kept the receipts, right?
Try taking them back. No warranty. Gaming on the whole isn't addictive, I think this is trotted out, on the whole, by people who just have no interest in it. Your average PS5 game isn't 'designed' to be addictive. TikTok, yes. Spiderman 2, no. Don't conflate addiction with 'the only thing I enjoy doing'
Hugo, your partner isn't helping. Gaming iz lyfe. It just needs to be balanced and you need to find other things to do with your son as a substitute. Mine is 11 and has about the same limit, a bit longer really. He plays with friends which I would MUCH rather him do than sit watching crap on the internet like his 14 year old sister does.....but then this is balanced by them doing a lot of physical exercise with a swimming club. Do you have any shared interests?
Edited by TimmyMallett on Tuesday 9th April 14:29
Shaoxter said:
My 7yo uses his iPad for homework, lessons, chess, Duolingo, Scratch jr (programming) and yes, games like Roblox and Minecraft. I.
I love playing minecraft with my daughters (6 and 10) - have made a private server and we build silly things and have adventures together. Then on a weekend we will go for a walk and build things in the forest and have adventures.vaud said:
I love playing minecraft with my daughters (6 and 10) - have made a private server and we build silly things and have adventures together. Then on a weekend we will go for a walk and build things in the forest and have adventures.
My neighbours have two similarly aged kids and he mentioned that his kids have started to take great joy in letting him put the effort in and build the fancy buildings, only for the kids to then blow them up with TNT. He seemed generally annoyed that they were ruining his work 
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