Some Urgent advice is needed. Any Gamer/Parent/Guardian or anyone to help?

[Theone]

Hello guys, hope we are all good and keeping safe.

So the problem is this; Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown in my country, I have an 8 year old kid who does nothing but to play games both on mobile and some on an old PC at home. Please is there any advice on how to engage him in something more productive or if its gaming, how to set him up for streaming, and at least making something out of the hobby. All efforts to get him to read have been futile, he only studies for some minutes everyday.

 

[tradesman]

Uninstall the games.

Show the kid who's the adult in the house and who's the 8-year-old.

and If all else fails......


ice cream always works

 

[modman9]

Hello guys, hope we are all good and keeping safe.

So the problem is this; Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown in my country, I have an 8 year old kid who does nothing but to play games both on mobile and some on an old PC at home. Please is there any advice on how to engage him in something more productive or if its gaming, how to set him up for streaming, and at least making something out of the hobby. All efforts to get him to read have been futile, he only studies for some minutes everyday.

I would suggest you to let him game development /coding instead. As he is interested in games, someday he might be interested in building his own. code.org and freecodecamp.org is a great place to learn coding by making games starting with HTML,javascript to python.

 

[Danz]

Hello guys, hope we are all good and keeping safe.

So the problem is this; Since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown in my country, I have an 8 year old kid who does nothing but to play games both on mobile and some on an old PC at home. Please is there any advice on how to engage him in something more productive or if its gaming, how to set him up for streaming, and at least making something out of the hobby. All efforts to get him to read have been futile, he only studies for some minutes everyday.

Find a common game that you can also play with him, sounds too cliche but works.

Then start talking about it and steer him to right direction,

 

[Theone]

Uninstall the games.

Show the kid who's the adult in the house and who's the 8-year-old.

and If all else fails......


ice cream always works

Hahaha, I've tried this, he kept complaining for days and started acting sad and lonely and that was just too pitiful to watch. Ice cream always works tho....agreed

I would suggest you to let him game development /coding instead. As he is interested in games, someday he might be interested in building his own. code.org and freecodecamp.org is a great place to learn coding by making games starting with HTML,javascript to python.

Thank you so much for this, I've been thinking of this too, will definitely try it out one of these days and see what we can come up with.

Find a common game that you can also play with him, sounds too cliche but works.

Then start talking about it and steer him to right direction,

Thanks a lot for the advice, I will try this, and see if I can get him to develop an interest in game development as modman9 mentioned.

 

[tradesman]

Serious note,

Introduce the boy to Python and Arduino. There are hundreds of projects available online. check out some youtube videos.

Boys enjoy remote control and robot project stuff. They love to show it to their friends. It's not easy to get them hooked until they see the end result.

 

[Theone]

Thanks a lot, I'll be sure to check them out.

It's not easy to get them hooked until they see the end result.

This is a very valid statement

 

[fux0r]

I hate to say it, but youre best bet is to simply cut off the internet. I have the same problem and have noticed a difference from when they have access and when they dont. So I shut it off. And the difference is night and day. They find other things to do when Roblox isnt an option at all. And their attitudes are way different too.

Just my take from my situation. Im sure some douchebag with no life experience or kids will have some idiotic things to say like internet is a "right" for an 8 year old. But as a parent, we have to do what we think is right for our kids. Maybe try it for a week and see for yourself. Or dont.

I have 3 kids. 7, 10 and 28. Th 28 year old just got married and bought his own house. The 7 year old wants to save the planet. The 10 year old....shes going to take some extra work.

Good luck. And i sincerely mean that.

 

[Theone]

I hate to say it, but youre best bet is to simply cut off the internet. I have the same problem and have noticed a difference from when they have access and when they dont. So I shut it off. And the difference is night and day. They find other things to do when Roblox isnt an option at all. And their attitudes are way different too.

Just my take from my situation. Im sure some douchebag with no life experience or kids will have some idiotic things to say like internet is a "right" for an 8 year old. But as a parent, we have to do what we think is right for our kids. Maybe try it for a week and see for yourself. Or dont.

I have 3 kids. 7, 10 and 28. Th 28 year old just got married and bought his own house. The 7 year old wants to save the planet. The 10 year old....shes going to take some extra work.

Good luck. And i sincerely mean that.

Wow, glad to see that your kids are doing so well. Thanks for the advice. It really is a lot of work.
I am actually looking for a way to expose him to the important things on the internet, so that he can start doing meaningful things early enough, I'll keep trying tho. If it seems like it isn't working, then maybe I will go offline with him.

 

[tradesman]

Thanks a lot, I'll be sure to check them out.



This is a very valid statement

Kids today are luckier when it comes to information technology, they have access to these things.

Growing up, The closest thing I have to YouTube for tutorials was Bob Ross.

 

[WhiteKnight]

8 year old kids like breaking thing and building thing, Why not show him how to take the old pc apart into bits show him what each bit is and how it works then but it all back together, after that I’m sure he will have the bug to be building his own

Then you both can look for cheap parts online and build him his own gaming pcs cheap enough

Wait till he tell his friends me and my dad built this gaming pcs haha he would love it

It’s a bit easier then going straight into coding

But I defo agree with fux0r 100% unless you are doing educational thing on the computer then gaming time should be very limited ,

Gaming for kids is just a big life distraction, it don’t teach them nothing , it in fact creates idiots that’s why tv and gaming console are called idiots boxes

I’m not calling your kids or any kid a idiot

What if your kids spends the next 30 years sitting in front of the tv just playing games online, that’s such as waste of a life

Take the games away yes he will have the hump and look sad for a week or so but as soon as he knows your not going to give in he will get bored and look for other things to do and play with

That’s when he will start using his imagination and other thing and believe you will have a total different little boy

All the best

 

[madroots]

setup a home server with him. There is plenty ideas, you could setup Plex where he can watch cartoons maybe, he could feel special if you ask him for an advice. Use old PC and make a home server with him. He might like it more then a games, and its a solid ground for him to build something on it.

 

[Theone]

Kids today are luckier when it comes to information technology, they have access to these things.

Growing up, The closest thing I have to YouTube for tutorials was Bob Ross.

Sincerely, they are really lucky. They seem to have everything at their fingertips.

8 year old kids like breaking thing and building thing, Why not show him how to take the old pc apart into bits show him what each bit is and how it works then but it all back together, after that I’m sure he will have the bug to be building his own

Then you both can look for cheap parts online and build him his own gaming pcs cheap enough

Wait till he tell his friends me and my dad built this gaming pcs haha he would love it

It’s a bit easier then going straight into coding

But I defo agree with fux0r 100% unless you are doing educational thing on the computer then gaming time should be very limited ,

Gaming for kids is just a big life distraction, it don’t teach them nothing , it in fact creates idiots that’s why tv and gaming console are called idiots boxes

I’m not calling your kids or any kid a idiot

What if your kids spends the next 30 years sitting in front of the tv just playing games online, that’s such as waste of a life

Take the games away yes he will have the hump and look sad for a week or so but as soon as he knows your not going to give in he will get bored and look for other things to do and play with

That’s when he will start using his imagination and other thing and believe you will have a total different little boy

All the best

Thanks a lot, i understand what you mean. I also know he will be totally different when he gets to start using his imagination rather than play games all day. I'm taking all the advice I got from you guys and starting bit by bit, till he gets really interested in other things.

setup a home server with him. There is plenty ideas, you could setup Plex where he can watch cartoons maybe, he could feel special if you ask him for an advice. Use old PC and make a home server with him. He might like it more then a games, and its a solid ground for him to build something on it.

This is a really good idea. Thanks a lot.

 

[Devilstrailboss]

Be firm and put your foot down, take the keyboard and mouse and hide it. An 8-year old shouldn't be running the house and making the rules.

Then only give the mouse/keyboard to him when he has finished something productive as a reward. Teach him the value of reward for work, instead of getting everything for nothing.

If you don't nip this in the bud, you're only going to have more trouble later down the road.

 

[aplusk777]

take him to run/jogging, you can always wear a mask. or if you can't do it just made a deal with him. he can't get anything for free, I mean like if he want to play a game he must do some x things (you just name it, doing chores or anything) then he will learn a lesson while on lockdown