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Opportunity Costs

One of the most obvious and doggedly indisputable criticisms of video game use pertains to its impact upon other endeavors or responsibilities. In general, kids spend their time either moving towards success, or away from it. It’s important to allow for idle time, just beware of the excess. Once engaged in a video game experience, the hours can easily melt away. Some of those hours would have been spent on more important tasks. One recent study revealed that of all the things to be given up in favor of video gaming hours, school related activities were the first to go.

With an average of 13 hours per week being devoted to video games, the typical gamer spends 30% less time reading and 34% less time doing homework than his non-gaming counterpart. In many cases, priority tasks like sleeping, studying, eating, exercising and cleaning are either rushed through, or forsaken altogether, in favor of video games. None of this is good. Just take eating, for example. Hours spent sitting in front of a television set don’t only translate into lower calorie burning, but also higher calorie consumption. Sugary and fatty finger foods tend to be the quick and easy snacks preferred by gamers. Sleep is next to go. Teenagers need more sleep than any of us, but sometimes that sleep is forfeit to video gaming, or to completing the other tasks that were bumped in order to accommodate a video gaming session. Like a set of dominos, that long list of important tasks can easily fall down as a result of an over-indulgence in gaming. The net result takes us in a direction away from success.
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What can you do?

If video games are a subordinate priority, make sure your rules establish it as so. Require a certain level of school performance to be maintained as a prerequisite to gaming time. And if school performance drops, make sure that the games are the first to go.

One of the best things you can do, is sit down with your child and establish an after school schedule. Allot time for homework, a family dinner, cleaning or exercise etc., and then discretionary time for gaming or socializing.

Don’t buy multiple children multiple gaming sets. Requiring them to share will auto-limit individual gaming time. Another way to do this is to require the gaming set to be installed on a main family TV. When the TV has to be shared with other family members, kids are forced to schedule their gaming time, and moderation is naturally enforced.

If your little gamers like to munch on the job, keep the house stocked with healthy snacks, and limit the availability of high-fat, high-calorie foods. Limit the consumption of sugary caffeinated beverages in the evening – a long-known recipe for nightly video game marathons. Allow your child to earn his or her gaming time, by completing other tasks, like quality exercise.