It is the single most difficult thing as a parent to put my foot down about. Or it was at first.
My son LOVES watching the YouTubers playing the (horribly developed) games and enjoys making pretend games based on what he watches (some of it, sometimes we have to skip a video). He has a lot of friends at school that play it.
I will not let my son play it. Minecraft? Sure. Minecraft has a very different system, plenty of it crap, but it’s much easier to supervise and much less exploitive.
But he does let me know that he feels left out when his friends play it and he can’t. He doesn’t have any siblings, so I understand how it’s difficult to lack that connection to peers. He has other ways he gets to connect - mine craft, local playgyms, events for children, sports.
As a parent part of the empathy is feeling that sadness that comes from his disappointment in not being allowed to play it. But I think he has started to understand as he’s gotten a little older, that adults making money off of what a kid makes isn’t nice, or fair, or safe.
Turkey did well here. I don’t think we’ll ever have something similar in the states, but I hope regulation can come about eventually.
I straight up told my kid that he will not be playing that game. So you’re not alone out there and you’re doing well by taking an interest in your child’s activity and monitoring them appropriately. I wish more parents would do the same.
If he likes the idea of making games, just find a playlist of Godot or Unreal 5 game building on youtube. Most of that stuff can be done low-code, and would be perfect for someone who wants to click around and make something. It can be frustrating at first… but if you find something that actually works, I bet it’d click
If he likes making simple games, consider introducing him to Scratch. It’s not monetized at all and last I checked, was much better moderated than other online platforms for kids.
It is the single most difficult thing as a parent to put my foot down about. Or it was at first.
My son LOVES watching the YouTubers playing the (horribly developed) games and enjoys making pretend games based on what he watches (some of it, sometimes we have to skip a video). He has a lot of friends at school that play it.
I will not let my son play it. Minecraft? Sure. Minecraft has a very different system, plenty of it crap, but it’s much easier to supervise and much less exploitive.
But he does let me know that he feels left out when his friends play it and he can’t. He doesn’t have any siblings, so I understand how it’s difficult to lack that connection to peers. He has other ways he gets to connect - mine craft, local playgyms, events for children, sports.
As a parent part of the empathy is feeling that sadness that comes from his disappointment in not being allowed to play it. But I think he has started to understand as he’s gotten a little older, that adults making money off of what a kid makes isn’t nice, or fair, or safe.
Turkey did well here. I don’t think we’ll ever have something similar in the states, but I hope regulation can come about eventually.
I straight up told my kid that he will not be playing that game. So you’re not alone out there and you’re doing well by taking an interest in your child’s activity and monitoring them appropriately. I wish more parents would do the same.
If he likes the idea of making games, just find a playlist of Godot or Unreal 5 game building on youtube. Most of that stuff can be done low-code, and would be perfect for someone who wants to click around and make something. It can be frustrating at first… but if you find something that actually works, I bet it’d click
There’s also a block coding plugin for Godot now too!
https://github.com/endlessm/godot-block-coding
Perfect tool to get kids into game creation.
Damn, superstar. Save some A++ parenting for other people! Seriously, you must be raising a top-quality person…
If he likes making simple games, consider introducing him to Scratch. It’s not monetized at all and last I checked, was much better moderated than other online platforms for kids.