Your kids gaming vs bedtime -- any exceptions to the rule?

[barmyllama]

Already got kids so I can answer this accurately

1) No exceptions. Bed.

2) As above.

3) As above.

4) As above.

5) Wouldnt have the computer in his bedroom in the first place.

6) As with Question 1.

7) As with Question 1.

8) Assuming that he was even able to get past the webfiltering software I have in place.. No exceptions. Bed.

That is pretty much my answers there.

In fact only last week, when my 14 year old son was here for the weekend, he was using my PC to play MW2 and it was time for bed.

Now he is allowed to play until we go to bed when he is here, since it's not a school night. He had been playing for at least 4 hours when I came in to the computer room and told him it was bedtime and he asked if he could finish the round.

I said, "No, you've been playing for long enough, now bed"

He carried on playing, so I pulled the plug out and he didn't play on it the following day.

I would like to bet he doesn't do it again this week.

 

[snowdog]

This thread is really for a bit of fun don't take it too seriously ..


OK, as proper gamers, I'm wondering if we will treat our kids computer gaming as harshly as half my non-gamer friends do with their kids ('bedtime? TURN IT OFF RIGHT NOW WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING NO MATTER WHATS HAPPENING ON SCREEN NO EXCEPTIONS OFF - NOW - DEFINATELY').

So here it the situation. It is 9pm. Your 10 year old kid's bedtime is 9pm and he knows it. He is on the computer, gaming. As a gamer yourself, do any of the below get a exception to the 'Computer turned off, bed at 9pm' rule??

?

1) Your kid is on a 25 man raid in WOW. If he leaves now after hours, 24 guildies of his are going to be extremely upset with him - maybe even booting him from the guild. He has an hour left. He is an essential part of the team. You'll quite obviously make him hated amongst his online mates ..

Yes.

2) Your kid is 35 minutes away from getting some amazing 'endurance challenge' achievement in a game. If you force the computer off, he's starting from scratch with 'endurance challenge' - 4 hours work down the drain.

Yes.

3) He is involved in a 4 player RTS game. Him leaving is basically going to ruin the game for 3 other players, though he doesn't personally know any of them. To finish the game will take another hour - he's already been playing 2 hours ...?

Yes.

4) Someone has hacked his facebook account and written insults to his friends. He is desperately (after changing his password) writing apologies to his friends. It'll take him another 20 minutes to write them all. Can he?

Yes.

5) 'Time Taken: 8 hours. File Downloaded: 98%. Time remaining: 23 minutes.' If it stops now, start again from the start. The computer is in the kids room so you can't leave it on and expect him to sleep ..

Yes. And yes you can, what's wrong with sleeping with the computer on overnight ?

6) Racing game .. he's halfway round the track on a 12 minute race. It's his 'best go ever' honest guv. Can he just finish his race?

Yes.

7) Your kid has just spawned with an ultra-rare weapon, which gets lost when he dies or quits. He is begging for 20 minutes to really kill noobs with his 'uber-lazer'. He's never got it before and probably never will again. Touch luck?

Yes.

8) Your kid is, illegally, on an online gambling site. When it hits 9pm you realise this. There is £120 on the poker table, and he is holding a strong hand. Quitting auto-folds. So you've got a kind of big dilemma here .. it's a lot of money .. god knows where he got the credit card info from (or who'se it is) you haven't had time to quiz him about that yet..

??

Yes.



I can remember how I was when I was 10-16 about games, it was serious business. I also hated ridiculous early bedtimes, as much as I know it's bad for the kid and it's only a game, I wouldn't force him to stop anywhere, as long as it's going well at school and he's feeling alright/is healthy, being able to play games is his reward. He'll grow out of it ( gaming 7 or more hours per day) anyhow after a while like I did. I never understood the ''omg no pc in room or voilent movies or facebook at that age'' brigade, I had a pc at my room since I was 6 or 7 years old, and at 11 I got 512k broadband in my room... Any kid deserves the same, all the ''age requirements'' is a bunch of rubbish imo.
Basically, I can easily remember how I was around 12 ( not 10 though) and I really hated stuff like going to bed early and never understood what's the deal since I always did well at school.

 

[arknor]

no exceptions bed time is bed time.

you know when your kids bedtime is and so do they , plan for it and dont do anything around that time which you cant instantly stop.

 

[Tombstone]

I never understood the ''omg no pc in room or voilent movies or facebook at that age'' brigade, I had a pc at my room since I was 6 or 7 years old, and at 11 I got 512k broadband in my room... Any kid deserves the same, all the ''age requirements'' is a bunch of rubbish imo.
Basically, I can easily remember how I was around 12 ( not 10 though) and I really hated stuff like going to bed early and never understood what's the deal since I always did well at school.

Its just different styles of parenting thats all. Thats the way you parent your kids, my way of parenting is different. We each have to deal with the fallout of our respective forms of parenting, hopefully your kids are coming along well with your methods too, thats all that matters, that the kids come out well.

The no PC in their room thing is a desire from me to not have the kid/s shut away by themselves in a room, which is why I insist the PC is in a family room. I spent far too long myself stuck away in a room as a kid and was no doubt one of the factors in my weak family ties

 

[Frapple]

As long as they can wake up in a morning to do what they need to do productively they can stay up till whenever they want.

 

[Tombstone]

As long as they can wake up in a morning to do what they need to do productively they can stay up till whenever they want.

As I say, each to their own. I'm glad that method is working out for your kids, not my method but as I say every parent is different

 

[physichull]

Was somebody watching "Extreme Supernanny" or whatever it was with jo Frost last night?

There was a young kid with World Of Warcraft addiction on it.

 

[Tombstone]

Was somebody watching "Extreme Supernanny" or whatever it was with jo Frost last night?

There was a young kid with World Of Warcraft addiction on it.

Yeah I saw that hehe, thought it was hilarious that they named the game, and even showed his character at one point with his guildname showing...but then the rest of the time they blurred it out so you could see his screen. Couldnt see the point in doing that after having already shown the character.

Kid didnt really have WoW addiction though, he simply played it for 8+ hours a day because a) his mother let him and b) the mother didnt do anything else with him and just shoved him on there to effectively keep him out of her way

 

[Wicksys]

I don't have kids myself so i cant comment on what i would do specifically, i would probably be generally quite lenient but i guess its too early to tell yet! Just wanted to say to the OP though what a refreshing and original thread this is, kudos.

 

[Tombstone]

whoops wrong button

 

[Tripnologist]

Bedtime is bedtime so no to all of them except for the Facebook one as that obviously wouldn't have been planned. For the rest of them, s/he knew what time bed was so shouldn't have started a raid/round/game/etc they knew they wouldn't have time to finish.

Edit: I don't play WOW but I've changed my mind on that one. If it's the first time it's happened, I'd let it slide but if it ever happened again, the computer would be off regardless of if he'd have to find a new guild or not.

Oh yeah, the download one, computer would just auto shutdown once complete.


Edit again: Just showed my wife the OP but not my post and we're in agreement. Woo. No children though.

 

[trickycurve]

1) Even though I can relate to being needed for matches and the like quite late at night, my parenting skills would likely come into question if I allowed a 10-year-old to be playing WoW beyond 9pm (or playing WoW at all). He can hate me for it, but he'll thank me one day (especially if he gives WoW up afterwards).

2) I'd let him finish, if only because spending another 4 hours doing something again that he's already spent 3 hours 25 minutes doing isn't healthy.

3) Edit: On second thoughts, same as #1.

4) He can do it tomorrow.

5) I wouldn't allow a 10-year-old to have his own computer.

6) I can let another 6 minutes slide.

7) If he's got it once, he can get it again.

8) This is cause for grounding on an exponential level.

 

[Amnesia]

too many questions but i'll answer one of them.
if he is playing wow then he isn't allowed near his computer ever again.

 

[macca672]

number 8, send them to bed, finish his hand and claim the winnings, tell teh kids its a life lesson that tax is inevitable

 

[Gimpymoo]

On the whole, I would tell them to turn the computer off there and then.

They know when their bedtime is, so why start something which you know is going to take longer than your permitted bedtime?

If it is a weekend/None school night, there might be an exception.

Regarding the poker site, I would be kicking his ass as assuming he is under 18, the credit card was obtained by either theft or fraud, no?

IF HOWEVER, they came upto me 2 hours before bedtime and said Look, I want to do a raid or whatever, will likely take me x amount of time over my bedtime, I may allow it if is not a regular occurence.

 

[snowdog]

Its just different styles of parenting thats all. Thats the way you parent your kids, my way of parenting is different. We each have to deal with the fallout of our respective forms of parenting, hopefully your kids are coming along well with your methods too, thats all that matters, that the kids come out well.

The no PC in their room thing is a desire from me to not have the kid/s shut away by themselves in a room, which is why I insist the PC is in a family room. I spent far too long myself stuck away in a room as a kid and was no doubt one of the factors in my weak family ties

Don't worry, I'm probably a bit immature still, I don't have kids, and not planning to for a good 15 years at least. It was only a couple of years ago for me being that young and I just can't imagine bringing it through that differently...

I understand your point, but imo a kid should be able to decide for himself, if he decides wrong, it's his own fault, lesson learned for later...

Looking back my last post does sound a little bit stupid/immature, as if I'm still a 12 year old kid myself. But oh well...

 

[Demoniser]

IF i was a parent..

1) Your kid is on a 25 man raid in WOW. If he leaves now after hours, 24 guildies of his are going to be extremely upset with him - maybe even booting him from the guild. He has an hour left. He is an essential part of the team. You'll quite obviously make him hated amongst his online mates ..
I wouldn't let him play an MMO in the first place, a 10 year old wouldn't know time management if it came up and bit them in the arse, as most of us know mmo's are a pretty intense affair gaming wise, i don't think they're suitable for younger kids tbh

2) Your kid is 35 minutes away from getting some amazing 'endurance challenge' achievement in a game. If you force the computer off, he's starting from scratch with 'endurance challenge' - 4 hours work down the drain.
Most likely, same if they were doing something like fighting an awesomely hard boss

3) He is involved in a 4 player RTS game. Him leaving is basically going to ruin the game for 3 other players, though he doesn't personally know any of them. To finish the game will take another hour - he's already been playing 2 hours ...?
No, Bed

4) Someone has hacked his facebook account and written insults to his friends. He is desperately (after changing his password) writing apologies to his friends. It'll take him another 20 minutes to write them all. Can he?
It's only facebook, if his account is secure then its off to bed, i couldn't care less about writing apologies on facebook, they can do that another day it won't make much difference

5) 'Time Taken: 8 hours. File Downloaded: 98%. Time remaining: 23 minutes.' If it stops now, start again from the start. The computer is in the kids room so you can't leave it on and expect him to sleep ..
I'd let it finish downloading

6) Racing game .. he's halfway round the track on a 12 minute race. It's his 'best go ever' honest guv. Can he just finish his race?
Most likely

7) Your kid has just spawned with an ultra-rare weapon, which gets lost when he dies or quits. He is begging for 20 minutes to really kill noobs with his 'uber-lazer'. He's never got it before and probably never will again. Touch luck?
Get to bed you noob

8) Your kid is, illegally, on an online gambling site. When it hits 9pm you realise this. There is £120 on the poker table, and he is holding a strong hand. Quitting auto-folds. So you've got a kind of big dilemma here .. it's a lot of money .. god knows where he got the credit card info from (or who'se it is) you haven't had time to quiz him about that yet..
Finish and claim his winnings then severe punishment come morning

 

[vincent1989]

1) no, MMORPGs should only be played by adults who comprehend the difference between friends and real life outside of the game and 'friends' inside the game and who are more capable of moderating their time. not by children (this isn't even considering the impossible to rate nature of the conversations in game).

2) no, tough luck, you know when bed time is, don't start something you KNOW you can not finish

3) no, same as above, they know when bed time is, if perhaps they'd asked prior to starting and it wasn't a frequent occurrence it'd be different.

4) yes, this is different to wanting to get x achievement or kill a few more guys.

5) i wouldn't allow my child to use a computer unsupervised (i know what i got up to! ) it'd be in the living room, or a laptop which i could simply unplug and remove.

6) Probably, a few minutes either way isn't an issue, but politeness is

7) it's only a game, go to bed

8) turn it off, i have zero tolerance for gambling.

we've started having a few of these problems with my 5 year old brother and my parents are already treating him far more leniently than i was ever treated, i think they are incorrect for doing this (and say so on occasion when it becomes frustrating) but obviously they have the ultimate say.

 

[tibbsey]

The below is rather irrelevant for me as I do not, and do not plan to, have kids.

1) Your kid is on a 25 man raid in WOW. If he leaves now after hours, 24 guildies of his are going to be extremely upset with him - maybe even booting him from the guild. He has an hour left. He is an essential part of the team. You'll quite obviously make him hated amongst his online mates...
He wouldn't be playing WoW (not because it's sub-based, just 'cos it's WoW). He also wouldn't be playing any other sub-based game, not at 10.

2) Your kid is 35 minutes away from getting some amazing 'endurance challenge' achievement in a game. If you force the computer off, he's starting from scratch with 'endurance challenge' - 4 hours work down the drain.
Turn it off. He knew it was going to be 4hours when he started, so shouldn't have started.

3) He is involved in a 4 player RTS game. Him leaving is basically going to ruin the game for 3 other players, though he doesn't personally know any of them. To finish the game will take another hour - he's already been playing 2 hours...?
Again, he knew how it would take, turn it off.
He should (as he's been brought up to be polite and courteous) have made the other players aware that he's past his bedtime and may have to leave.

4) Someone has hacked his facebook account and written insults to his friends. He is desperately (after changing his password) writing apologies to his friends. It'll take him another 20 minutes to write them all. Can he?
A 10 year old doesn't have a Facebook account.

5) 'Time Taken: 8 hours. File Downloaded: 98%. Time remaining: 23 minutes.' If it stops now, start again from the start. The computer is in the kids room so you can't leave it on and expect him to sleep...
What the hell is a 10 year old downloading that takes 8hours!?! Probably let it finish (depending on what it is) as to re-download it will use up my paid for bandwidth.

6) Racing game .. he's halfway round the track on a 12 minute race. It's his 'best go ever' honest guv. Can he just finish his race?
Yup, he can have this one. Then it's my turn and I destroy his time.

7) Your kid has just spawned with an ultra-rare weapon, which gets lost when he dies or quits. He is begging for 20 minutes to really kill noobs with his 'uber-lazer'. He's never got it before and probably never will again. Touch luck?
He gets 5 minutes. He tries it again (like the next night) and he doesn't.

8) Your kid is, illegally, on an online gambling site. When it hits 9pm you realise this. There is £120 on the poker table, and he is holding a strong hand. Quitting auto-folds. So you've got a kind of big dilemma here .. it's a lot of money .. god knows where he got the credit card info from (or who'se it is) you haven't had time to quiz him about that yet..
He gets a royal hiding (yup I'd be a smacking parent, mine did it to me and I turned out right). If it's my card I finish the game and reap the rewards. If it's someone else's he gets another royal hiding from them the next day.

 

[Tute]

I can't really answer the question individually as it's a case of weekdays vs weekends, how much time they wanted, etc.

I wouldn't want my 10 year old kid having a PC in their room though, or a WoW account.

And gambling would be grounds for a serious punishment - not only is it illegal but i'd be furious about where they'd gotten the card details from.

So overall - i'd probably bend if it was a quarter hour but any more than that and it would be a straight "NO, BED!".