Games & young kids

H

HavocXphere

New member
How concerned would you be if you discovered a young kid (say 13) has access to say LoL & WoW?

Ignore the whole violence is bad for kids story...don't care...more interested in opinions on potential for addiction & negative impact on the kids development i.t.o. social.

Need to make a decision on how to handle a situation (not my kid) but haven't really played much of either so struggling to judge the danger esp on the LoL side.

Serious answers only please. Any related insight welcome too though.

EDIT:

I could also use some conclusive answers on the behaviour of the "hours played" counter for these. Will a taskbar pinned link LoL/WoW link increase the Steam game time counter?
 
Last edited:
I've been playing WoW for 8 years now. Started when I was 15.

Pros:

-Made great friends that I am still in touch with today
-Considering WoW's game mechanics and learning DPS (damage per second) rotations and what talent builds to use, it helps with mental development
-Engaging game. A lot of content to keep you playing
-Not toxic. Generally very friendly. You can help find a local guild, like the one I'm in

Cons:

-Monthly sub should you choose to play the retail version
-Can become slightly addictive, but you can enable parental controls and limit the usage per day. It tracks your in game time and once you limit is hit. You are notified and the game logs you out

I haven't played LoL as I don't enjoy mobas, but I have a cousin who has played WoW since he was about 13 as well and it has not had any negative effects. He enjoys grouping up with his friends on TS3 and they'll run dungeons together or farm mounts.
 
Great thread, I have a son that's 5 years old and I have thought about this too, so I'll be following this thread. One thing I think of is, my child will eventually have contact with games, if not at home, at a friends. Although my son doesnt yet play WoW, I do allow him to play BF4 in the training map. He loves running, driving and flying around. (Other than that, he likes the lego series of games)

My thinking is, bad or good I dont know, to allow him to start with games under controlled circumstances. I would much rather have him play the games when I am around, then be a totally new experience with some possibly worse game.
 
Honestly,i have been playing video games since i was like 4 years old,i started playing online video games when i was 18,i am currently 20 years old,i personally think that any gaming can be fun but you must have a EXTRA MURAL for your child to do.you cant let them just get home everyday and start playing video games,you need to make sure they do their homework and stuff.Basically what i would say should be done is that YES they can play LOL and WOW but do not let it consume them make them do a sport so they can be social,mine was baseball,i played a lot online but i still played baseball socialized with people that were not online,you can have friends online but its better to know them on a face level.
 
I could also use some conclusive answers on the behaviour of the "hours played" counter for these. Will a taskbar pinned link LoL/WoW link increase the Steam game time counter?
Click to expand...

No. if you have a green background on steam, then you're "playing" a game and the counter will tick. If you're blue or away or busy or w/e, it wont :)
Adding the link to the taskbar does just that...adds the link.

As said above, its fairly easy to implement boundaries to curb any worries of addiction you might be having. And as long as its balanced in such a way (again, said way better above) to not be 99% of their "me time", I can't see any harm.


DO note however, there may be an inherent bias, as I do think 99% of the people on here grew up with gaming, so of course us lot are all gonna say "oh no, no problems with gaming from a young age... SNOOOOORK! Where'd i put my bellybutton!?"
 
[MENTION=12607]mottamort[/MENTION] Even though I grew up gaming, I was limited in my game-time by my parents to only Friday afternoons and weekends. Weekdays were for studies, friends and other hobbies. I've never really been a sporty person (except playing tennis at a private club during primary school), so sport never took up a lot of my time.

Balance is key though. Make sure kids learn to read books and appreciate (or preferably play) music in equal quantities to the time they spend gaming.
 
FarligOpptreden said:
[MENTION=12607]mottamort[/MENTION] Even though I grew up gaming, I was limited in my game-time by my parents to only Friday afternoons and weekends. Weekdays were for studies, friends and other hobbies. I've never really been a sporty person (except playing tennis at a private club during primary school), so sport never took up a lot of my time.

Balance is key though. Make sure kids learn to read books and appreciate (or preferably play) music in equal quantities to the time they spend gaming.
Click to expand...

Ja me too, we werent allowed to play during the week and I completely agree with "Balance is key". He would be playing a computer/console game, get tired of it and go pickup his physical toys or do something else. I like that he is that way.
 
We grew up with a pc in the house, but we got to spend 30mins each on it per day - so my brother and I tended to play together and swop over that each got a turn. The rest of the day was spent outside playing, homework and so on. But PC time and TV time was dependant on if we behaved - it was the first punishment taken away (after a hiding if the crime was worth it - in my case 90% it was - I was naughty - leaving homework at school so I didnt have to do it kinda stuff :P) But I had an active social life - we lived in a neighborhood where there was loads of kids who we played with every day. We didnt have mmo's at that point and I suspect that would have been a no no in our house because we would have to pay the subs on our own. All games we had to buy with our pocket money and they were checked for age restrictions. But over all I think we had a great balance between gaming and social life.
 
I was raised always having a computer, my dad bought me educational software and I learnt to speak English through that software as well as do mathematics. I think in the right environment a child being brought up with a computer isn't an entirely bad thing, if executed correctly.

I do think if a child was allowed to do anything they absolutely want on a PC as well as play possibly violent games it might affect their mentality towards life. But in general I do not think it is a bad thing. :)
 
With regard to League of Legends (LoL), since WoW has been commented on already, as far as the game itself goes it is suitable for a 13 year old to play (although the combination of a pubescent teenager and the sexualised female characters could be a volatile combination :p )

The biggest issue is the community and the potentially harmful things they say to other players. I'm not naive enough to say that a 13yr old doesn't know about swear words, but the abuse could possibly be quite damaging to his self-esteem if he lets it get to him. Granted this abuse is most likely coming from other 13 year olds, so there's also the issue that he becomes a toxic person himself. I'd recommend turning off chat in the game - if he's playing with friends he can communicate with them via teamspeak etc. Other than that, it's a fun game, teaches a bit of strategic thinking and team work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top