If your child loves playing video games, I would encourage a healthy balance. I wouldn’t discourage video games just because it is not football or soccer or the chess club. Each child has their interests and should be encouraged to explore those interests. As long as the child is keeping their grades up and isn’t engaging in disruptive behavior with the computer games, I don’t see a reason to stop it. I know some parents may not understand video games because of some of the negative attributes and stereotypes of gamers.
Children use screen time for various things such as school, communicating with family and friends, and entertainment, such as gaming. Because every child is different, there is no set guideline for how much screen time children should have. As a parent, you have to balance what is best for you and your child. If you need some help finding that perfect balance, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has a Family Media Plan.
The Family Media Plan can help families develop a plan based on individual children as well as the family as a whole. It can be used like an app on your desktop, and you can also add it to your phone. It also comes in English and Spanish. In the plan, you can add members of your family and select their age range. Then, you can choose priorities based on what is important to your family. You will then be given tips for those priorities. You can add which family members to recommend those tips to. At the end, you can print or email your media plan. I did one to see what the process was like. It did not take long at all, and was pretty straightforward. I like the idea of having a plan in general. I think plans help keep you focused, so why not have a media plan? If screen time usage is a concern that you have, then I recommend you check out the Family Media Plan.