There is a great frenzy among parents when it comes to their kids playing video games. Parents are afraid that their kids will become video game addicts that don’t interact with other kids and lack social skills. Also, another concern is all the health issues, as well as the safety issues that may appear when kids are playing online. However, playing online games is far from a bad thing. It can be useful entertainment time for your kid, if you follow a couple of rules when you try to have your kid play safely online.
Choose the Site Yourself
Just like you don’t want to let your kid play on any playground out there, you don’t want them to be playing on any site. Go through the reviews, forums and other places where parents gather and let them recommend you some sort of a site. Choose something like Games5 where they have strict policy about content of the games.
Make Sure It’s Free
Some of the sites do offer online games, but for a fee. Others may leave you to play free for a while, but they charge after the trial period. Therefore, make sure that you have found the site that is truly free and check that fact. You will see that your kids cannot really tell how much time has passed since they started playing, so their fun may cost you quite a bit if you’re not careful about it
Check the Types of Games
It goes without saying that you have already checked the site and read their guarantees about the adult content. The next step is to check the quality of the games that your kid is playing. Are they educational? Do they entice your kid’s creativity? Do they help your kid develop some new skills? Is your kid learning? Ask yourself these questions before letting your kid spend time on such a site.
As for the things that you definitely should not be doing: here is the top list of three most common mistakes parents make.
Don’t Let your Kid Play at any Time
In the days of modern communication, it is obvious that your kid will play the games at home or on a smartphone, or some other way. Therefore, you cannot avoid it. However, that is also a reason to speak with them about it and try to come up to the proper amount of time a day that they can spend playing video games. That will teach them responsibility and allow them to be the part of decision making.
Don’t Jeopardize Their Privacy
Once you checked the sites and found the one like http://www.games5.com, it is time to trust your kids and let them play for a while. Don’t check up on them every ten minutes, as you are sending them a message in that way that you don’t trust them at all. If you don’t trust them, they will begin to hide things from you and that is always the worse scenario.
Don’t let them Have Video Games as Their Only Hobby
Allow them extra time playing video games if they spend extra time studying, doing something creative or educational. Let them feel rewarded and let them enjoy the games like something they have earned.
These things can be considered common sense decisions, but when it comes to parenting, all of us are navigating without a compass from time to time. Therefore, this is a great checklist, if you have a young kid, who is just entering the online world.
