Teenage kids and gaming

[Suri]

I've never been into gaming and the whole PC thing, but my brother still is. He spends most of his time indoors, while I'm always out and about. My parents have always told me that I should be more like my brother, and stay home more often.

So I was just wondering, would you rather have your teenage kids be obsessed over gaming, thus staying home where you can see them, or would you rather them go out and see the world, in other words, get a life?

Disclaimer: I'm no longer a teen though, I'm 26 and engaged, but my parents still insist I stay home.   

[Perfect7]

I would prefer a healthy balance of the two. I have one who is very into gaming (he's 17), but he still likes to get out of the house regularly. I have one (15) who couldn't care less about gaming, but prefers to stay home.

When I was a teen, our household didn't have a computer (until I was 17), so if I was inside I was reading or doing something creative. I spent about equal time inside and outside, I think, because I enjoyed being outside riding my bike or playing with neighborhood children (when they were available).

[Meg325]

My younger brother is very athletic. He plays baseball, basketball & football. He is outside for a great deal of time during the summer months.

When it gets colder outside, he tends to stay in more & plays sports related video games. He's never been into the shooting or war games. He doesn't like those. He likes the sports related ones.

[Richardssun]

You don't get exercise when you stay inside, and recent studies have proven the correlation between being healthy and being smart. And although there's no proven studies to back up this claim, gaming can become addictive. It can get in the way of a person getting a grasp on the real world. Maybe 1 or 2 hours a day of gaming is fine, but more and more kids these days seem to be spending WAY too much time doing it.

[winuxchrosh]

would you rather them go out and see the world, in other words, get a life?

The definition of "getting a life" is different to everyone. There are people who are contented with a life of gaming and then there are those who likes to go to different places.

As for your brother, he's life surrounds video games. I agree with you that he needs to go out once in a while to see the world but then again he might not enjoy that.

If I were in your shoes, I would give my parents, especially my brother, some gifts or pictures of the places I've visited. This will show them the wonderful world outside the home.

[QueenB]

I really think it's better for a child to get out because they need to experience the world. If they're always at home gaming, they're going to miss out on so much in their lives and that's not fair to them. I think that's a very selfish thing for a parent to expect of someone