(In this article I will refer to a computer, but I mean any type of device i.e. phone, iPad, laptop, etc.)
Imagine if work got called off for the day. You were still going to get paid but had some time up your sleeve you didn’t think you’d have…
What would you do and where would you go?
Many of us would probably try to catch up on some work, or spend the day doing hobby we enjoy
If this same situation was given to your child, what and where would they go?
I suspect a lot of kids would choose to spend their time on their computer or other devices
Here are some thoughts on why
5 reasons why kids seem to gravitate towards their computer
Comfort zone
It’s very easy to sit in front of your computer.
Not only is it completely safe (there no real threat of harm), it avoids physical
But the kicker is that the computer does pretty much all of the thinking for the child. They don’t even need to use their imaginations.
Thinking is actually quite hard. S
Games are designed to be addictive
Games offer small rewards for participation, contain random elements and make the player feel like the hero in the story. These are all traits of building addiction.
But even though this is the case, it doesn’t matter much becuase your child is used to sitting there so they will keep sitting there.
Even if they didn’t have a video game they would probably sit there anyway. Why? Because there isn’t anything else they would rather be doing
They don’t have any drive to ‘do something’
We know that all kids have potential. But potential is a dangerous word.
When you’re a kid you think that ‘real life’ is so far and long away
Kids who spend a lot of time in front of their computer probably don’t have another passion. They don’t understand what it is they want to do with their life (they may not care) and therefore can’t see the point in doing something different.
It seems from the outside like they simply want to have fun and the most fun they can have is on the computer.
Excapism
I’m sure that some kids use games to escape their life. They may not understand this concept themselves but they might have something about their life that they don’t like.
Maybe they wished they were more athletic for instance.
There are game companies that have built quite a sizeable business on providing for kids who secretly wished they were different.
Games like;
- World of Warcraft lets them play as if they had some kind of supernatural physical ability
- Call of Duty makes kids feel important, by giving them a job to do, and teammates to do it with
- Red Dead Redemption allows kids to explore their sense of adventure, and curiosity. They can go anywhere they like in the game, and do anything they want just to see what happens if.
Being at school all day where you are a little insecure and simply apart of the heard can leave kids feeling weak and limited. Kids are sitting on their computers at home because they can experience things and generally feel like the hero of their story.
It’s where their friends are
I used to play games on the computer when I was a teenager. The game I played (Quake). Originally I was introduced to it through a kid who lived across the road. It helped bond us and we are still friends to this day.
But online we didn’t play alone, and after a while we had more friends. There was an active community in online chat channels playing the game.
And so coming home afer school and being on the computer was like hanging out with friends.
What Do I Do Now…?
I’m sure right about now you’re saying, “this is great info but what am I supposed to do now?”
Your child simply needs a better offer to do something else.
They could be getting quite a few needs met online as the above reasons say, but there can always be a better offer offline.
Online games and communities can only offer so much. So if you want to get your child off of the computer and into something ‘real’ then all you need is a better offer.
Which brings me to a potential solution for you. On this website I sell videos and information on how to build things out of woodwork.
The projects are really aimed at bringing parents and children closer together through the medium of woodwork. The projects are great way into finding an interest for your child.