8 Year olds and Video type games

[vintage67]

My son is 8 years old, and we do not own a Nintendo ds, Wii, xbox, or anything like that. My husband has an old Nintendo 64 and he and my husband play Mario Cart about once every 3 months! My husband is not a "gamer" either, as he works far too many hours.

We do not like the violence associated with most of these games, and the way they suck the total attention of the children. So, we did not expose our son to these things so he would be more a part of the "real world." He has a form of Asperger's syndrome and we want to fully develop his social skills.

The problem is that it seems all the other boys his age are very much into these things and it seems to alienate him from them at times. I would hate to go spend two or three hundred dollars on something for him to "fit in."

How abnormal is it for an 8 year old not to play video games? By the way, he has little interest in these things. There are a few games he plays on our computer but even those he isn't that interested in on any kind of regular basis. Anyone else have a kid not interested in them, or you chose to withold them also?

 

[SerenityNow]

My older kids are girls, so not really the same situation since girls generally aren't as interested in video games as boys are. I have noticed that there are a few boys we know who talk about them constantly but we also know several boys who rarely play them or don't play them at all.

I've wondered how I will handle this with my DS when he gets older because I just dislike the idea of kids spending their time doing "nothing" in front of a screen be it TV or video games or what have you. Kids should be out getting dirty, exploring, making stuff.

If your DS has no interest in video games I'd be quite happy about it, but I can also see if he is around other boys who talk about nothing but and he feels left out of the conversation it could tug at the mommy heartstrings a little. Still, I wouldn't be buying a game system for that reason. I'd just talk to him about ways to involve his friends in other activities. Maybe teach him some playground games like four-square or handball so he has something to do during recess that precludes talking about video games.

 

[Lotiel]

My son, also 8 y.o., doesn't play such games and do not own any of these things. He sometimes plays non-violent development-type computer games. He's interested in whatever his friends are playing. But the majority of his friends are girls and he spends lots of time playing with them outdoors - I'm quite happy about that (both about girls and outdoors). I quite agree that it's better to involve kids in different activities, particularly outdoor ones, and encourage them to enjoy things that will help them to develop.

 

[vintage67]

Those things really seem to take over some kid's lives. (and adults!)

 

[shellideaks]

My son is 6 and he loves video games. Anything super hero or lego related and he wants to play it. All his friends play the same games too and they spend a lot of time discussing them in the school yard.

He doesn't play on them all the time, he usually plays for about 30 minutes and then gets distracted by something else so I don't mind. I wouldn't want him playing them non stop though.

 

[tallybee]

My son is 8 as well and he loves his games. He is limited how much he plays though, and is into other things as well.

If your boy isn't into gaming then I see no point in trying to change that. Nurture the interests that he does have