Watch your Kids Game

Remember being a kid and wanting your parents to watch you do that cool bike trick you had been working on? Or, being a teenager and feeling like your parents don't understand you because they don't appreciate your music?

Kids want understanding, engagement, and validation from their parents. They naturally want us to be a part of their life.

This is written for non-gaming parents, like me. It kills me to think of all the years I spent dismissing my son and his video games. Here I was taking the most important hobby he had. The one he valued the most. Where he decided to spend his free time. His community of friends....and I was disregarding it. Gaming to me was a space filler. Something to be done when there was nothing else to do. But, to him, it held a great place of importance in his life and I didn't recognize that.

I would challenge parents to...

(1) Try- it is ok if it is not for you. But, give your child the chance to teach you something. They will appreciate the effort and probably get a good laugh at your lack of skills.

(2) Watch- If only for 5 min a day. Sit and do nothing else than watch their game. Sometimes a little goes a long way.

(3) Prioritize- Ask them If there is important matching coming up and put it in your calendar. If your child had a big school project or soccer game we would do this, right? Treat gaming the same as the activities that you value. If you can't make the gaming event your child is playing in that's ok. Send them a good luck text and follow up later to get the details. If they win a match celebrate with ice cream!

(4) Talk- esports has its own language and each game has its own dialect. Ask your child questions about the game: What are the levels? Where do you rank in the game? Are their professional games played? What the best versions are?

Written by Martha Laughman