The vast majority of children and adolescents in the United States play video games. Although many children play them in moderation, without adverse consequences, others become obsessed with gaming. Parents may become worried when a child is neglecting homework to play games, or is staying up all night gaming and is too tired to get up for school the next day. Some parents notice that their child rarely socializes in person with others and spends all free time on video games. Some children start to cover up how much they are playing.
In this excerpt adapted from Pause and Reset: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Overcoming Problems With Gaming, Nancy M. Petry, PhD, offers guidance on how to effectively limit gaming to a healthy level. Whether the goal is to prevent a child’s gaming from becoming excessive, or to roll back play that seems out of control, Dr. Petry offers practical, parent-tested strategies for getting a handle on the role of video games in your child’s life.
Setting and enforcing limits on games
For children and younger adolescents, and even for older adolescents under the age of 18, you as a parent should have the bulk of the say in determining appropriate limits to gaming. Having clear and consistent guidelines related to video games prevents excessive playing. However, two- thirds of US children and adolescents indicate that their parents have “no rules” related to time spent on media use. Be sure you are no longer part of that majority!Here are guidelines for limiting gaming for your child:
1. Remember that gaming should occur only after your child completes their other responsibilities for the day. That should include homework and household chores. Be sure to check the quality and completeness of homework and chores prior to allowing your child to begin playing. Playing video games should be a privilege that is earned. Gaming is not an inalienable right!
2. Put clear limits on your child’s gaming. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests time allotted should be under 30 to 60 minutes per day on school days and 2 hours or less on non- school days. The group recommends even lower limits of under 1 hour of total screentime per day for children under 6 years old, and they encourage parents to determine the appropriate amount of time for video games and other electronic media use for children over the age of 6. They provide an online planner to assist parents in deciding on screentime. Regardless of what limits you think are appropriate, some days each week should involve no gaming. It is crucial to ensure that your child develops, maintains, and enjoys other,non-screentime activities.
3. In designing your rules, consider a reasonable time frame for reassessment. You can follow your plan for 1 or 2 months and then reevaluate it. Instituting a temporary change will result in greater buy-in than a permanent change. You may decide that the initial planis too restrictive. You could then loosen it after a couple of months if your child is adhering to it and no problems are evident. Remember that it is easier to loosen restrictions than to tighten them.
4. Determine a realistic consequence for breaking the rules. The outcome for violating the rules must be enforceable and immediately applicable. You do not want to tell your 14-year-old child they cannot get their driver’s permit when she is 16 if they break the rules next week. A more reasonable option is a complete ban on gaming (or media use more generally) for several days or weeks if they do not abide by the rules.
5. Make sure you know and approve of which games your child is playing. As a parent of a minor, you have the right — and the responsibility. Ask them directly or view web browsers if you are unsure. Find out about their preferred games.In addition to setting rules about times for playing, you should also include rules related to the types of games allowed. You can and should prevent purchase anduse of games with extreme violence or graphic sexual content.
6. Once you have established your rules, you must consistently monitor and apply them. You cannot allow your child to bend the rules when you are tired or distracted. You cannot apply the rules differently if your child feels ill or does not have any homework one day. Regardless of other issues that arise, you need to follow through with the consequences immediately if your child breaks the rules. You must feel comfortable with the plan you propose, and you must be committed, willing and able to follow through with it. If there are two parents, both must be on board with the monitoring of gaming time and rules surrounding it.
7. Identify other recreational activities. Replacing gaming with other activities is critical to changing excessive gaming behavior. Your child is gaming in large part because they finds it fun and it is something they are good at. Gaming can be done virtually any time, with little planning or effort. Because many devices are used for other activities, a game is just one click — and one second — away. When your child has little else to do, games are always there to fill the time.To help your child fill free time, actively promote participation in other recreational activities. Consider activities that you and other family members can do with your child.The replacement of activities should be on the days of the week and duringthe times of the day when your child most often plays video games.
8. Offer positive reinforcement for non-gaming activities. Provide rewards to your child when they are involved in activities that do not relate to gaming. These rewards can be tangible, involving actual goods, services or even money. They can also be intangible, such as verbal praise or simply attention. You can replace gaming times with rewarding recreational activities, and these activities can also serve as rewards for not gaming.If your child has been gaming at a level that is causing harm, most likely one of the adverse consequences has been a worsening of your relationship with them. Positive reinforcement for non-gaming activity is one way to improve that relationship, and that can be rewarding to a child, too.
Pause and Reset: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Overcoming Problems with Gaming isby Nancy M. Petry, PhD. Copyright © 2019 by Author and published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Nancy M. Petry, PhD, was a behavioral scientist who conducted research on addictive disorders and a professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some good rules to set around video games? It’s a good rule to set time limits on video games by a child’s age. For kids over 6, experts say no more than 60 minutes on school days and 2 hours on non-school days. Kids under 6 should have a limit of less than one hour per day. Other good rules include gaming only after homework and chores are done and keeping some days of the week game-free.
How many hours of video games should a 12-year-old play? The American Academy of Pediatrics says that children over 6 should spend no more than 60 minutes gaming on school days and 2 hours on non-school days.
How do I know if my child is playing video games too much? Your child’s video game habit might be a problem if they are staying up all night gaming, losing interest in other activities or friends, or if their schoolwork is suffering because of playing video games.
This article was last reviewed or updated on March 8, 2024.
FAQs
It's a good rule to set time limits on video games by a child's age. For kids over 6, experts say no more than 60 minutes on school days and 2 hours on non-school days. Kids under 6 should have a limit of less than one hour per day.
How long should a 14 year old play video games per day? ›
Yousuf said pediatricians generally recommend the following guidelines: Under 2 years old: Zero screen time, except for video chatting with family or friends. 2-5 years old: No more than one hour per day co-viewing with a parent or sibling. 5-17 years old: Generally no more than two hours per day, except for homework.
Why video games are good for kids mental health? ›
Emotional resilience.
When you fail in a game or in other situations, it can be frustrating. Video games help people learn how to cope with failure and keep trying. This is an important tool for children to learn and use as they get older.
Do 70 percent of parents believe video games have a positive influence on their children's lives? ›
The report also shows 70 percent of parents believe video games have a positive influence on their children's lives, and that the overwhelming majority of parents trust video game ratings and parental controls.
Is 4 hours of gaming too much? ›
A good rule to follow is anything more than a couple of hours of gaming is probably too much for a single session. Four hours would certainly be considered excessive to most researchers, especially for students, since education and building healthy habits should take priority.
Why do people with ADHD love video games? ›
Video games hold special attractions for children with ADHD. A child who's bothered by distractibility in the real world may be capable of intense focus, or hyperfocus, while playing. Nor is hyperactivity a problem; a child can hold the controllers and stand or pace back and forth in front of the TV as he plays.
What is a healthy limit on video games? ›
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests 30-60 minutes of gaming per day on school nights and 2-hours per day during the weekend. Try using that as a starting point and reevaluating based on their behavior. Talk it out. As you begin developing a video game plan, involve your child in the process.
Is 10 hours of video games too much? ›
Plus, there's the amount of time spent doing it. Studies show that those with gaming disorders typically spend eight to 10 hours a day or at least 30 hours a week playing video games. Besides the behavioral health concerns, other potential health risks can happen.
Can video games affect a child's brain? ›
While video games can have benefits for children, they can also have negative effects on their brain and behavior if not used in moderation. Therefore, it is important to establish clear rules and boundaries around video game usage and to monitor the content and age-appropriateness of the games your child is playing.
Are video games bad for kids with ADHD? ›
Researchers interpreted the findings to suggest that video game playing can “compound kids' existing attention problems.” But the study results don't offer supporting evidence that the games cause or worsen the attention problems — they just suggest that kids who play the most have more severe ADHD symptoms. Dr.
It's good to set video game time limits by age. For kids over the age of 6, the American Academy of Pediatrics says no more than 60 minutes on school days and 2 hours on non-school days. Kids under 6 should spend closer to 30 minutes.
What age group is most addicted to video games? ›
According to current research:
- The majority of addicted gamers are adolescents and young adults within the age bracket of 18 to 34 years old.
- The average age of a gaming addict is 24 years of age.
- Around 8.5% of children and teenagers under 18 around the world may be addicted to gaming.
Studies show video games have a positive effect on children including better performance on cognitive skills tests involving impulse control and working memory compared to children who have never played video games. Chances are your kids play video games, or someday they will.
How video games help successful aging? ›
Video Games Encouraging Physical Activity
For instance, a recent release, The Beatles: Rock Band is at least partially geared towards baby boomers and seniors and encourages physical activity. Other games, such as Brain Age, focus more on improving memory and enhancing visual recognition skills.
How long should a 12 year old play video games per day? ›
According to The American Academy of Pediatrics, that time should be under 30 to 60 minutes per day on school days and 2 hours or less on non-school days. These numbers should be even lower when it comes to younger children. If your child follows this video game schedule, there will be no problem.
Is 1 hour of gaming too much? ›
But, Jean Twenge, a psychology professor and researcher at San Diego State University, claims that “one to two hours a day is the safe limit for teens.” You are probably playing video games too much if you neglect your health, your family, or your job.
How much video games is too much for a kid? ›
While research suggests that behavioral issues can start to appear with children who play more than nine hours of video games a day – one hour on weekdays, two on weekends – many parents look for common signals that their child is playing too many video games, including: Irritability when not allowed to play games.
What to do when your child only wants to play video games? ›
Work together with your child to find a new technique he can use to try to shut down the video games in a much more timely fashion. For example, maybe you discuss the idea of your child avoiding certain more engaging games at certain times, or set up a reward system for turning the game off when a timer goes off.
Is there anything wrong with playing video games as an adult? ›
Excessive gaming can have a significant negative impact on relationships, education, career, sleep, mental and physical health, stress, maladaptive coping, and a negative impact on other important life areas.
Why do ADHD brains need dopamine? ›
A consensus of the literature suggests that when there is a dysfunction in the “brain reward cascade,” especially in the dopamine system, causing a low or hypo-dopaminergic trait, the brain may require dopamine for individuals to avoid unpleasant feelings.
Screen time can impact on myopia development and progression, and is also linked to dry eye syndrome, digital eyestrain, and poor head and neck postures which can cause pain. Teenagers are recommended to have no more than 2 hours of sedentary, recreational screen time per day.
Is 1 hour of video games a day okay? ›
It's good to set video game time limits by age. For kids over the age of 6, the American Academy of Pediatrics says no more than 60 minutes on school days and 2 hours on non-school days. Kids under 6 should spend closer to 30 minutes.
Is 12 hours gaming too much? ›
15-20 hours every week is starting to overplay, and more than 21 hours every week(3hrs every day) is the type of gameplay that will start to have a detrimental impact on wellbeing according to this Oxford study. However that in itself isn't a gaming disorder.
What time should a 14-year-old be home? ›
While some parents rely on a set curfew, others make the rules fit he circ*mstances. For example, if your teen gets home from after-school activities at 7 p.m., a weekday curfew of 10 p.m. may make sense. On the weekends, maybe 11 p.m. is a more reasonable time. It depends on your family's schedule and your child.
