Minecraft: Is it for children?

freerepublic.com ^ | 4-7-2012 | raybbr

[raybbr]

My ten year old son has been watching videos of "Minecraft" on line. It looks pretty harmless.

The thing is I can't find any reviews or whole lot of information regarding the age level this game is for.

I am not a game player on the PC. The most I play is chess or hearts, etc. I would really appreciate any feedback on this issue before I plunk down $27 on it.

Thanks to all....!

[Fire_on_High]

It’s a lot of fun, and very kid friendly. The original server I started on was a group of friends, and then the admin’s 8 year old son joined up. He’s got him a private area that’s a quick Netherrun away but far enough no one feels like anyone is intruding on anyone else’s territory.

You can run your own server easily so you have access to who’s allowed on it, whitelisted by account name. I run one private server just for hubby and myself, and my sister runs another for the three of us, each using different seeds and slightly different addons.

[pollywog]

boy am I glad I found this thread. ( actually did a Google search on Minecraft and found it ! LOL right here on my home base.)

I am raising my 13 year old grandson. He has Minecraft and is playing it with his school buddies.

We have had lots of tension over the AMOUNT of time he can be online.
We came up with 2 hours a day on school days, and 4 hours each day on Weekends.
Help! Is that being fair? He always cries and says I am not being fair to make him stop.

oh and hubby and I are in our 70’s!!!! So you see...what do we oldies know.

[pollywog]

ping to the top for help.
what is a fair amount of time to alot to a 13 year old on a Saturday.

[pollywog]

would it be appropriate for a 13 year old to play with his buddies on a Saturday all morning... say about 5 or 6 hrs?
I’m not against it but afraid of over doing it.

[Windflier]

would it be appropriate for a 13 year old to play with his buddies on a Saturday all morning... say about 5 or 6 hrs?

I'm not going to tell you how to parent your kid - especially when it comes to something as inconsequential and harmless as a creative computer modeling game. I do understand your concern, though.

I'm from a generation that grew up outdoors doing things that most parents today would be aghast at. By the time I was eighteen, I don't think I possessed a square inch of skin that hadn't bled at some point in my childhood.

Honestly, I wish I could give my own kids the same sort of freedoms that I enjoyed as a child, but we live in a more degraded and dangerous world today. I've had to give in on things like computer and video games because of the restrictions I've had to impose on them.

I wouldn't worry about Mind Craft. As computer games go, that's one of the better ones. It's one hundred percent imagination, and kids get to use their minds building their own worlds. I like that a whole lot better than some of the violent shoot-em-up games they've played.

[pollywog]

thank you for your input on time frame and game playing.
I was born in 1941. TV was a rarity then! LOL

So I am really trying to balance this out since we have been given the job of raising a grandson in our senior years.

Now if all the rest of the world’s problems were this easy to solve! LOL

[combat_boots]

“He’s been building an entire world in that game, which is something I’m very much ok with.”

Strategy games are good things. Civilization and Outpost come to mind. If a child can get into the thick of how things work and how successful societies are built, there is hope for them after all.

[Windflier]

I was born in 1941. TV was a rarity then! LOL

I came along eight years after you, but my siblings and I didn't get all that much TV either. Mostly, there just wasn't all that much programming or channels in the fifties and sixties, and most kids' programming was on weekday afternoons, and Saturday mornings. Ozzie and Harriet was a complete bore, so my brothers and I played soldiers on the floor, or read comics. LOL

We lived for sunup, when I was a kid. The world outside was our playground, not blinking computer screens. Today, my wife and I do everything we can to get the kids outdoors, but it takes supervision sometimes, which is a job. In my day, Mom just kicked us out the door and told us to be back by sundown.

[Windflier]

If a child can get into the thick of how things work and how successful societies are built, there is hope for them after all.

I agree with that, which is one reason I'm comfortable with the Mind Craft game. I think of it as something like an electronic erector set. Whether virtual or solid, it's all good mental exercise.

I suppose my kids are the beneficiaries of my and my wife's conservative views and lifestyle. I wouldn't call us exemplary parental models by any means, but we home school them, and that includes a whole lot of old fashioned home training (like what we grew up with).

We see that translated into things like the games and other things they're interested in. I must say that sometimes I'm completely amazed at their direction (and more than a little pleased). My seven year old has been building a world in Mind Craft for months now, and it's surprising how intricate it's become. I'm really good with that.