Embracing Your Gamer Kid | Cara Lane | TEDxIdahoFalls

One night I chose to be curious instead of critical with my kids and finally asked them why video games are so important to you. You will see. I had just called them to eat. It's time for dinner. Without an answer, can anyone relate to that scenario? it's time for dinner still silence true confession angry I walked into his room I grabbed my big toe and kicked the power button on the Xbox you would have thought it was the end of the world the boys were so angry and upset with me and the screen went blank, they were only in elementary school at the time and I took them to dinner and a typical mom's response would have been, "you're wasting

your

life on video games or

your

brain is going to rot.

I'm so glad I did it." made". They chose to be curious and were surprised mom, you really want to know. Yes mom. Everyone we know plays video games. They weren't exaggerating according to the Entertainment Software Association. 2.5 billion people on this p

lane

t are

gamer

s. Gamer simply refers to someone who plays video games. That's a third of the entire human race for

gamer

s for every US household. The gaming industry is about to hit the $200 billion mark which is double that of Hollywood. This is a serious business and is can make money guys help me discover a world, I didn't know anything about being a parent because the only thing I grew up with was this baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka I guess you can say I have a Pacman mom perspective about video games, but today's games are connected interactive multiplayer. entertainment experience Games are full of competition, problem solving, puzzles, logic, good stuff, right?

Games are also full of conversations, culture, history, musical scores, artistic dialogues, moral choices, real wartime efforts, things you really want them to learn, and games have philosophy, strategy and amazing abilities, okay in terms simple. In terms of terms, some of you might need this. Imagine reading a really good book or watching a great movie or a great sporting event and this time you can manipulate it, compete and interact with it, that's a modern video game in my interview with one of the co. The producers of the Call of Duty series, Candy Harris, claim that the games also include streaming tournaments and even a connection with developers and professionals like her, the boys continued to teach me more things, Mom, when you turn off the game, you weaken a suspension and mom, we have a responsibility and you keep asking us to stop the game mom, you can't pause an online game, seriously mom, you can't pause a game and then they said this, you actually hurt us when you call us loners and losers, mom, we are still live. a headset in a multiplayer game with our friends, our school friends and we're actually meeting new real friends, that was the day I had a momentous Epiphany.

I'm more alone in the kitchen making dinner than my kids playing upstairs, so I started Embracing My Kids as Gamers and this is what I scream to this day. It's almost time for dinner. Where are you in your game? I find that I make the adjustments and then we have that peaceful, connected family dinner that I wanted in the first place. One time, my oldest son, Connor, came up to me and Mom and said, Mom, seriously, what do I have to do to make you leave me alone after 3 p.m.? today, guess what, I was actually glad he was communicating with me because then I realized I could use it to my advantage, so I made a list, do your homework, interact with grandma at lunch, eye contact and everyone does your homework, and I even added. pulling weeds off the list, this kid did everything, check, said mom, this is great, all he really wanted to do this afternoon was move up the ranks.

As you see, in games there are levels, leagues and rewards to earn, so I thought if it is important. For him it had to be important to me too and this is exactly what Boise State University eSports Athletic Director Dr. Chris Haskell says of his academic esports athletes that he is looking for players who have goals and are willing to improve on their game. Many universities now provide scholarships for esports. Esports is synonymous with esports, video games and that will help those students because both the military and many. Racing now uses video game simulation in its work.

I started treating the games like a real sport with practices and everything. I would even let my kids play on school nights if they did their responsibilities first. Well, guys, tonight from 6:30 to 9, I'll win. I didn't bother you at all and they were surprised. Hey, could you go to your kids' soccer practice or baseball game and start yelling at the coach? The coach stops doing everything my son needs to do to take out the trash. Now of course not, so I decided to let my son do it. uninterrupted child's play if they fulfilled their responsibilities first oh, you don't need to have a controller in your hand to care.

Well, the one time I tried to play a modern video game it was a disaster. Well, I was running around the battlefield just trying. to find out where I was and I was yelling at my kids hey where am I where are you and then my youngest son Rylan says well what do you see mom blue blue all I see is blue uh mom that's the sky oh I had to do it ? I move my right thumb down on the controller just to get the right perspective to even see and be in the game. That was the day I discovered that playing modern video games is extremely difficult with hand-eye coordination.

I mean, this goes much further. pac-man we are now entering a new era and in a new scenario the three most watched sporting events to date are the football world cup, the Super Bowl and the League of Legends tournament, a video game competition where everyone plays in this video game. a different role an ESPN article just read that eSports will be considered for this year's Olympics when I say that to young people, guess what they tell me, oh I'll watch the Olympics, then the games unite the whole world with your common language and it's a team dynamic, young people watch other people play video games and I've heard a lot of you criticize like I used to, presto, oh my gosh, you even watch other people play video games.

I mean, who does that? Guess what my husband is looking at. other people play, you see, he's a big 49ers fan and last season one of the games went to overtime and lasted four and a half hours. Now I went to lecture my husband and told him that you are rotting your brain and you are wasting your life, of course not. I choose to let my husband enjoy his professional sports and guess what, he didn't even play football and was alone the entire time he was watching the game, so when a video game kid or adult is watching someone else play a video .

In games, they usually watch the pros and watch the pros to get tips and tricks for the games they actually play with others. Now I had the opportunity to interview some professional players. One of them wants to remain completely anonymous so that His stories really get through to you, he said once he was with his extended family and they were all sharing about each other's lives and trying to catch up with each other when he got to him, he started to talk about video games and your love for playing one of your aunts, so rudely announced to everyone, why don't you tell us something that people will actually care about?

He said everyone had a good laugh at his part. He said he's barely spoken to that extended family since then and that's over. A decade ago I wondered what would have happened if that ant had chosen to be curious instead of critical, so this talk really isn't just for you parents, okay, this talk is for you, grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles. , godparents, good friends, school administrators and relatives. Out of curiosity, here is a simple solution: how to ask three questions, what games do you play, why do you like to play those games and can I watch you play sometime as if you were going to a court or field?

Oh, and this player also told me that one of the biggest pains in his life was when his father stopped playing with him completely. He said it would be like a little boy approaching his father. Hey, can we play ball? I've never thrown the ball with you, boy, go play ball with yourself. the rest of your life, two generations are gamers, Millennials and Generation Z, we could be in the same boat if we don't embrace gaming, we could lose connection with the people on the p

lane

t we love the most, well, bye, now I know what they are all of you.

On second thought, she didn't talk about any of the bad things about gaming, you know what you're right, you got me, it's true, there are concerns with any online communication and that's why it's even more important to be involved in the life of a child player. my own house over the years we have had an open dialogue about their online behavior and life balance these are my children all none of them are professional gamers but now years later I can listen to my son youngest, Rylan, playing with his brother. at college over 300 miles away this melts my heart the games have kept their connection close it's funny because what we don't realize is that sometimes I hear them talking about their day they laugh it's almost like my oldest son I would never have gone to college except his room is actually kept clean when I called my oldest son and he was really excited about this yeah I was selected to speak at TEDx Idaho Falls this is what he told me and I quote hey mom , playing all my life was really worth it.

To you, Ted means technological entertainment, and game design incorporates all of that. I'm so glad I discovered and embraced gaming. He has also kept my connection with my children close. In fact, now I want to bring my youngest son. Well, this is Ryland. Everyone, let's give him a hand, see that he's not always playing. Let me show you something. Embracing games is like hugging your own child, literally, you.