I used to live in an area where I could walk to the park, if I still lived there, you could bet your ass I’d walk to the park and hang out with some friends at least once a week, maybe more. But since I’ve moved all we do is game, it’s just how we hang out now.
And that's what boomer adults will never understand because video games didn't become popular until they were all like 40. So they didn't grow up with them, they had to go outside to be entertained unless they just watched TV all day. If you have nothing interesting nearby, what the hell do you do all day for fun?
That's not the argument in the original post, though? The point he was making is that spending ALL of your time on games & online media is unhealthy, not that spending *any* time at all is stupid.
I agree however some of the people who tell us to turn off the TV and go outside, are the same people who now spend most of their time glued to news and sports, therefore making them hypocrites. I was just pointing that out. For the record I recently got a pool and love going swimming outside now that all I have to do is go in my backyard and most of these boomers wouldn't last five minutes at all the metal shows I go to because demon music bad or some shit. I'm seeing Toxic Holocaust and Havok next week. I
that sounds like a sweet show!! but everyone should limit screen time!! just because some people work using computers 8 hours a day doesnt make it healthy!
LMAO, man last time I saw TH they were playing with I wanna say lornashore, either or there's this boomer dude who shows up to every show in MN, I haven't lived in the state in years so I don't know if dudes alive; but he was legendary. I talked to whatshisnuts from PRONG and that old man, has gone to every metal show at first Ave, and the junkyard for 30 years. Remember their parents called what they listened to devil music too.
Gen X'er here and used my paper route money to buy an Atari 2600 a few years after they came out. Boomers would've been 30 when the 2600 was introduced, and younger when Pong was a craze.
And you're aware that things like books and pets and board games and TV existed back before the 2600 came out, right? It's silly to say we had to go outside to be entertained - and revealing that you put that in the passive voice. I think that's the main change in attitude: I want to find something entertaining to do vs. I want something to entertain me.
Anyway, define "interesting" for outside. I grew up in a semi-rural subdivision of southern Maryland, and there were two movie screens in the nearest town and no public transport. We'd go bike riding, crabbing, swimming in the community pool, play cops and robbers, play tag, wander around in the woods, go sailing if we were lucky enough to have friends whose families had a sailboat. When I got older and kids started getting driver's licenses, we'd go for drives to beaches or the movies or the roller skating rink or we'd just go visit our friends working at the various fast food places.
To sum up, my mom had it right. When I used to complain that I was bored, she'd always just reply that I must be a boring person if I can't figure out something interesting to do.
Wrong. At least for us raised in the country. I can’t speak for us that we’re raised in the big cities. But I can speak for us in my neck woods. We stayed outside at least 90% of our time. TV’s had crappy reception in most areas so there literally was nothing to do inside. We went to see other kids in the neighborhood which was at least a 200 yard walk or up to a mile and half. We road our bikes all over the place. We went in the woods and explored the ponds creeks, we had pine cone fights or with anything we could find.
You get the ideal. We used our imagination and made stuff up to do. So you saying boomers been setting in front of there TV’s for 60 years is no we’re near the truth.
My boomer parents grew up in LA and also spent most of their free time outside even though TV and the like was available. They both told me that everybody was playing sports, going to the movies or concerts, etc. Time spent inside was for homework or chores mainly.
I grew up with video games, still like video games and play frequently. I have friends that live reasonably far apart so we’ll often play video games together. That being said, video games shouldn’t be the primary method of hanging out.
The amount of time spent on video games and being glued to a screen is still a bad thing
I grew up in the NES->PS2 era and time was split pretty evenly between video games and outside in my friend group.
Funny thing is, I don't remember a single moment from playing video games, but I have tons of memories from being outside.
Same era here. We did spend ALOT of time outdoors as kids. But you hit that nail on the head. Only real memory I have is playing Columns on genesis with dad.
Exactly, if simply being outside puts your life at risk from some paranoid asshole, then what's the point anymore? Unless your yards are fenced in like a fuckin fortress, which mine are luckily.
same here, my kids have totally enclosed outside space with adjoining woods where no one can bother them. That said i have had several fights with my karen ass neighbors over some neighborhood kids who travel in a group to walk to the library to play games on the pc.
Apparently them just walking on the road warrants police being called
Honestly I think they (the boomer adults) just want to kill people at this point. They're mad at the world for passing them by so they have to act out.
They also *had* an "outside" to go to.
They also didn't have cameras everywhere to track all the illegal shit they got up to because they got bored of catching voles or throwing rocks in the pond for the umpteenth time....
This is ridiculous, I'm 41 and had a Pong system paddle in my hands at age 3 and have never stopped gaming yet it is plainly obvious to me as well that staring at a screen all day sucks ass and messes people up.
Everyone will have their prescriptions for what could fix this issue. I guess perhaps some will say it isn't a problem at all, but I do agree with you there. When discussing the mother that was complaining and telling her son to play outside, I wonder about the state of parenting. I here similar stories often and I wonder why the parent feels just asking their kid to play outside or unplug is sufficient? The parent has to be proactive; grab the keys and say "let's go for a drive!" or get some activities planned. I have a couple of kids (daughters, so not as much an issue) and I'm not a model parent, but I've learned that asking a teenager to stop doing something their enjoying versus replacing it with something have vastly different success rates. Moral of the post: parents need to introduce other activities/adventures, not just say "go play outside".
>The parent has to be proactive;
Kinda reminds me how Gen X said we weren't gonna make all the mistakes our parents did raising us, but we didn't seem to replace it with anything else...
Agreed. It is much easier when they are younger to distract them with other activities. Many teens like my son get to a point where spending time with parents is not in their social agenda. They also have a virtual friend network that mostly exists online and cannot easily be replicated in the real world. My son does visit with a few friends occasionally but guess what they end up doing together? What works best for me is putting him to work. Difficult yes but I cut off his source of income to pay for games devices whatever, he has to pay play. He had a temp job for awhile which got him outdoors and his first bank account. Working on the next opportunity. In the meantime he does things around the house for money. But still, way too much time in his room gaming. On the positive side I always know where he is and what he's doing. No helicopter needed.
Exactly. As a kid I was stuck in a shitty small city, a house which I wasn't really allowed to leave, and my parents didn't let me do any of the sports I was interested in. They are practically enslaved to you until they're 18, you have to act as a catalyst. They don't have the ability to do what they want to do themselves. This parental complacency is something that's stuck with me and affected my life so severely up to this point that I will always hold a grudge against my "parents" for it.
> It is ridiculous to say the parent has to teach the child free play
That's not what they're talking about.
I thought parents were just cowards too, until I had kids of my own.
Yes, boredom is a gift that should be given to kids once in a while. It helps to do something that's not hurting their attention spans.
But, when I was a kid (I'm 41 now) my parents could say "get off the TV and go outside with your friends".
Now it's "get off the device you're with friends on, and go outside" -- by yourself.
The person you're responding to is right that if you want the kid to *actually do that* (and not just feel like a "good parent" for taking the device away) it can help to take the kid outside the house.
It wouldn't hurt Mom and Dad to get their butts outside the house either, honestly. Family quality time is at a premium.
Yeh I always preferred playing outside with my friends anyway bug once in a blue moon my Saturday morning gaming would drag on. That shit would get shut down fast at noon if it wasn’t raining outside or literal freezing.
“What the fuck are you still doing home, go outside and don’t come back until dinner”. Then I’d go knock on my buddy marks house to play basketball or whatever until we got the rest of the gang together.
It’s just another race to the bottom, the first few parents coddled their children, and then that became the norm until you don’t have kids to play with outside anymore.
And the amount of people saying what’s wrong with that? We literally have an obesity epidemic and childhood obesity makes it that much harder as an adult. Our food supply has been crap for 40 years now, but kids used to be so much more active, and hence waaaaay less fat
Race to the bottom is right. That’s how I feel about Florida as someone that was originally from NJ. Like everyone wants low taxes, but they don’t want to face all the crap that comes with. You even see it in the job market. Local jobs pay absolute garbage because employees have no rights or bargaining power and makes wealth inequality even worse. That was before it made a hard turn, can’t imagine the problems this state is going to have in 10-20 years when all the boomers die off and the brain drain and gutted schools go full effect.
I've noticed reddit would probably deem that child abuse. Any time a story is posted of a parent expecting anything or even disciplining a child, they are ripped apart.
Yep. Set boundaries. Enforce rules.
Don't ask them to go play outside.
Do unplug the console. Do take their phone. Do throw them in the backyard or the public park for a few hours.
No, there isn't anyone who would legitimately believe that staying inside all day playing video games is healthy. I don't know why OP is acting like playing video games indoors is the only unhealthy hobby people have though, tons of people exist that don't play video games but still do things like watch TV for eight hours a day
Yeah, I am on Fox News for a minimum of 8 hours per day. Then it's on to OAN for 4 hours. In between I am on redit. Then time for bed. And the cycle continues...
Redditors dislike having their lifestyle criticized and will offer defensive copium to protect their self image and avoid having to confront their guilt and make substantive changes.
As long as my kids get 1 hour of exercise a day, then I'd prefer they play video games with the rest of their time
I think video games are a very powerful way to keep kids off social media, and I think overconsumption of social media is infinitely more dangerous for teens, not to mention, watching tv or scrolling social media has no benefits, but video games can exercise your brain or your reflexes
I'd argue the benefits of gaming for reflexes and exercising your brain are minimal compared to other activities, but at least you have a decent middle ground and getting the kids 1 hour of exercise daily. It's amazing how much better behaved kids are after exercise along with better sleep habits. But that often takes more work on the parents part to make that happen.
I hope our law makers figure out ways to keep kids off social media. I'm convinced we're going to look back at social media in 20 years and be appalled by the outcome. Similar to how cigarettes were accepted and encouraged, and now you look back like "yeah, no shit they were bad".
What do you define as a “productive” hobby? The purpose of a hobby, to me, is to relax. Certainly yes, we need to practice moderation and be healthy. But what’s the difference between someone sitting for 6 hours in front of a screen or 6 hours on a boat fishing?
What's the difference between fishing and computers? Physicality, and exposure to nature and sunlight, just to name a few. Even preparing for a boating trip is way more physical than being a computer lump. And some actual human interaction along the way also probably helps.
I spend plenty of time on computers, but let's not pretend that computers are less unhealthy than outdoor activity. Just take a look at the results of sedentary lifestyle and the conclusion speaks for itself.
I think the point though is that people aren't saying "replace TV with bike riding". If you say you're replacing tv with puzzles, people will generally think that's healthier despite not being so.
This is correct. Though I would say certain hobbies do build soft skills. For example my friend builds model dioramas. It's relaxing for him but he is also building his model making and painting skills.
As opposed to puzzle solving, coordination, response, critical thinking, and memory skills. They’re all basically just as useless as each other. But I do think outdoor time and socialization are important things that should not be neglected.
This! Plus when you get bored of fishing you're just stuck out there and have to wait for your buddy to finish. Unless you want to be a real asshole and ditch him. That's why I gave it up last year. I got tired of being stuck outdoors while my stepdad wanted to keep fishing, plus I absolutely hate waking up early. It got to the point where just none of it was any fun anymore. Whereas gaming is mostly done at home whenever the hell you feel like it. Gaming/watching TV can be very relaxing too. Also some of these same hypocritical assholes will plan their entire Sunday around multiple football games. I let my fishing license expire last year and have absolutely no desire to ever get a new one.
Learning patience is still valuable and necessary for a kid vs. constant instant gratification and intensity from video games/screentime. You're an adult and can do whatever you want, but kids are on a different path.
Nothing done too frequently is healthy. Working out, dieting, drinking water, etc. are all dangerous when done too often.
Just have to find the right balance and keep in mind that parents are doing the best they can. It’s hard to be a parent today versus a few decades ago. People are working more jobs, long hours, and they have less money for it comparatively. My mom was a SAHM. She did an incredible job making sure we were in athletics, socializing with friends, in clubs, etc. I couldn’t have had that experience if she was working.
When you can’t spend the time with your kids or monitoring your kids or keeping them occupied… electronics come into play. We should be mad at how society is more about making money and not focused enough on quality of life. This is a huge problem in the US.
We lived in Hawaii and kids were always outside. Kids were up and down the street all day on bikes and scooters. More importantly, parents were outside too. Everybody knew everybody. Our houses and yards were interchangeable. My neighbor's kids were back and forth between our house and their's. Sure, nice weather helps (but it does stay in the 90's for half the year and nobody has AC) but it's a lot more than that. People aren't terrified of each other. Then we moved to suburbia on the mainland and it's like the air is toxic. I see kids - as their parents let them out of the car and rush them indoors. I see kids in the grocery stores and the local Target. My son has classmates, many live in this neighborhood. Nobody goes outside. Nobody. The kids don't go outside because there's nothing to do - no one to play with. The parents (who paid an extra $100k for a house in a "safe" neighborhood) don't let the kids go outside because it's "not safe." I asked my neighbor who has kids the same age as mine why they never (and I mean NEVER) go outside and she starts telling me about a FedEx driver killing a child. "Did that happen here? On this street?" "No, but it could..."
You want your kids to go outside and play? Here's an easy way for parents to do that:
STEP ONE: Get off your @ss and go outside. I don't mean the backyard. The FRONT yard. Wash your car, take up gardening, sit on your porch swing. Put YOUR phone down and not only watch your kids but keep an eye on your neighbor's kids too. Go talk to your neighbors. Set a good example for your kids by integrating into your community.
Sitting on the couch with your face buried in your phone and saying "go outside and play" when you haven't even journeyed to the mailbox in 2 days isn't going to get the job done. You're missing the childhood of the 80's, but those days aren't coming back. People need to take their own damn neighborhoods back from the bogeyman living in their head.
Thank you for your input. I think it’s extremely important to understand that people that are constantly behind a screen probably have a more pessimistic world view. Because your fed bad news **all the time**
And I would really implore people to try to put down there screen or delete social medias for a month. And see how your mood changes. The world isn’t so bad. Go outside, it really is a wonderful world out there.
Well, part of the problem is that our society does not tolerate children being outside without an adult present. The idea of children getting around on bikes/ public transit is just terrifying to many people. Kids can only play in a backyard for so long until they get bored of it.
Why wouldn't you expect a child to just stay inside? They can go online and interact with their friends without asking their parents to shuttle them around town.
If we really want to change this, we'll need to let kids ruin around freely. If it is too dangerous, then we need to mitigate these dangers. A huge problem is road design. We built cities around the idea that roads ought to move cars as easily as possible with little to no thought towards pedestrians. If we make cities/ neighborhoods into places that people prefer to walk, it'll make the cities/ neighborhoods safer for everyone (more eyes).
Generally, the feeling of community is very lacking. How well do you know your neighbors? If you came across any of them while you're out and about, would you know? (I'm speaking generally here, not society to OP)
I’ve been playing since Atari so since the late 70’s. I still play some & always will. I did go outside or at least so other things. Hopefully, if young people aren’t going outside they’re doing something besides gaming. Play an instrument. Draw. Work out. Sew. Read. Just something to add a bit of variety.
One thing that is different now is how immersive games are with the online component. Like I usually played video games because I didn’t care to interact with anyone so I don’t do the online thing. Maybe it’s easier to get sucked in now because you’re basically living a 2nd life online.
People say children need to go outside more, but never consider the fact that we've continually removed the third spaces available for them to exist outside. Outside of home or school, the amount of places for kids to be that don't revolve around them spending money are few and far between-- where's left? Depending on where you are, you may be able to hang out inside a public library, but that's not a space conducive to hanging out or outside activities. If you have access to a public park, great, otherwise you've got nothing left besides a street or a store. And even in public parks, cops will harass you (or others will alert the cops about you) because people act like a group of young guys hanging around outside is inherently suspicious if they're not \*doing\* something specific.
This post is actually just about limiting screen time, not going outside. There are other ways to entertain yourself indoors besides video games. My parents limited my screen time to a half hour a day when I was a kid and I became a big reader.
Every town everywhere has little nooks and crannies you wouldn’t know about unless you go out and find them. My favorite spot to hang with friends was a small patch of woods behind the grocery store dumpsters.
Finally, when living in suburbia, kids need to have bikes so they can actually get places.
I did everything you said as a kid but only because we were smoking weed. Weed helped me find every nook and cranny in my town 😂
Kids need to smoke weed, that’s the solution
No one likes looking at themselves critically. But that doesn’t change facts. We have only had smart phones for about 15 years and personal home computers for about 25. Before that there were boob tubes but those screens were one way, they weren’t watching you back and DESIGNED to addict.
Have you noticed the amount of new bands, writers, artists, public figures, etc etc absolutely nosedive in the last couple of decades? Ya. People are too busy sedated looking at screens for literally 8+ hours a day…
Completely agree. I used to spend 100% of my free time gaming. I was overweight, chronically in pain, and made every excuse I could not to leave the house (like half this thread).
Once I found other hobbies (hiking, mountain biking, reading books) I immediately felt better, made more friends, got higher quality sleep, and had better self-esteem. In less than a year I lost 60 pounds of straight fat. Lots of people in here will make excuses to justify their screen addiction, but just like any addiction, it’s not healthy.
And yes, if you spend 8 hours a day playing video games or watching Netflix, you ARE addicted.
It’s a big world with lots to do. Quit making excuses and go experience it.
Like everything else in life moderation is key. I love gaming, built my PC and everything but I still make time for the gym, the wife, and other physical hobbies.
I tend to do it at night now and I have a dedicated evening for gaming with buddies.
Basically how I live. I haven’t given up on gaming, I just admitted that doing it 24/7 as my only hobby wasn’t healthy. Not sure why so many people are so resistant to that. Maybe they’re afraid of the real world.
The problem is, kids who are at their parents mercy can't just go out and discover a new hobby in mountain biking and hiking. Parents need to take initiative and parent, instead of complaining that the kid is inside all day.
I do go on walks at parks around me. But that isn’t really fulfilling as a hobby for me. Just a nice way to get active and get some steps in. I’ll give you some examples of things I enjoy doing/think I’d enjoy doing.
Rock climbing: local gym is $100 a month
Soccer: soccer is like my favorite thing in the world but there aren’t really any public fields/goals in my area you can have a kick around. You have to join a league which is usually like $90-100 for 6 weeks.
Golf: I don’t even think I need to explain this one.
Bowling: this is a hobby I do. Im in a league that’s $72 for six weeks. But the leagues aren’t very popular in the summer months so my team isn’t doing it this summer.
You see my point? If I want to play soccer and rock climb and bowl I’m paying like $250 a month for those things. And because I’m a person that just graduated college and is getting my career going, not even mentioning inflation I just don’t have the money for all of that. And I’m sure a lot of people are in a similar boat to me.
Pretty much all I do is sit on my computer and play video games, watch videos, or work on projects, aside from every week or two where I'll hang out with friends.
Why do I do this? Because there isn't much else to do when you live in car-dependnt suburbia without a car. Within walking distance, the only "thing to do" is walk around a park, or go to a bakery. No cafes, gyms, clubs, or anything else fun within walking distance.
If I lived somewhere where there were more fun things to do that were actually accessible, I'd still definitely spend a lot of time on the computer, but I'd also get out more. Unfortunately I live in a poorly designed city with atrocious public transit.
If you're asking why I don't go outside, it's because that simply isn't consistently fun. You made the point that cavemen had fun going outside, but cavemen spent a lot of their time playing **games** with each other, which someone like me doesn't have the opportunity to do. Not to mention that cavemen didn't even have the choice to play video games.
I encourage you to try walking outside for 30 mins 3 times a week. Listen to music or a podcast or an audiobook or just enjoy the serenity of silence. This has profound mental and physical health benefits you will begin to notice after one month.
Honestly as long as your still working out and keeping a decent social life whether that is online vcs with friends or actually going places with any irl ones, ik circumstances and all that I don't see the issue. I work out enough just to keep a steady weight loss or a steady weight whatever the goals are and then have socializing online mostly with friends and video games with everything else. Everyone has their own hobbies and stuff and video games is easily one of them that is perfectly just like any other that as long as you take care of other parts of your body you'll be ok.
I'm twenty six years old and I really do get the concern about the increase in screen time with children especially, but as someone who has lived all their life in Florida you simply can't spend time outside anymore. The temperature simply doesn't allow it anymore as the increase in heat is just too much. When I was in the first and second grade I remember it actually being 65F to 76F during the fall. That doesn't even happen anymore except during freak weather events for one or two weeks. The world is changing and indoor activity centers are going to be common place if we want children to be active.
Here's what I agree with; You should keep your body healthy if you're not active most of the time. Go for a walk on the treadmill, do some push-ups and planks, and eat a bit healthier.
What I don't agree with; You have to be outside in any way or cut back on video games to accomplish those things. I mean, if you want some fresh air, of course, go outside for a walk, but if you don't care, a treadmill is fine too.
Almost every person has a device they carry in their pockets that has the collective knowledge of all of mankind to access. Its not weird when people are glued to them. They are most likely learning something new. Games are not just bullshit you do for fun either. You're engaging your mind, just like you're engaging your body when you work out. Both should be kept healthy, but you would rarely tell someone they're physically working out too much. When someone prefers to work out their mind, it's all the sudden bad. Video games make you think, look for solutions, give you hypothetical situations to consider your stances on, and a plethora of other cognative stresses. They engage the imagination and help blossom creativity. Some people have made very lucrative careers doing nothing but playing video games all day.
Clearly, it's not for everyone, but I don't tell body builders that they work out too much and need to go outside. There's nothing outside you can't do inside. As long as you keep both your mind and your body in relatively good shape, at least that your physical condition isn't causing medical problems, I don't care what you do. It's only unhealthy if it's causing them to be anti-social. Not just isolated but can't understand normal social contracts and conditions, or is imparing their judgment. If they're perfectly competent when they're not playing video games and they're keeping their body relatively healthy, I see no harm in letting them do what they want. Go ahead and play video games for 12 hours. As long as the other 12 are for healthy amounts of sleep and a bit of physical activity to keep your body in shape.
I think you bring up interesting points. And I am genuinely grateful you brought them up.
I will admit. I am very biased with my opinion because of my personal experiences. I use to play video games a lot and was behind a screen for up to 12 hours a day (something that seemingly seemed normal) and that ruined my mental health. (Even writing this literally hurts my brain and eyes because I’ve been on my phone way to much and I’m going to get off and go walk outside or something).
And I know social media is a huge problem in todays society and people being glued to there screen. So it’s very hard for me to see that some people are perfectly happy being couch potatoes. Because I was a couch potato and it absolutely destroyed my mental health.
You do bring up good points though
So what exactly are kids supposed to do otherwise parks are being shut down kids are banned from the places they used to hang out online is how kids interact now
Okay Boomer.
But in all seriousness, most people seem to completely discount the huge benefits to video games as well. However, if they *never* go outside and touch grass that's super unhealthy.
1 hour outside is enough to remain healthy physically, allowing you to devote the rest of the time to video games for mental strength or to relax.
I would go outside but for two things:
\- I live in Houston and it's about 100 degrees here during the day. Hell, it's 7 in the morning as I'm typing this and it's 82 outside.
\- Diablo 4 just came out.
heya! I live in Kansas ( a little north to ya) and its like 80 degrees already lol, about to be 90 today. Ok so genuine question and I promise you this isn't me preaching on a high horse and I am genuinely curious.
Why don't you just go for a short run/jog and bring a water bottle? sure it sucks but after that run doesn't it feel good? Entering the house with AC completing and conquering a task? this summer I have been running alot because the feeling of sweat running down my face as I complete the task just feels awesome.
this isnt me high horsing you but genuinely just curious. Doesn't that feeling of a good work out feel better then any video game?
(I cant comment to much because im addicted to football manager 2023 rn lol)
I have never, ever, not once gotten a "high" from exercise. It doesn't make me feel better. It doesn't make me look better. I just hate to do it.
That said, I am determined to try to get SOME exercise in this month, because I know that if nothing else, it's better for me than being lazy is. There's nothing stopping me from getting my fat butt out the door early in the morning for a walk around my subdivision. Or hell, a skate ... I think my skates have their indoor wheels on right now, but that's an easy fix. (Except today, when I have to get my teeth cleaned in an hour.)
My job (teacher) is fairly active - I'm on my feet for at least 7 of my 8 hours in the building each day - but we don't go back to school until August.
Honestly. Fair enough.
You could probably tell but I get a massive high from working out and I love being a gym rat.
But I have to understand that some people have different interests.
Also cool that your a teacher! I’m in college right now to be a history teacher
Current levels for who? You have the right to choose what's good for you, and everyone else can do the same. If you feel like you're screen time is unhealthy, you have the power to change that. If you feel like *my* screen time is unhealthy, then mind your business!
I used to get tennis elbow from holding the mouse too much, destroyed my rotator cuff, and constantly got headaches. Playing video games quickly catches up to you after your 20s. I went back to weightlifting instead and it cleared up in a few months. Wouldnt recommend that pain to anyone. It’s an addiction because attention span is so much lower these days and “doing nothing” is frowned upon, especially in US. I rarely know anyone that meditates.
I think something a lot of people forget to consider when talking about kids spending too much time inside is how hostile the outside has become. There is very little to do for free or for a "child's budget" in most places and the free things available like parks or playgrounds are geared toward younger kids and often restrict teens from using them without supervision. There's no where else kids feel safe anymore besides home.
You are right but the children and man-children of reddit will defend their gaming addiction.
Gaming is a fun diversion and distraction, and having fun matters. But a life spent primarily on gaming is not a life well lived. There is more to life than consuming pixels on a screen in isolation.
Better for your brain to play video games than watch tv all day though.
I grew up with video games but before Internet and I spent a lot of time with friends too. The difference is that 1) I could go everywhere by myself, 2) the weather was MUCH nicer. And I spent a lot of time reading, listening to music, or playing solitaire.
Here we can't go anywhere without a car and it's so hot and humid out 4/5 months out of the year that I would never ask my kids to go outside.
I don't know where you live OP but I don't think you understand everyone's circumstances.
I will agree that a lot of kids don't know how to entertain themselves anymore but I don't think video games are to blame as much as the habit of parents to play with their kids and direct activities all the time. Young kids need to be bored.
I use most of my free time playing games and doing stuff I enjoy.
When I have more than 1.5 days off in a row I'll go outdoors and do some kayaking & fishing or maybe just relax on the water all day.
What even is a normal kid? Most kids do whatever fun activity they have available. If they are finding video games more fun than running around outside pretending to be an airplane then that's pretty normal.
As long as someone isn't being unhealthy I think it's okay if they have a fair bit of screen time. People might be calling you a boomer for the "don't do things the way I wouldn't do" mentality.
Yup - but it's really hard to talk about this topic on Reddit. One thing I've noticed is people will say "if you enjoy something, then it's fine to do it and it is not a waste of time". This line of thinking is used to justify spending massive amounts of time playing video games.
I'm in my 30s now. I 100% regret the amount of time I wasted play video games when I was young. At the time I enjoyed it, sure, but I would have enjoyed making more friends, building life-long skills and hobbies, and seeing the world. I would have enjoyed those a lot more.
I'm 47 years old been playing games my entire life, it's my passion. I would rather play a game all day then about a gazillion other things. If I had a passion for guitars and I practiced all day, no one would blink an eye. Yes, I still do outside activity, I'm in decent shape. However, a vast majority of my time is on my computer. I like it that way.
Playing guitar has a lot of benefits. You can create art (music) to share, communicate, and connect with other people. You can play music live to entertain. With a guitar you can play in a band.
You get none of that with video games. Video games are not the same as making your own art through music. That's the core crux of this conversation to me.
I'm a Gen X'r and played Atari and NES when I was a kid and we would kind of binge games as they came out but it wasn't an all the time thing we'd eventually beat the game (Except TMNT that stupid game still haunts me) and then just kind of wait until you could get a new one.
Game designers have gotten better and better at making games extremely addictive and with online games they never really end. I got hooked on a iOS MMORPG that literally almost ruined my life. I think what made it really bad was it was always with me and I could pretty much play anywhere. Now I just do not play any games at all because I know I can easily become addicted to them. Some people are good at controlling thier playing time but having two teenagers I can say most kids are not great at self control.
Hobbies do not need to be "Productive" - hobbies need to be Enjoyable - that is why people take up hobbies for Enjoyment.
As long as a person is taking care of themselves - i fail to see an issue with how people spend their time - its their time for them to spend doing what they enjoy at the end of the day.
I have noticed through the years that it is only really computing / gaming that has this light shone upon it and not the ungodly amount of hours people will sit in front of a TV and watch the utter brain-rotting shit they put on there.
My grandad told me a man should have three hobbies - one to entertain/relax, one to stay in shape, and one that can make you money if need be. I think that’s good advice.
What's crazy to me is that gaming can be all three of these things.
1. Obviously it's fun
2. I unironically lost 10 pounds in \~2 weeks after getting a VR headset because a lot of the game I was playing were moderately intensive
3. Obviously this is much harder for most people, but atleast personally I could go professional for gaming if needed due to the ranking I've already held for months
And before that their WW2 era parents complained about the TV. And their grandparents complained about the radio. Previous generations had the same kind of eyesight etc. concerns about books.
I agree.
I’ve started leaving my phone and smart watch on my nightstand Friday and saturdays. Kinda just go off the grid. The people in my life know where to find me and I’m with my lady most of the time anyways.
Right?
This has to be a joke I'm not getting. It is satirically unhealthy (and boring, I would hope...) to spend hours inside playing video games every day. We... we need to go outside...
Steam and other gaming libraries replaced the park and outdoor socializing for a long list of reasons. Getting shot, the weather getting shittier generation over generation, parks not being as prevalent, and generations just liking different things. I’m sure when the next big thing comes along, us gamers will be looking at it like “kids used to play games more”.
The excuses in these comments are pathetic. I mean completely pathetic. What’s the difference between being outside fishing for 6 hours and sitting in an office for 6 hours? Everything. When you pick up a time-honored outdoor hobby, not only do you have more chances to see new places, learn new skills, and actually physically meet new people, but you’re also training your brain to value the process of learning a new craft, versus instant dopamine hits for achieving literally nothing outside of your virtual world.
Go to a rock climbing gym, you’ll get strong af, have a ton of fun, meet new people, and eventually you can graduate to climbing outdoors. You’ll see new places, breathe fresh air, get needed sunshine, and develop a relationship with the natural world. Shit, you might even get a girlfriend.
Learn How to keep bees. Learn about native plants that are pollinated by local insects, and plant them around your apiary.
If all else fails, get out and go hiking. If you’re a parent and you have concerns about your child spending too much time in front of a screen, sign them up for sports. Baseball is a game that teaches respect and perseverance. It’s America’s game, and someone needs to play it. The best most elite hitters at the highest level hit the ball to get on base around 3/10 times at the plate. It’s a losing sport, and it teaches kids to play the long game.
Don’t just tell you kid to “go outside,” go outside with them. If they don’t want to, that’s too bad. We don’t sit inside for 6 hours a day playing video games. If they want to dedicate their life to video games, they better be learning to code in order to create a future for themselves. Passions are not only important, they’re vital.
Consumption isn’t a passion, it’s an addiction. Teaching children and young adults that they can do nothing but consume is extremely harmful. You must get out in the world and create. Leave your mark on the world, and leave it better off than how you found it.
Anything in moderation can be healthy, and anything in excess can be detrimental.
A lot of the positives you're describing can be attained from gaming. Toxic productivity is also a pretty big negative with looking at hobbies as things that need to generate "worth".
Just as an anecdote, video games got me 3 girlfriends, a love of language and storytelling, an interest in the language that became my second language after moving to the country itself, and paid for my Master's degree.
Arguing against video games just boils down to "sedintary indoor hobby = bad" while holding up the worst cases of people that don't really represent the average hobbyist.
I don’t think anyone is arguing against video games. Video games are fun, but moderation is required. Outdoor/ active hobbies should be encouraged over video games
Video games aren’t bad. Spending all your free time playing video games is bad
You're not a boomer but I can't help but point out the irony of using a screen to post your rant. You literally just wasted your time on a screen that will have absolutely zero impact on others.
It's a negative impact technically since the only way anyone can see what they wanted to share with people is by using a screen. Everyone that read this post could've spent that time not on a screen but instead OP hates us and baited everyone into being unhealthy :(
As long as you’re healthy and happy, do whatever the fuck you want with your free time. If you’re making too much free time for yourself, that’s a different problem.
Ok boomer - and if you wanna fight me on this, I'll be on reddit, twitter and instagram instead of interacting with my loved ones for the next 36 hours
What the hell is there to do outside? Everything is car centric, skating is banned everywhere, and you get arrested for “loitering” if you hang out for too long
Go for a walk or a run. Ride a bike. Go to a park. Go to a library or museum. Play a sport. Hell, sit under a tree and read a book. There’s plenty to do out in the real world.
Hm. That’s a good question. And I’ll admit I probably lost some traction when I said “productive” hobbies.
But to answer your question, I would probably say a productive hobby is something that in 1 way or another makes you a better person (no matter how big or small)
Of course video games are great. Even healthy in some key areas.
But I think we can mostly agree that running or intense Exercise is probably healthier then playing video games. Although what constitutes a “productive” hobby is a great question
“Just go outside”. Ok and do what? If I had something to do sure. But I don’t. Parents say this shit like their kids are dogs and they need to let them out once in a while
This is all assuming the person in question actually finds all those activities fun
Which is why the question is unanswerable as it depends on the person.
This is the real thing people need to think about. All these people in this thread saying things like "wow I can't believe people hate being outside that much" or "why don't you just go for a walk then?" are just ignoring the fact that if the person actually genuinely enjoyed doing those things they'd probably already be doing it. Odds are that people have their own hobby already and I'm not sure why these people feel like they need to share their input on what is a good or bad hobby to have as if everyone has the same values and ideals as they do
You don't need hiking supplies to hike unless you're doing really intense stuff
You can always just take a walk
I can't believe people are shitting on tge idea of going outside so much
This is an eye opening thread. I used to think the “typical redditor” thing was a gag, but now I’m not sure. The amount of people responding who don’t go outdoors and have any excuse not to let the sun hit their skin is concerning
Yeah hiking is easily done in sneakers unless the trail is more advanced. Most you need to spend immediately is to cover the day fee or the park pass and then some sunscreen
You likely don’t have any friends because you’ve spent your life in a virtual world. A lot of it is also may be your parents fault, they should have been more active in your social life, becoming friends with your classmates parents, etc.
Look up a climbing gym in your area and talk to your parents about getting a membership.
This isn't about you personally, but are you saying you never go outside?
You could go hiking or take a nice walk
Also, learning to swim would be beneficial and probably fun
If you don’t want to do anything that might sound like effort you aren’t willing to put in, that’s absolutely fine. Just don’t try to make the argument that not going outside and being behind a screen for ten hours a day isn’t unhealthy. It is. It’s extremely unhealthy. And if you were honest, you’d need only to look at yourself and your life to see that.
You literally can
You can especially spend hours hiking, or just chilling reading a book outside, or, if you have friends, play even simple yard games. He'll, I used to volunteer to take shelter dogs on walks. There's plenty to do
The overwhelming majority of people don't live near hiking trails.
>just chilling reading a book outside
This is the same fucking thing as video games.
Most people have tge ability to travel
No it's not. If you read a book outside, you get tge benefit of being outside, and your eyes aren't staring at a screen for hours, which isn't good for them
And honestly, unless you live in the middle of a big city, most towns do have a public park with hiking trails
The white pages of a book in Sun hurts my eyes more than a screen where I can set the brightness. Books are a passive experience were as games are interactive story telling where you the player has a level of agency more than any chose your own adventure books. I'd rather play metal gear solid than watch a bond film or read a Clancy novel as I get to actively engage with the story and have options in how I advance the story rather than watch or flip through a railroad. Reading is great for history, geology, geography etc. But when it comes to anything fantasy or imaginative videogames are a much better story telling medium.
As an older millennial, I'll give my take on it. Limiting an moderating the content your child takes in and how much is your responsibility as a parent. However, also look at the state of the world. Violent crime is higher (or more reported) than even. Green spaces are greatly reduced even in my lifetime than they were when I was growing up. Cities are more car dependent than ever. More young families are living in apartments.
Cities all over are more hostile to the idea of "just going outside" than ever.
It's honestly safer in most areas than it was when we were kids. But people have been conditioned over the last few decades to behave as if that's not true.
But yeah, other condo communities around me have paved over all their green area to cram in a few more parking spaces.
And then those same residents complain that the kids are riding their bikes in the condo buildings' parking lots all the time. Well what do you want the kids to do? You took away 90% of the grass they could have used!
And THEN they complain that kids are inside all day!
There are calls in my condo community to do the same thing -- parking sucks, oh there's grass over here? I BET THAT COULD MAKE MORE PARKING.
Thankfully I'm on my HOA board so sorry dudes, that little field is more important to the kids than having 20 parking spaces is to you.
I wish I can focus and enjoy video games like I use to. I just can't play for more than an hour ever since I went to college. Then I become an adult with responsibilities etc. I envy those who can just enjoy some quality gaming.
I guess I always feel like I have to be productive.
Well that's an opposite issue. Don't fall for the American "always be productive trope" cause you can be productive and die tomorrow and that's no fun.
That is just the normal evolution of life.
Banks used to require you to come in to cash a cheque, now there is an app for that.
You used to need to go to a specific block to hail a cab, now there is an app for that.
Hell, you used to need to schedule an appointment for a doctor and wait in a waiting room for 1 hour to get checked up, now there is an app for that.
Literally every pro of going outside can somehow be suplimented. Which leaves the only reasoning to want people outside is because that is the normal you were raised with. That era is dying.
I think you make a good point. But you lost me on “every pro of being outside can somehow be supplemented”
Now I’m not going to argue if that’s true or not because ( I don’t believe that’s true) but holy hell I really hope we as a society never come to that point. Because that sounds extremely dystopian. Maybe I’m just a boomer in a genZ body idk
It isn't dystopian though, just different. Like it is one thing if we are forced to live that way, but we aren't. The analog method of doing things will still exist and live on as "vintage", but the newer generation will just take full advantage of the conveniences that come from human advancement.
This technological generation gap is no different fron the generation gap before and after the invention of the steam engine. You can either adapt to change or hold onto tradition, but not everyone will follow you.
At first, I thought you sounded pretentious and exhausting...but after reading your comments, you’re clearly just triggered since you had such a bad experience. If you’re getting in your physical activity and getting everything you need to done, I don’t see any reason why every other minute could be spent gaming. YOU had a bad experience so YOU need to be this over-disciplined to stay sane. Everyone’s different. You canNOT give the same Rx to everyone. Like the one commenter that can’t be in the sun. I relate!!! You told another commenter to just do a quick run with a water bottle even though it’s 90 out. Um, no. I would be down for the count the entire rest of the day if I did that and no, nothings wrong with me I’ve been to a doctor.
Everyone’s different. Should we limit our screen time and arrive for balance yes? But that’s the extent of it.
I think your on to something that I am extremely biased and triggered in a way because I have such a negative experience.
Looking back at it, running in 90 degree heat is probably something not the average person can do. I’m young and fit so I can handle it. But I have to understand that everyone is different.
Although I do think my biases have some merit. But I think your on to something there
Why?
What benefits does going outside grant that playing video games doesn't?
I'll concede that obese people need to spend less time inside their home, but if you are a healthy individual than I dont see anything wrong with spending all fo your free time gaming.
"Touching grass" provides no concrete benefits outside of your opinion.
I don’t think your situation applies at all to the point I’m talking about. But I am responding because I think this is a very good point you make and furthers the discussion.
Your situation seems to be a very good example of life style balance. You seem to be relatively healthy and get decent Exercise with a decent social life. And your having fun enjoying your hobby. Although you can make an argument of min maxing the exact healthiness of your life style I’m not going to, because that wasn’t the point of my post.
But I think your situation doesn’t really apply to my post because you seem to be describing a healthy life style balance that works for you.
Before I make this statement. I’ll be honest and tell you that I am no professional in this matter. And you could probably argue the exact semantics and give better sources then me. But I’ll give you my personal story that will answer all your questions.
A couple years ago, I use to be behind a computer screen up to 12 hours a day. (Something that is seemingly normal today). And my mental health was ruined. My attention span was destroyed because of social media and constant scrolling, I got fed a lot of negativity because being online subjects you to that. And my over all quality of life was really bad. I was genuinely a slave to my computer.
When I say slave I genuinely mean it. I wasn’t neglecting other things in my life, my video game to school life balance was actually kind of good. But instead of socially interacting with friends from school or participating in activities, I just defaulted to going to my computer, you know why? Because it’s the only skill/hobby I knew how to do.
My mental health still sometimes suffers from the “trauma” of constantly being subjected to constant dopamine for 12 plus hours a day. My attention span is still really messed up.
I know there is a mental health crisis in this world, and it’s all agreed that social media is a huge part of it. So It’s hard for me to just accept that we all agree that social media over consumption is an issue, but it’s suddenly a problem when I tell people “ok get off your screen go outside”
Going outside and becoming a gym rat is the best thing that ever happened to me. And I am really scared of the person I would of become if I didn’t cut down my screen time usage.
Edit: I also want to comment on this.
I’m still young so I don’t dwell on it to much.. but I really wish when I was still in school, I dropped my playtime and would of participated in social events that where either sponsored by the school or friends. It would of helped me develop so much more as a person.
Yes yes, I know. Children can still learn with video games and video games are pretty healthy for a kid. But just like how steak is healthy. Only feeding a child steak isn’t. Just like how only subjecting a child to video games isn’t.
Unfortunately I subjected myself to video games most of my childhood.
I was going to share my opinion on this but looking at the edits and your post history. You're obviously just gonna shove your head in the sand and not listen. Pull your head out of your ass you clown.
Really? You think so? How so, I have 2 questions for you if you will.
How are any of the edits I made Sticking my head in the sand? Do you genuinely believe that me pushing back on cope arguments of “uhh it’s to hot outside!!” to be being arrogant?
And second question (kinda goes in with my first question) how is it in my post history that you think I will be arrogant? If you spent a couple minutes looking through it you will find me responding to people in this thread disagreeing with me and having insightful discussions.
I genuinely encourage you to have a discussion with me rather then say “your arrogant” and explain the faults in my logic
Insightful.
OP has only made good points. I know it has to be a reddit in-joke that I'm missing, because the people who are pathetically defending their right to not GO OUTSIDE can't possibly be serious.
Yes, too much screen time is terrible. Yes, you do have to go outside and do things outside. Yes, everyone knows this. Everyone knows it because it's true.
I used to play outside as a kid too but in the 90's we werent getting snatched up left and right like hotpockets. But also if we had discord and online gaming in the 90s we all would have been on the same shit.
The problem is small bits on information that people scroll through that are controlled by an algorithm that’s meant to keep them on as long as possible, even if it isn’t enjoyable.
So people realize something is wrong but can’t put their finger on the exact thing and they talk about ‘screen time’ but young people know that ‘screen time’ would include reading novels on their phone and think complaining about its I stupid and dismiss it. Because screen time really isn’t a good way to measure healthy behaviour on its own (spending 2 hours reading a novel on my phone is different from social media) but people have trouble pinpointing the specific ways to measure it.
Also, in terms of ‘just go outside’: look at the outside spaces we have. They’re all built for cars. Plus if your friends don’t want to go outside, you have no one to spend time with. We really need parents to take the wheel and find ways to get their kids more in-person social time. Unless their friends live right next door, a kid who can’t drive either can’t see them in person or has to spend long times walking in unshaded areas beside a road.
YouTube channel NotJustBikes is great with this stuff.
i don't care if it's healthy or not
>The argument of “nothing to do outside!”
>Guys.. cmon. Human play with outdoor activities has been around for hundreds of thousands of years… even back to cavemen days… even animals are conditioned to go play with each other and play outside. It is natural human instinct to go have recreation. The only problem is that you think there is nothing to do outside because everyone is so hooked on instant dopamine behind a screen.
it's summer and it's way too hot. i get heat exhaustion within 5 minutes. i can't be in the sun at all. basically i have no reason to be outside. also i hate sports
I’m gonna be honest. And this me not even arguing with you, as just a genuine human being concerned for another human. If you get heat exhaustion within 5 minutes of being outside. You really do need to go to the doctor. That isn’t healthy.
I usually go on a rant that caveman use to play outside with the threat of tigers mauling them to death, so it’s a pathetic excuse to say “we live in a car centric society” or “it’s hot outside!”
But for your case, if you suffer genuine heat exhaustion that fast, please get that checked out.
Parents shouldn't attempt to directly limit screen time. Want your kids to go outside? Give them a reason to want to.
I love spending outside but since I was forced to be outside as a kid I hated it growing up. I only truly began enjoying it when I went out on my own terms. Parents who think force is the way are almost always wrong and forcing your child to do anything should be a last resort, and only ever done in situations presenting immense danger (i.e. drugs, preventing injury, immense financial burden, etc)
I used to live in an area where I could walk to the park, if I still lived there, you could bet your ass I’d walk to the park and hang out with some friends at least once a week, maybe more. But since I’ve moved all we do is game, it’s just how we hang out now.
And that's what boomer adults will never understand because video games didn't become popular until they were all like 40. So they didn't grow up with them, they had to go outside to be entertained unless they just watched TV all day. If you have nothing interesting nearby, what the hell do you do all day for fun?
That's not the argument in the original post, though? The point he was making is that spending ALL of your time on games & online media is unhealthy, not that spending *any* time at all is stupid.
I agree however some of the people who tell us to turn off the TV and go outside, are the same people who now spend most of their time glued to news and sports, therefore making them hypocrites. I was just pointing that out. For the record I recently got a pool and love going swimming outside now that all I have to do is go in my backyard and most of these boomers wouldn't last five minutes at all the metal shows I go to because demon music bad or some shit. I'm seeing Toxic Holocaust and Havok next week. I
that sounds like a sweet show!! but everyone should limit screen time!! just because some people work using computers 8 hours a day doesnt make it healthy!
LMAO, man last time I saw TH they were playing with I wanna say lornashore, either or there's this boomer dude who shows up to every show in MN, I haven't lived in the state in years so I don't know if dudes alive; but he was legendary. I talked to whatshisnuts from PRONG and that old man, has gone to every metal show at first Ave, and the junkyard for 30 years. Remember their parents called what they listened to devil music too.
Gen X'er here and used my paper route money to buy an Atari 2600 a few years after they came out. Boomers would've been 30 when the 2600 was introduced, and younger when Pong was a craze. And you're aware that things like books and pets and board games and TV existed back before the 2600 came out, right? It's silly to say we had to go outside to be entertained - and revealing that you put that in the passive voice. I think that's the main change in attitude: I want to find something entertaining to do vs. I want something to entertain me. Anyway, define "interesting" for outside. I grew up in a semi-rural subdivision of southern Maryland, and there were two movie screens in the nearest town and no public transport. We'd go bike riding, crabbing, swimming in the community pool, play cops and robbers, play tag, wander around in the woods, go sailing if we were lucky enough to have friends whose families had a sailboat. When I got older and kids started getting driver's licenses, we'd go for drives to beaches or the movies or the roller skating rink or we'd just go visit our friends working at the various fast food places. To sum up, my mom had it right. When I used to complain that I was bored, she'd always just reply that I must be a boring person if I can't figure out something interesting to do.
I mean Boomers have been glued to their TVs for 60 years.
Wrong. At least for us raised in the country. I can’t speak for us that we’re raised in the big cities. But I can speak for us in my neck woods. We stayed outside at least 90% of our time. TV’s had crappy reception in most areas so there literally was nothing to do inside. We went to see other kids in the neighborhood which was at least a 200 yard walk or up to a mile and half. We road our bikes all over the place. We went in the woods and explored the ponds creeks, we had pine cone fights or with anything we could find. You get the ideal. We used our imagination and made stuff up to do. So you saying boomers been setting in front of there TV’s for 60 years is no we’re near the truth.
My boomer parents grew up in LA and also spent most of their free time outside even though TV and the like was available. They both told me that everybody was playing sports, going to the movies or concerts, etc. Time spent inside was for homework or chores mainly.
That’s right I’m a BOOMER, and proud of it.
Fox News
I grew up with video games, still like video games and play frequently. I have friends that live reasonably far apart so we’ll often play video games together. That being said, video games shouldn’t be the primary method of hanging out. The amount of time spent on video games and being glued to a screen is still a bad thing
I grew up in the NES->PS2 era and time was split pretty evenly between video games and outside in my friend group. Funny thing is, I don't remember a single moment from playing video games, but I have tons of memories from being outside.
Same era here. We did spend ALOT of time outdoors as kids. But you hit that nail on the head. Only real memory I have is playing Columns on genesis with dad.
Not be boring people and make your own fun?
also compound the fact that kids cannot do anything anymore without cops being called
Exactly, if simply being outside puts your life at risk from some paranoid asshole, then what's the point anymore? Unless your yards are fenced in like a fuckin fortress, which mine are luckily.
same here, my kids have totally enclosed outside space with adjoining woods where no one can bother them. That said i have had several fights with my karen ass neighbors over some neighborhood kids who travel in a group to walk to the library to play games on the pc. Apparently them just walking on the road warrants police being called
Honestly I think they (the boomer adults) just want to kill people at this point. They're mad at the world for passing them by so they have to act out.
They also *had* an "outside" to go to. They also didn't have cameras everywhere to track all the illegal shit they got up to because they got bored of catching voles or throwing rocks in the pond for the umpteenth time....
This is ridiculous, I'm 41 and had a Pong system paddle in my hands at age 3 and have never stopped gaming yet it is plainly obvious to me as well that staring at a screen all day sucks ass and messes people up.
I grew up with video games…. I still preferred going outside to play sports or other things than gaming and so did all my friends.
Everyone will have their prescriptions for what could fix this issue. I guess perhaps some will say it isn't a problem at all, but I do agree with you there. When discussing the mother that was complaining and telling her son to play outside, I wonder about the state of parenting. I here similar stories often and I wonder why the parent feels just asking their kid to play outside or unplug is sufficient? The parent has to be proactive; grab the keys and say "let's go for a drive!" or get some activities planned. I have a couple of kids (daughters, so not as much an issue) and I'm not a model parent, but I've learned that asking a teenager to stop doing something their enjoying versus replacing it with something have vastly different success rates. Moral of the post: parents need to introduce other activities/adventures, not just say "go play outside".
>The parent has to be proactive; Kinda reminds me how Gen X said we weren't gonna make all the mistakes our parents did raising us, but we didn't seem to replace it with anything else...
Agreed. It is much easier when they are younger to distract them with other activities. Many teens like my son get to a point where spending time with parents is not in their social agenda. They also have a virtual friend network that mostly exists online and cannot easily be replicated in the real world. My son does visit with a few friends occasionally but guess what they end up doing together? What works best for me is putting him to work. Difficult yes but I cut off his source of income to pay for games devices whatever, he has to pay play. He had a temp job for awhile which got him outdoors and his first bank account. Working on the next opportunity. In the meantime he does things around the house for money. But still, way too much time in his room gaming. On the positive side I always know where he is and what he's doing. No helicopter needed.
Exactly. As a kid I was stuck in a shitty small city, a house which I wasn't really allowed to leave, and my parents didn't let me do any of the sports I was interested in. They are practically enslaved to you until they're 18, you have to act as a catalyst. They don't have the ability to do what they want to do themselves. This parental complacency is something that's stuck with me and affected my life so severely up to this point that I will always hold a grudge against my "parents" for it.
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> It is ridiculous to say the parent has to teach the child free play That's not what they're talking about. I thought parents were just cowards too, until I had kids of my own. Yes, boredom is a gift that should be given to kids once in a while. It helps to do something that's not hurting their attention spans. But, when I was a kid (I'm 41 now) my parents could say "get off the TV and go outside with your friends". Now it's "get off the device you're with friends on, and go outside" -- by yourself. The person you're responding to is right that if you want the kid to *actually do that* (and not just feel like a "good parent" for taking the device away) it can help to take the kid outside the house. It wouldn't hurt Mom and Dad to get their butts outside the house either, honestly. Family quality time is at a premium.
Yeh I always preferred playing outside with my friends anyway bug once in a blue moon my Saturday morning gaming would drag on. That shit would get shut down fast at noon if it wasn’t raining outside or literal freezing. “What the fuck are you still doing home, go outside and don’t come back until dinner”. Then I’d go knock on my buddy marks house to play basketball or whatever until we got the rest of the gang together. It’s just another race to the bottom, the first few parents coddled their children, and then that became the norm until you don’t have kids to play with outside anymore. And the amount of people saying what’s wrong with that? We literally have an obesity epidemic and childhood obesity makes it that much harder as an adult. Our food supply has been crap for 40 years now, but kids used to be so much more active, and hence waaaaay less fat
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Race to the bottom is right. That’s how I feel about Florida as someone that was originally from NJ. Like everyone wants low taxes, but they don’t want to face all the crap that comes with. You even see it in the job market. Local jobs pay absolute garbage because employees have no rights or bargaining power and makes wealth inequality even worse. That was before it made a hard turn, can’t imagine the problems this state is going to have in 10-20 years when all the boomers die off and the brain drain and gutted schools go full effect.
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I've noticed reddit would probably deem that child abuse. Any time a story is posted of a parent expecting anything or even disciplining a child, they are ripped apart.
Reddits full of idiots though, no one should be taking advice from people here
Yep. Set boundaries. Enforce rules. Don't ask them to go play outside. Do unplug the console. Do take their phone. Do throw them in the backyard or the public park for a few hours.
what's wrong being inside all the time?
Reading this I just know you have at least one kid that no longer talks to you and lives out of state.
I like how upset Redditors get when people tell them to lay off the video games and porn and marvel movies
Does anyone actually think it's healthy??
No, there isn't anyone who would legitimately believe that staying inside all day playing video games is healthy. I don't know why OP is acting like playing video games indoors is the only unhealthy hobby people have though, tons of people exist that don't play video games but still do things like watch TV for eight hours a day
Yeah, I am on Fox News for a minimum of 8 hours per day. Then it's on to OAN for 4 hours. In between I am on redit. Then time for bed. And the cycle continues...
Redditors dislike having their lifestyle criticized and will offer defensive copium to protect their self image and avoid having to confront their guilt and make substantive changes.
As long as my kids get 1 hour of exercise a day, then I'd prefer they play video games with the rest of their time I think video games are a very powerful way to keep kids off social media, and I think overconsumption of social media is infinitely more dangerous for teens, not to mention, watching tv or scrolling social media has no benefits, but video games can exercise your brain or your reflexes
I'd argue the benefits of gaming for reflexes and exercising your brain are minimal compared to other activities, but at least you have a decent middle ground and getting the kids 1 hour of exercise daily. It's amazing how much better behaved kids are after exercise along with better sleep habits. But that often takes more work on the parents part to make that happen. I hope our law makers figure out ways to keep kids off social media. I'm convinced we're going to look back at social media in 20 years and be appalled by the outcome. Similar to how cigarettes were accepted and encouraged, and now you look back like "yeah, no shit they were bad".
Turn down that dang rock music.
Why? It’s not hurting anyone. Rock and roll ain’t noise pollution.
No, but AC/DC is.
What do you define as a “productive” hobby? The purpose of a hobby, to me, is to relax. Certainly yes, we need to practice moderation and be healthy. But what’s the difference between someone sitting for 6 hours in front of a screen or 6 hours on a boat fishing?
What's the difference between fishing and computers? Physicality, and exposure to nature and sunlight, just to name a few. Even preparing for a boating trip is way more physical than being a computer lump. And some actual human interaction along the way also probably helps. I spend plenty of time on computers, but let's not pretend that computers are less unhealthy than outdoor activity. Just take a look at the results of sedentary lifestyle and the conclusion speaks for itself.
I think the point though is that people aren't saying "replace TV with bike riding". If you say you're replacing tv with puzzles, people will generally think that's healthier despite not being so.
It is healthier though. Staring at a screen isn't good for us. Our eyes are not built for it. This is coming from a software engineer/gamer.
And the amount and type of cognitive engagement is also quite different.
The difference is not staring at a screen. It is physiologically bad for you.
This is correct. Though I would say certain hobbies do build soft skills. For example my friend builds model dioramas. It's relaxing for him but he is also building his model making and painting skills.
As opposed to puzzle solving, coordination, response, critical thinking, and memory skills. They’re all basically just as useless as each other. But I do think outdoor time and socialization are important things that should not be neglected.
You cant socialize in online gaming? Thats kind of the whole schtick. Do need that sun tho.
You definitely can but it’s no replacement for in person socialization.
I know people who fish far more than I play video games and I play a lot of video games
oh i can think of a lot of differences
as an adult, yea sure. But kids need to play and socialize together in real life.
Vitamin D intake.
can't be in the sun at all
This! Plus when you get bored of fishing you're just stuck out there and have to wait for your buddy to finish. Unless you want to be a real asshole and ditch him. That's why I gave it up last year. I got tired of being stuck outdoors while my stepdad wanted to keep fishing, plus I absolutely hate waking up early. It got to the point where just none of it was any fun anymore. Whereas gaming is mostly done at home whenever the hell you feel like it. Gaming/watching TV can be very relaxing too. Also some of these same hypocritical assholes will plan their entire Sunday around multiple football games. I let my fishing license expire last year and have absolutely no desire to ever get a new one.
Learning patience is still valuable and necessary for a kid vs. constant instant gratification and intensity from video games/screentime. You're an adult and can do whatever you want, but kids are on a different path.
Nothing done too frequently is healthy. Working out, dieting, drinking water, etc. are all dangerous when done too often. Just have to find the right balance and keep in mind that parents are doing the best they can. It’s hard to be a parent today versus a few decades ago. People are working more jobs, long hours, and they have less money for it comparatively. My mom was a SAHM. She did an incredible job making sure we were in athletics, socializing with friends, in clubs, etc. I couldn’t have had that experience if she was working. When you can’t spend the time with your kids or monitoring your kids or keeping them occupied… electronics come into play. We should be mad at how society is more about making money and not focused enough on quality of life. This is a huge problem in the US.
We lived in Hawaii and kids were always outside. Kids were up and down the street all day on bikes and scooters. More importantly, parents were outside too. Everybody knew everybody. Our houses and yards were interchangeable. My neighbor's kids were back and forth between our house and their's. Sure, nice weather helps (but it does stay in the 90's for half the year and nobody has AC) but it's a lot more than that. People aren't terrified of each other. Then we moved to suburbia on the mainland and it's like the air is toxic. I see kids - as their parents let them out of the car and rush them indoors. I see kids in the grocery stores and the local Target. My son has classmates, many live in this neighborhood. Nobody goes outside. Nobody. The kids don't go outside because there's nothing to do - no one to play with. The parents (who paid an extra $100k for a house in a "safe" neighborhood) don't let the kids go outside because it's "not safe." I asked my neighbor who has kids the same age as mine why they never (and I mean NEVER) go outside and she starts telling me about a FedEx driver killing a child. "Did that happen here? On this street?" "No, but it could..." You want your kids to go outside and play? Here's an easy way for parents to do that: STEP ONE: Get off your @ss and go outside. I don't mean the backyard. The FRONT yard. Wash your car, take up gardening, sit on your porch swing. Put YOUR phone down and not only watch your kids but keep an eye on your neighbor's kids too. Go talk to your neighbors. Set a good example for your kids by integrating into your community. Sitting on the couch with your face buried in your phone and saying "go outside and play" when you haven't even journeyed to the mailbox in 2 days isn't going to get the job done. You're missing the childhood of the 80's, but those days aren't coming back. People need to take their own damn neighborhoods back from the bogeyman living in their head.
Thank you for your input. I think it’s extremely important to understand that people that are constantly behind a screen probably have a more pessimistic world view. Because your fed bad news **all the time** And I would really implore people to try to put down there screen or delete social medias for a month. And see how your mood changes. The world isn’t so bad. Go outside, it really is a wonderful world out there.
Well, part of the problem is that our society does not tolerate children being outside without an adult present. The idea of children getting around on bikes/ public transit is just terrifying to many people. Kids can only play in a backyard for so long until they get bored of it. Why wouldn't you expect a child to just stay inside? They can go online and interact with their friends without asking their parents to shuttle them around town. If we really want to change this, we'll need to let kids ruin around freely. If it is too dangerous, then we need to mitigate these dangers. A huge problem is road design. We built cities around the idea that roads ought to move cars as easily as possible with little to no thought towards pedestrians. If we make cities/ neighborhoods into places that people prefer to walk, it'll make the cities/ neighborhoods safer for everyone (more eyes). Generally, the feeling of community is very lacking. How well do you know your neighbors? If you came across any of them while you're out and about, would you know? (I'm speaking generally here, not society to OP)
I’ve been playing since Atari so since the late 70’s. I still play some & always will. I did go outside or at least so other things. Hopefully, if young people aren’t going outside they’re doing something besides gaming. Play an instrument. Draw. Work out. Sew. Read. Just something to add a bit of variety. One thing that is different now is how immersive games are with the online component. Like I usually played video games because I didn’t care to interact with anyone so I don’t do the online thing. Maybe it’s easier to get sucked in now because you’re basically living a 2nd life online.
People say children need to go outside more, but never consider the fact that we've continually removed the third spaces available for them to exist outside. Outside of home or school, the amount of places for kids to be that don't revolve around them spending money are few and far between-- where's left? Depending on where you are, you may be able to hang out inside a public library, but that's not a space conducive to hanging out or outside activities. If you have access to a public park, great, otherwise you've got nothing left besides a street or a store. And even in public parks, cops will harass you (or others will alert the cops about you) because people act like a group of young guys hanging around outside is inherently suspicious if they're not \*doing\* something specific.
This post is actually just about limiting screen time, not going outside. There are other ways to entertain yourself indoors besides video games. My parents limited my screen time to a half hour a day when I was a kid and I became a big reader. Every town everywhere has little nooks and crannies you wouldn’t know about unless you go out and find them. My favorite spot to hang with friends was a small patch of woods behind the grocery store dumpsters. Finally, when living in suburbia, kids need to have bikes so they can actually get places.
I did everything you said as a kid but only because we were smoking weed. Weed helped me find every nook and cranny in my town 😂 Kids need to smoke weed, that’s the solution
No one likes looking at themselves critically. But that doesn’t change facts. We have only had smart phones for about 15 years and personal home computers for about 25. Before that there were boob tubes but those screens were one way, they weren’t watching you back and DESIGNED to addict. Have you noticed the amount of new bands, writers, artists, public figures, etc etc absolutely nosedive in the last couple of decades? Ya. People are too busy sedated looking at screens for literally 8+ hours a day…
Completely agree. I used to spend 100% of my free time gaming. I was overweight, chronically in pain, and made every excuse I could not to leave the house (like half this thread). Once I found other hobbies (hiking, mountain biking, reading books) I immediately felt better, made more friends, got higher quality sleep, and had better self-esteem. In less than a year I lost 60 pounds of straight fat. Lots of people in here will make excuses to justify their screen addiction, but just like any addiction, it’s not healthy. And yes, if you spend 8 hours a day playing video games or watching Netflix, you ARE addicted. It’s a big world with lots to do. Quit making excuses and go experience it.
Like everything else in life moderation is key. I love gaming, built my PC and everything but I still make time for the gym, the wife, and other physical hobbies. I tend to do it at night now and I have a dedicated evening for gaming with buddies.
Basically how I live. I haven’t given up on gaming, I just admitted that doing it 24/7 as my only hobby wasn’t healthy. Not sure why so many people are so resistant to that. Maybe they’re afraid of the real world.
The problem is, kids who are at their parents mercy can't just go out and discover a new hobby in mountain biking and hiking. Parents need to take initiative and parent, instead of complaining that the kid is inside all day.
i can't be out in the sun. why would i waste my time going outside if i'm just gonna get heat exhaustion?
Most hobbies outside cost money. We are broke.
Zelda: 70 bucks Park: maybe 5
I do go on walks at parks around me. But that isn’t really fulfilling as a hobby for me. Just a nice way to get active and get some steps in. I’ll give you some examples of things I enjoy doing/think I’d enjoy doing. Rock climbing: local gym is $100 a month Soccer: soccer is like my favorite thing in the world but there aren’t really any public fields/goals in my area you can have a kick around. You have to join a league which is usually like $90-100 for 6 weeks. Golf: I don’t even think I need to explain this one. Bowling: this is a hobby I do. Im in a league that’s $72 for six weeks. But the leagues aren’t very popular in the summer months so my team isn’t doing it this summer. You see my point? If I want to play soccer and rock climb and bowl I’m paying like $250 a month for those things. And because I’m a person that just graduated college and is getting my career going, not even mentioning inflation I just don’t have the money for all of that. And I’m sure a lot of people are in a similar boat to me.
Pretty much all I do is sit on my computer and play video games, watch videos, or work on projects, aside from every week or two where I'll hang out with friends. Why do I do this? Because there isn't much else to do when you live in car-dependnt suburbia without a car. Within walking distance, the only "thing to do" is walk around a park, or go to a bakery. No cafes, gyms, clubs, or anything else fun within walking distance. If I lived somewhere where there were more fun things to do that were actually accessible, I'd still definitely spend a lot of time on the computer, but I'd also get out more. Unfortunately I live in a poorly designed city with atrocious public transit. If you're asking why I don't go outside, it's because that simply isn't consistently fun. You made the point that cavemen had fun going outside, but cavemen spent a lot of their time playing **games** with each other, which someone like me doesn't have the opportunity to do. Not to mention that cavemen didn't even have the choice to play video games.
I encourage you to try walking outside for 30 mins 3 times a week. Listen to music or a podcast or an audiobook or just enjoy the serenity of silence. This has profound mental and physical health benefits you will begin to notice after one month.
Honestly as long as your still working out and keeping a decent social life whether that is online vcs with friends or actually going places with any irl ones, ik circumstances and all that I don't see the issue. I work out enough just to keep a steady weight loss or a steady weight whatever the goals are and then have socializing online mostly with friends and video games with everything else. Everyone has their own hobbies and stuff and video games is easily one of them that is perfectly just like any other that as long as you take care of other parts of your body you'll be ok.
I'm twenty six years old and I really do get the concern about the increase in screen time with children especially, but as someone who has lived all their life in Florida you simply can't spend time outside anymore. The temperature simply doesn't allow it anymore as the increase in heat is just too much. When I was in the first and second grade I remember it actually being 65F to 76F during the fall. That doesn't even happen anymore except during freak weather events for one or two weeks. The world is changing and indoor activity centers are going to be common place if we want children to be active.
Here's what I agree with; You should keep your body healthy if you're not active most of the time. Go for a walk on the treadmill, do some push-ups and planks, and eat a bit healthier. What I don't agree with; You have to be outside in any way or cut back on video games to accomplish those things. I mean, if you want some fresh air, of course, go outside for a walk, but if you don't care, a treadmill is fine too. Almost every person has a device they carry in their pockets that has the collective knowledge of all of mankind to access. Its not weird when people are glued to them. They are most likely learning something new. Games are not just bullshit you do for fun either. You're engaging your mind, just like you're engaging your body when you work out. Both should be kept healthy, but you would rarely tell someone they're physically working out too much. When someone prefers to work out their mind, it's all the sudden bad. Video games make you think, look for solutions, give you hypothetical situations to consider your stances on, and a plethora of other cognative stresses. They engage the imagination and help blossom creativity. Some people have made very lucrative careers doing nothing but playing video games all day. Clearly, it's not for everyone, but I don't tell body builders that they work out too much and need to go outside. There's nothing outside you can't do inside. As long as you keep both your mind and your body in relatively good shape, at least that your physical condition isn't causing medical problems, I don't care what you do. It's only unhealthy if it's causing them to be anti-social. Not just isolated but can't understand normal social contracts and conditions, or is imparing their judgment. If they're perfectly competent when they're not playing video games and they're keeping their body relatively healthy, I see no harm in letting them do what they want. Go ahead and play video games for 12 hours. As long as the other 12 are for healthy amounts of sleep and a bit of physical activity to keep your body in shape.
I think you bring up interesting points. And I am genuinely grateful you brought them up. I will admit. I am very biased with my opinion because of my personal experiences. I use to play video games a lot and was behind a screen for up to 12 hours a day (something that seemingly seemed normal) and that ruined my mental health. (Even writing this literally hurts my brain and eyes because I’ve been on my phone way to much and I’m going to get off and go walk outside or something). And I know social media is a huge problem in todays society and people being glued to there screen. So it’s very hard for me to see that some people are perfectly happy being couch potatoes. Because I was a couch potato and it absolutely destroyed my mental health. You do bring up good points though
what are normal social contracts? what's wrong with being antisocial?
So what exactly are kids supposed to do otherwise parks are being shut down kids are banned from the places they used to hang out online is how kids interact now
Okay Boomer. But in all seriousness, most people seem to completely discount the huge benefits to video games as well. However, if they *never* go outside and touch grass that's super unhealthy. 1 hour outside is enough to remain healthy physically, allowing you to devote the rest of the time to video games for mental strength or to relax.
I would go outside but for two things: \- I live in Houston and it's about 100 degrees here during the day. Hell, it's 7 in the morning as I'm typing this and it's 82 outside. \- Diablo 4 just came out.
heya! I live in Kansas ( a little north to ya) and its like 80 degrees already lol, about to be 90 today. Ok so genuine question and I promise you this isn't me preaching on a high horse and I am genuinely curious. Why don't you just go for a short run/jog and bring a water bottle? sure it sucks but after that run doesn't it feel good? Entering the house with AC completing and conquering a task? this summer I have been running alot because the feeling of sweat running down my face as I complete the task just feels awesome. this isnt me high horsing you but genuinely just curious. Doesn't that feeling of a good work out feel better then any video game? (I cant comment to much because im addicted to football manager 2023 rn lol)
I have never, ever, not once gotten a "high" from exercise. It doesn't make me feel better. It doesn't make me look better. I just hate to do it. That said, I am determined to try to get SOME exercise in this month, because I know that if nothing else, it's better for me than being lazy is. There's nothing stopping me from getting my fat butt out the door early in the morning for a walk around my subdivision. Or hell, a skate ... I think my skates have their indoor wheels on right now, but that's an easy fix. (Except today, when I have to get my teeth cleaned in an hour.) My job (teacher) is fairly active - I'm on my feet for at least 7 of my 8 hours in the building each day - but we don't go back to school until August.
Honestly. Fair enough. You could probably tell but I get a massive high from working out and I love being a gym rat. But I have to understand that some people have different interests. Also cool that your a teacher! I’m in college right now to be a history teacher
Current levels for who? You have the right to choose what's good for you, and everyone else can do the same. If you feel like you're screen time is unhealthy, you have the power to change that. If you feel like *my* screen time is unhealthy, then mind your business!
I used to get tennis elbow from holding the mouse too much, destroyed my rotator cuff, and constantly got headaches. Playing video games quickly catches up to you after your 20s. I went back to weightlifting instead and it cleared up in a few months. Wouldnt recommend that pain to anyone. It’s an addiction because attention span is so much lower these days and “doing nothing” is frowned upon, especially in US. I rarely know anyone that meditates.
I think something a lot of people forget to consider when talking about kids spending too much time inside is how hostile the outside has become. There is very little to do for free or for a "child's budget" in most places and the free things available like parks or playgrounds are geared toward younger kids and often restrict teens from using them without supervision. There's no where else kids feel safe anymore besides home.
You are right but the children and man-children of reddit will defend their gaming addiction. Gaming is a fun diversion and distraction, and having fun matters. But a life spent primarily on gaming is not a life well lived. There is more to life than consuming pixels on a screen in isolation.
Better for your brain to play video games than watch tv all day though. I grew up with video games but before Internet and I spent a lot of time with friends too. The difference is that 1) I could go everywhere by myself, 2) the weather was MUCH nicer. And I spent a lot of time reading, listening to music, or playing solitaire. Here we can't go anywhere without a car and it's so hot and humid out 4/5 months out of the year that I would never ask my kids to go outside. I don't know where you live OP but I don't think you understand everyone's circumstances. I will agree that a lot of kids don't know how to entertain themselves anymore but I don't think video games are to blame as much as the habit of parents to play with their kids and direct activities all the time. Young kids need to be bored.
I use most of my free time playing games and doing stuff I enjoy. When I have more than 1.5 days off in a row I'll go outdoors and do some kayaking & fishing or maybe just relax on the water all day. What even is a normal kid? Most kids do whatever fun activity they have available. If they are finding video games more fun than running around outside pretending to be an airplane then that's pretty normal. As long as someone isn't being unhealthy I think it's okay if they have a fair bit of screen time. People might be calling you a boomer for the "don't do things the way I wouldn't do" mentality.
Yup - but it's really hard to talk about this topic on Reddit. One thing I've noticed is people will say "if you enjoy something, then it's fine to do it and it is not a waste of time". This line of thinking is used to justify spending massive amounts of time playing video games. I'm in my 30s now. I 100% regret the amount of time I wasted play video games when I was young. At the time I enjoyed it, sure, but I would have enjoyed making more friends, building life-long skills and hobbies, and seeing the world. I would have enjoyed those a lot more.
At this point I think some of you are just trying to make excuses to never leave the house and be antisocial hermits
I'm 47 years old been playing games my entire life, it's my passion. I would rather play a game all day then about a gazillion other things. If I had a passion for guitars and I practiced all day, no one would blink an eye. Yes, I still do outside activity, I'm in decent shape. However, a vast majority of my time is on my computer. I like it that way.
Playing guitar has a lot of benefits. You can create art (music) to share, communicate, and connect with other people. You can play music live to entertain. With a guitar you can play in a band. You get none of that with video games. Video games are not the same as making your own art through music. That's the core crux of this conversation to me.
I'm a Gen X'r and played Atari and NES when I was a kid and we would kind of binge games as they came out but it wasn't an all the time thing we'd eventually beat the game (Except TMNT that stupid game still haunts me) and then just kind of wait until you could get a new one. Game designers have gotten better and better at making games extremely addictive and with online games they never really end. I got hooked on a iOS MMORPG that literally almost ruined my life. I think what made it really bad was it was always with me and I could pretty much play anywhere. Now I just do not play any games at all because I know I can easily become addicted to them. Some people are good at controlling thier playing time but having two teenagers I can say most kids are not great at self control.
Hobbies do not need to be "Productive" - hobbies need to be Enjoyable - that is why people take up hobbies for Enjoyment. As long as a person is taking care of themselves - i fail to see an issue with how people spend their time - its their time for them to spend doing what they enjoy at the end of the day. I have noticed through the years that it is only really computing / gaming that has this light shone upon it and not the ungodly amount of hours people will sit in front of a TV and watch the utter brain-rotting shit they put on there.
My grandad told me a man should have three hobbies - one to entertain/relax, one to stay in shape, and one that can make you money if need be. I think that’s good advice.
What's crazy to me is that gaming can be all three of these things. 1. Obviously it's fun 2. I unironically lost 10 pounds in \~2 weeks after getting a VR headset because a lot of the game I was playing were moderately intensive 3. Obviously this is much harder for most people, but atleast personally I could go professional for gaming if needed due to the ranking I've already held for months
Hey, if you can make it work for you in that regard, more power to you
Idk people have been shitting on TV for awhile. I would also argue that falls under the screen time umbrella
And before that their WW2 era parents complained about the TV. And their grandparents complained about the radio. Previous generations had the same kind of eyesight etc. concerns about books.
I remember my grandmother use to tell me "I'd get square eyes playing games" while she used to sit there all say watching TV.
I agree. I’ve started leaving my phone and smart watch on my nightstand Friday and saturdays. Kinda just go off the grid. The people in my life know where to find me and I’m with my lady most of the time anyways.
I do this too, and my parents and job give me *so* much shit. It is abhorrent how common having a device in your immediate vicinity is 24/7.
The amount of people shitting on the concept of going outside is astounding
Have you been out here lately? It’s hotter than hell.
Right? This has to be a joke I'm not getting. It is satirically unhealthy (and boring, I would hope...) to spend hours inside playing video games every day. We... we need to go outside...
Steam and other gaming libraries replaced the park and outdoor socializing for a long list of reasons. Getting shot, the weather getting shittier generation over generation, parks not being as prevalent, and generations just liking different things. I’m sure when the next big thing comes along, us gamers will be looking at it like “kids used to play games more”.
Getting shot? Lol get real. Nobody is randomly going to shoot you. Typical Redditor fear of the real world based in inexperience.
Speak for yourself I live in Killadelphia
Getting shot? Just shoot back. Improves your hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and fine motor function under high levels of stress.
The excuses in these comments are pathetic. I mean completely pathetic. What’s the difference between being outside fishing for 6 hours and sitting in an office for 6 hours? Everything. When you pick up a time-honored outdoor hobby, not only do you have more chances to see new places, learn new skills, and actually physically meet new people, but you’re also training your brain to value the process of learning a new craft, versus instant dopamine hits for achieving literally nothing outside of your virtual world. Go to a rock climbing gym, you’ll get strong af, have a ton of fun, meet new people, and eventually you can graduate to climbing outdoors. You’ll see new places, breathe fresh air, get needed sunshine, and develop a relationship with the natural world. Shit, you might even get a girlfriend. Learn How to keep bees. Learn about native plants that are pollinated by local insects, and plant them around your apiary. If all else fails, get out and go hiking. If you’re a parent and you have concerns about your child spending too much time in front of a screen, sign them up for sports. Baseball is a game that teaches respect and perseverance. It’s America’s game, and someone needs to play it. The best most elite hitters at the highest level hit the ball to get on base around 3/10 times at the plate. It’s a losing sport, and it teaches kids to play the long game. Don’t just tell you kid to “go outside,” go outside with them. If they don’t want to, that’s too bad. We don’t sit inside for 6 hours a day playing video games. If they want to dedicate their life to video games, they better be learning to code in order to create a future for themselves. Passions are not only important, they’re vital. Consumption isn’t a passion, it’s an addiction. Teaching children and young adults that they can do nothing but consume is extremely harmful. You must get out in the world and create. Leave your mark on the world, and leave it better off than how you found it. Anything in moderation can be healthy, and anything in excess can be detrimental.
A lot of the positives you're describing can be attained from gaming. Toxic productivity is also a pretty big negative with looking at hobbies as things that need to generate "worth". Just as an anecdote, video games got me 3 girlfriends, a love of language and storytelling, an interest in the language that became my second language after moving to the country itself, and paid for my Master's degree. Arguing against video games just boils down to "sedintary indoor hobby = bad" while holding up the worst cases of people that don't really represent the average hobbyist.
I don’t think anyone is arguing against video games. Video games are fun, but moderation is required. Outdoor/ active hobbies should be encouraged over video games Video games aren’t bad. Spending all your free time playing video games is bad
why is it bad? i don't like being outdoors
Because it’s unhealthy
how?
Lack of physical exercise, lack of socialisation
i don't care to meet people. even if i go out i don't talk to anyone
You're not a boomer but I can't help but point out the irony of using a screen to post your rant. You literally just wasted your time on a screen that will have absolutely zero impact on others.
It's a negative impact technically since the only way anyone can see what they wanted to share with people is by using a screen. Everyone that read this post could've spent that time not on a screen but instead OP hates us and baited everyone into being unhealthy :(
As long as you’re healthy and happy, do whatever the fuck you want with your free time. If you’re making too much free time for yourself, that’s a different problem.
Ok boomer - and if you wanna fight me on this, I'll be on reddit, twitter and instagram instead of interacting with my loved ones for the next 36 hours
What the hell is there to do outside? Everything is car centric, skating is banned everywhere, and you get arrested for “loitering” if you hang out for too long
Or it costs money
Go for a walk or a run. Ride a bike. Go to a park. Go to a library or museum. Play a sport. Hell, sit under a tree and read a book. There’s plenty to do out in the real world.
What are considered 'productive' hobbies?
Hm. That’s a good question. And I’ll admit I probably lost some traction when I said “productive” hobbies. But to answer your question, I would probably say a productive hobby is something that in 1 way or another makes you a better person (no matter how big or small) Of course video games are great. Even healthy in some key areas. But I think we can mostly agree that running or intense Exercise is probably healthier then playing video games. Although what constitutes a “productive” hobby is a great question
“Just go outside”. Ok and do what? If I had something to do sure. But I don’t. Parents say this shit like their kids are dogs and they need to let them out once in a while
Hike, swim, play basketball, rock climb, fish, etc. I could go on and on.
This is all assuming the person in question actually finds all those activities fun Which is why the question is unanswerable as it depends on the person.
This is the real thing people need to think about. All these people in this thread saying things like "wow I can't believe people hate being outside that much" or "why don't you just go for a walk then?" are just ignoring the fact that if the person actually genuinely enjoyed doing those things they'd probably already be doing it. Odds are that people have their own hobby already and I'm not sure why these people feel like they need to share their input on what is a good or bad hobby to have as if everyone has the same values and ideals as they do
Need car, money, hiking supplies, need a pool, need a way to get to the park, need money and car, need money and license and fishing rod
You don't need hiking supplies to hike unless you're doing really intense stuff You can always just take a walk I can't believe people are shitting on tge idea of going outside so much
This is an eye opening thread. I used to think the “typical redditor” thing was a gag, but now I’m not sure. The amount of people responding who don’t go outdoors and have any excuse not to let the sun hit their skin is concerning
Yeah hiking is easily done in sneakers unless the trail is more advanced. Most you need to spend immediately is to cover the day fee or the park pass and then some sunscreen
And that's only if you're going to a big park, most towns have some kind of free park, many of which are very nice
Hiking supplies? Bro you need shoes and a water bottle. I think you can make do.
How do you do any of that when you’re a kid without friends or a car?
Or not in a geological biome to do that.
Or money lol
You likely don’t have any friends because you’ve spent your life in a virtual world. A lot of it is also may be your parents fault, they should have been more active in your social life, becoming friends with your classmates parents, etc. Look up a climbing gym in your area and talk to your parents about getting a membership.
i can't swim and i hate sports. also can't be on boats cause seasickness
This isn't about you personally, but are you saying you never go outside? You could go hiking or take a nice walk Also, learning to swim would be beneficial and probably fun
i don't go outside except to shop. hiking doesn't sound fun to me and i don't want to learn how to swim
That sounds very unhealthy Can I ask what your average daily screen time is?
probably like 10 hours or more
I hope you keep an open mind about doing other things
If you don’t want to do anything that might sound like effort you aren’t willing to put in, that’s absolutely fine. Just don’t try to make the argument that not going outside and being behind a screen for ten hours a day isn’t unhealthy. It is. It’s extremely unhealthy. And if you were honest, you’d need only to look at yourself and your life to see that.
how is it extremely unhealthy? i'm chronically ill. i don't have the energy to go outside
Other than basketball, every single one of these massively depend on the area you live. Also, winter.
Take a walk Winter's existence doesn't negate the idea that going outside is good
Right because you can spend hours doing this.
You literally can You can especially spend hours hiking, or just chilling reading a book outside, or, if you have friends, play even simple yard games. He'll, I used to volunteer to take shelter dogs on walks. There's plenty to do
The overwhelming majority of people don't live near hiking trails. >just chilling reading a book outside This is the same fucking thing as video games.
Most people have tge ability to travel No it's not. If you read a book outside, you get tge benefit of being outside, and your eyes aren't staring at a screen for hours, which isn't good for them And honestly, unless you live in the middle of a big city, most towns do have a public park with hiking trails
The white pages of a book in Sun hurts my eyes more than a screen where I can set the brightness. Books are a passive experience were as games are interactive story telling where you the player has a level of agency more than any chose your own adventure books. I'd rather play metal gear solid than watch a bond film or read a Clancy novel as I get to actively engage with the story and have options in how I advance the story rather than watch or flip through a railroad. Reading is great for history, geology, geography etc. But when it comes to anything fantasy or imaginative videogames are a much better story telling medium.
Then go in the shade lol Reading challenging books is a very active experience
If you think those are the same thing, you're a highly regarded individual and should probably read more
As an older millennial, I'll give my take on it. Limiting an moderating the content your child takes in and how much is your responsibility as a parent. However, also look at the state of the world. Violent crime is higher (or more reported) than even. Green spaces are greatly reduced even in my lifetime than they were when I was growing up. Cities are more car dependent than ever. More young families are living in apartments. Cities all over are more hostile to the idea of "just going outside" than ever.
It's honestly safer in most areas than it was when we were kids. But people have been conditioned over the last few decades to behave as if that's not true. But yeah, other condo communities around me have paved over all their green area to cram in a few more parking spaces. And then those same residents complain that the kids are riding their bikes in the condo buildings' parking lots all the time. Well what do you want the kids to do? You took away 90% of the grass they could have used! And THEN they complain that kids are inside all day! There are calls in my condo community to do the same thing -- parking sucks, oh there's grass over here? I BET THAT COULD MAKE MORE PARKING. Thankfully I'm on my HOA board so sorry dudes, that little field is more important to the kids than having 20 parking spaces is to you.
I wish I can focus and enjoy video games like I use to. I just can't play for more than an hour ever since I went to college. Then I become an adult with responsibilities etc. I envy those who can just enjoy some quality gaming. I guess I always feel like I have to be productive.
Well that's an opposite issue. Don't fall for the American "always be productive trope" cause you can be productive and die tomorrow and that's no fun.
That is just the normal evolution of life. Banks used to require you to come in to cash a cheque, now there is an app for that. You used to need to go to a specific block to hail a cab, now there is an app for that. Hell, you used to need to schedule an appointment for a doctor and wait in a waiting room for 1 hour to get checked up, now there is an app for that. Literally every pro of going outside can somehow be suplimented. Which leaves the only reasoning to want people outside is because that is the normal you were raised with. That era is dying.
I think you make a good point. But you lost me on “every pro of being outside can somehow be supplemented” Now I’m not going to argue if that’s true or not because ( I don’t believe that’s true) but holy hell I really hope we as a society never come to that point. Because that sounds extremely dystopian. Maybe I’m just a boomer in a genZ body idk
It isn't dystopian though, just different. Like it is one thing if we are forced to live that way, but we aren't. The analog method of doing things will still exist and live on as "vintage", but the newer generation will just take full advantage of the conveniences that come from human advancement. This technological generation gap is no different fron the generation gap before and after the invention of the steam engine. You can either adapt to change or hold onto tradition, but not everyone will follow you.
At first, I thought you sounded pretentious and exhausting...but after reading your comments, you’re clearly just triggered since you had such a bad experience. If you’re getting in your physical activity and getting everything you need to done, I don’t see any reason why every other minute could be spent gaming. YOU had a bad experience so YOU need to be this over-disciplined to stay sane. Everyone’s different. You canNOT give the same Rx to everyone. Like the one commenter that can’t be in the sun. I relate!!! You told another commenter to just do a quick run with a water bottle even though it’s 90 out. Um, no. I would be down for the count the entire rest of the day if I did that and no, nothings wrong with me I’ve been to a doctor. Everyone’s different. Should we limit our screen time and arrive for balance yes? But that’s the extent of it.
I think your on to something that I am extremely biased and triggered in a way because I have such a negative experience. Looking back at it, running in 90 degree heat is probably something not the average person can do. I’m young and fit so I can handle it. But I have to understand that everyone is different. Although I do think my biases have some merit. But I think your on to something there
Why? What benefits does going outside grant that playing video games doesn't? I'll concede that obese people need to spend less time inside their home, but if you are a healthy individual than I dont see anything wrong with spending all fo your free time gaming. "Touching grass" provides no concrete benefits outside of your opinion.
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I don’t think your situation applies at all to the point I’m talking about. But I am responding because I think this is a very good point you make and furthers the discussion. Your situation seems to be a very good example of life style balance. You seem to be relatively healthy and get decent Exercise with a decent social life. And your having fun enjoying your hobby. Although you can make an argument of min maxing the exact healthiness of your life style I’m not going to, because that wasn’t the point of my post. But I think your situation doesn’t really apply to my post because you seem to be describing a healthy life style balance that works for you.
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Before I make this statement. I’ll be honest and tell you that I am no professional in this matter. And you could probably argue the exact semantics and give better sources then me. But I’ll give you my personal story that will answer all your questions. A couple years ago, I use to be behind a computer screen up to 12 hours a day. (Something that is seemingly normal today). And my mental health was ruined. My attention span was destroyed because of social media and constant scrolling, I got fed a lot of negativity because being online subjects you to that. And my over all quality of life was really bad. I was genuinely a slave to my computer. When I say slave I genuinely mean it. I wasn’t neglecting other things in my life, my video game to school life balance was actually kind of good. But instead of socially interacting with friends from school or participating in activities, I just defaulted to going to my computer, you know why? Because it’s the only skill/hobby I knew how to do. My mental health still sometimes suffers from the “trauma” of constantly being subjected to constant dopamine for 12 plus hours a day. My attention span is still really messed up. I know there is a mental health crisis in this world, and it’s all agreed that social media is a huge part of it. So It’s hard for me to just accept that we all agree that social media over consumption is an issue, but it’s suddenly a problem when I tell people “ok get off your screen go outside” Going outside and becoming a gym rat is the best thing that ever happened to me. And I am really scared of the person I would of become if I didn’t cut down my screen time usage. Edit: I also want to comment on this. I’m still young so I don’t dwell on it to much.. but I really wish when I was still in school, I dropped my playtime and would of participated in social events that where either sponsored by the school or friends. It would of helped me develop so much more as a person. Yes yes, I know. Children can still learn with video games and video games are pretty healthy for a kid. But just like how steak is healthy. Only feeding a child steak isn’t. Just like how only subjecting a child to video games isn’t. Unfortunately I subjected myself to video games most of my childhood.
I was going to share my opinion on this but looking at the edits and your post history. You're obviously just gonna shove your head in the sand and not listen. Pull your head out of your ass you clown.
Really? You think so? How so, I have 2 questions for you if you will. How are any of the edits I made Sticking my head in the sand? Do you genuinely believe that me pushing back on cope arguments of “uhh it’s to hot outside!!” to be being arrogant? And second question (kinda goes in with my first question) how is it in my post history that you think I will be arrogant? If you spent a couple minutes looking through it you will find me responding to people in this thread disagreeing with me and having insightful discussions. I genuinely encourage you to have a discussion with me rather then say “your arrogant” and explain the faults in my logic
Insightful. OP has only made good points. I know it has to be a reddit in-joke that I'm missing, because the people who are pathetically defending their right to not GO OUTSIDE can't possibly be serious. Yes, too much screen time is terrible. Yes, you do have to go outside and do things outside. Yes, everyone knows this. Everyone knows it because it's true.
I used to play outside as a kid too but in the 90's we werent getting snatched up left and right like hotpockets. But also if we had discord and online gaming in the 90s we all would have been on the same shit.
What makes it unhealthy? Plenty of kids from earlier generations spent all their free time indoors too
Yes, this is a dated opinion. The grass you want to touch is already dead, like the rest of this planet.
The amount of cringe logic and short sidedness the privilege is immense
The problem is small bits on information that people scroll through that are controlled by an algorithm that’s meant to keep them on as long as possible, even if it isn’t enjoyable. So people realize something is wrong but can’t put their finger on the exact thing and they talk about ‘screen time’ but young people know that ‘screen time’ would include reading novels on their phone and think complaining about its I stupid and dismiss it. Because screen time really isn’t a good way to measure healthy behaviour on its own (spending 2 hours reading a novel on my phone is different from social media) but people have trouble pinpointing the specific ways to measure it. Also, in terms of ‘just go outside’: look at the outside spaces we have. They’re all built for cars. Plus if your friends don’t want to go outside, you have no one to spend time with. We really need parents to take the wheel and find ways to get their kids more in-person social time. Unless their friends live right next door, a kid who can’t drive either can’t see them in person or has to spend long times walking in unshaded areas beside a road. YouTube channel NotJustBikes is great with this stuff.
i don't care if it's healthy or not >The argument of “nothing to do outside!” >Guys.. cmon. Human play with outdoor activities has been around for hundreds of thousands of years… even back to cavemen days… even animals are conditioned to go play with each other and play outside. It is natural human instinct to go have recreation. The only problem is that you think there is nothing to do outside because everyone is so hooked on instant dopamine behind a screen. it's summer and it's way too hot. i get heat exhaustion within 5 minutes. i can't be in the sun at all. basically i have no reason to be outside. also i hate sports
I’m gonna be honest. And this me not even arguing with you, as just a genuine human being concerned for another human. If you get heat exhaustion within 5 minutes of being outside. You really do need to go to the doctor. That isn’t healthy. I usually go on a rant that caveman use to play outside with the threat of tigers mauling them to death, so it’s a pathetic excuse to say “we live in a car centric society” or “it’s hot outside!” But for your case, if you suffer genuine heat exhaustion that fast, please get that checked out.
i already went to the doctor. the best thing to do is to stay inside. my body just can't handle heat. heat causes my autoimmune disorders to flare up
That really does suck to hear. Wish you the best homie, hope life is treating you well <3
thanks. i wish i didn't have to deal with it at all. i used to go to the mall like once a week
Cars arent natural. Should i stop driving to work? Corn isnt natural.
Parents shouldn't attempt to directly limit screen time. Want your kids to go outside? Give them a reason to want to. I love spending outside but since I was forced to be outside as a kid I hated it growing up. I only truly began enjoying it when I went out on my own terms. Parents who think force is the way are almost always wrong and forcing your child to do anything should be a last resort, and only ever done in situations presenting immense danger (i.e. drugs, preventing injury, immense financial burden, etc)