«I've done a lot of gambling myself and understand my son»
Leo: «Gaming is just cool. I like games where you have to beat others. But most of the time I don't win and have to start all over again. That's annoying. I often play on an online gaming platform. And sometimes I play a game with my dad on the old Playstation with aeroplanes that drop bombs.»
Gabriela: «Gaming became an issue with Leo in Year 1. One day he came home and wanted me to download Minecraft onto my mobile phone. «Everyone plays that,» he said. We agreed on an alternative - a similar game, but free and without adverts. After a while, a friend showed him a new platform that he now often plays on. Sometimes he takes my business mobile phone - it has no code - sneaks off and plays unnoticed. If I notice it, I explain to him that it's not okay.»
Leo: «Then I have to stop. But that's bad in the middle of a cool game.»
We don't want to be too prescriptive. We have opted for the path of dialogue.
Gabriela, mother of Leo
Gabriela: «Yes, it's not always easy to get him out of a game. Sometimes I let him finish playing. Although many games are never really finished.»
Leo: «I'm only allowed to game for a maximum of half an hour a day. Once, when I stayed on for longer, I got a headache. But I usually play for less time anyway. And sometimes I'm allowed to game for five minutes if I read for twenty minutes first.»
Gabriela: «Every now and then we include a condition, yes, but only depending on the situation. We don't want to be too prescriptive. We've decided in favour of talking things through. My partner is more likely to say yes and let him play for longer. For me, it's more often a no. Leo is already good at switching off. But he's a rascal and likes to hang out with friends who are allowed to game more than him.»
Leo: «A friend from my class can stay on as long as he wants. And we sometimes play Fortnite at a friend's house who has an older brother. I would also like to play Fortnite at home. You can move around so well and everything is just like the real thing.»
If you restrict children too much, they go and play with others.
Gabriela, mother of Leo
Gabriela: "I don't think Fortnite is suitable for nine-year-olds. But Leo is quite independent and sometimes with children who are unsupervised. But I welcome the fact that he's becoming independent. So I let him gain his own experience. I think it's good that he talks about it openly. That way I can tell him why I don't like Fortnite, but I can also see his perspective. I understand this, especially as I played a lot of games myself as a child - with three older brothers.
As long as Leo doesn't just sit in front of a screen, but also plays offline, is creative and moves around, I'm fine with it. If you restrict children too much, they go to other people and play games there. It's important for me to be able to continue talking openly with Leo - and to raise his awareness of sensible behaviour."
* Names changed
