Growing up, my brother had a Game Boy that he let me use on long car rides. It simply wasn’t my thing. I remember not having any patience for leveling up in Zelda, often choosing to stare out of a window rather than take a turn on the device. As an adult, I am thus a gaming novice, a newbie, a know-nothing.
Nowadays, video gaming seems to be in the very air around me and I still don’t know much. The SuperMario Brothers Movie, The Minecraft Movie, and the Sonic the Hedgehog series are just a few of the major movies that have been released in the last few years. And that cultural influence won’t slow down. In fact, a 2024 article in The Economist declares video games to be the next big thing in film and television.
The kicker is that even though I do not have a specific interest in video games, my kids do. It turns out that in 2026, your children don’t have to be watching movies or playing games at home to know a lot about video games and to find them interesting. Children play out imaginary scenarios with gaming characters on playgrounds and during recess every day. Merchandise and branding from the video gaming world is on clothing, in books, made into toys, and even printed on Band-Aids. Like it or not, gaming is a part of children’s worlds, and so I found myself interested in learning about how to thoughtfully incorporate gaming into our home.
Unfortunately, there is a lot of negative and scary messaging about gaming out there. Questions have been raised about the relationships between gaming and violence, gaming and educational attainment, gaming and health, gaming and tantrums – you name it, you can worry about it. But there is also a lot of messaging about gaming’s positive attributes. Video games may improve attention, enhance hand-eye coordination or foster teamwork and social skills while gaming with friends. Some games are set up to be more educational than others. Like so many important topics, there is nuance.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recognized this nuance when it updated its screentime guidelines in 2025. Previously the AAP had set limits on how many hours to allow kids on screens, but now that children and teenagers are on screens for “school, work, connecting with friends and family members, playing games, browsing social media, watching entertaining videos, learning new hobbies, reading the news and more, rather than setting a guideline for specific time limits on digital media use, we recommend considering the quality of interactions with digital media and not just the quantity, or amount of time.” (The AAP still recommends keeping screentime at zero or very limited for kids younger than 2).
OK, so parents should consider the quality of their children’s interactions with screens. This makes a ton of sense to me. But with such a huge library of gaming content out there, how do I consider the options available to my family without becoming overwhelmed?
To start, every game on common gaming platforms has Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings that help parents determine whether a game is appropriate for their children’s age ranges. Common Sense Media also has parent guides to popular platforms like Roblox, Minecraft and Discord, as well as parent and child reviews of popular games for various gaming systems. Once you’ve determined which games may be fun and engaging for your kids, the Child Mind Institute has tips on setting healthy limits around video games.
One resource that I find to be helpful and informative is Ash Brandin, known as @thegamereducator on Instagram. Brandin has a master’s degree in music education and has recently published a book called Power On: Managing Screen Time to Benefit the Whole Family. Given all of the worry and noise about screen use that is out there for parents, part of Brandin’s messaging that I found calming is the idea of being “morally neutral” around screen time. That means treating complaints about screen boundaries with the same neutrality we would treat complaints about bedtime or going to school. Brandin also helped me to understand that gaming is ultimately a leisure tool – just like reading or playing or watching television, gaming in small spurts can be a relaxing way for kids to unwind. When we reframe gaming as a leisure tool instead of something to be feared, we get to help teach kids the importance of managing time as it relates to required activities versus our relaxing ones.
Like anything, there is such a thing as too much gaming, and most parents will easily recognize the signs. We don’t want our kids to prioritize games over social interaction, we don’t want kids playing games late into the night instead of sleeping, and we definitely don’t want kids asking us for more game time every hour on the hour until we cave.
That said, families should talk about what sorts of activities they might want to prioritize above or before video gaming. Do you want your family to engage in outside time before games? What about chores, social time or sports? When it comes to video gaming, you and your family get to decide. It requires some thought and careful planning, but there is definitely some family fun to be had by all.
Pamela Savage is a freelance writer and video game “noob” living in Springfield.
This article appears in Parent Spring 2025.
