Level UP

I grew up playing all types of video games. I think I told you that already, so sorry for the redundancy. Anyway, one of the genres that kept me glued to the screen was racing games. I liked being able to drive a lot of different cars…and drive them fast. Over time, Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2 won first place in my heart. As game developers improved racing games, one of the most significant features for me and eventually our son was the ability to drift. Taking a corner at high speed, pulling on the e-brake, and effortlessly and smoothly gliding (aka drifting) around a corner while not losing much speed was magical. The more we worked at it, the better we became. And when we hit it just right, we could enter the perfect drift. Time stood still, angels were singing, and it was glorious. But drifting doesn’t just happen in video games. It happens in relationships and can also be seen in all types of organizations.  Now, you’ve probably experienced this scenario once or twice: your game...

You make your way to your kid’s room and slowly open the door without a sound. You peek in just enough to see your kid sitting in front of the screen, headset on, and controller in hand. He’s laser focused, deep in a game and you hear him yelling something about “sweating on these noobs.” You try to figure out what in the world that could mean, but to him, it’s just part of the game. Gaming today isn’t like the Mario Kart you grew up with in your basement. Back in the day, it was just you, your sibling, and the occasional controller-throwing incident. Hence the addition of the wrist straps for your Wii controller. Nope. Now, gaming is online, worldwide, and interactive. Your child isn’t just playing against friends. They’re interacting with strangers, some of whom don’t exactly have the purest intentions. So how do you guide your kid to enjoy gaming and keep them safe from online predators at the same time? Let’s talk about it. Your first instinct might be to sound the alarm, shut down...

Imagine walking into your kitchen and finding your kid eating frosting straight from the tub with a soup ladle. You’d probably say something like, “Whoa, buddy, that’s not breakfast!” And yet, when it comes to what our kids consume in the gaming world, we sometimes don’t even notice when they’re spooning in a steady diet of digital junk food. Or worse. I’m not just talking about too many hours in front of the screen. Yes, that’s worth talking about. 100%. But let’s look at the content: the storylines, the language, the images, the people they’re interacting with in online spaces. Just like in real life, not all food is bad, and not all games are bad. But some are the equivalent of a three-day-old gas station hot dog washed down with expired milk. Our job as parents? To help our gamers spot the difference. When your kid says, “Can I play this game?”, that’s your cue to peek at the menu. Fortunately, the gaming world comes with its own nutrition label: the ESRB rating . Think of it like ...