Video Game Conversations Are More Important Than You Think

Why you should listen when your kids talk

“Mom, I had an idea about building a castle on a floating island in Ark…”

I was busy with my morning routine of coffee and reading. My thoughts were elsewhere. “I think you are telling the wrong person. Isn’t that the game you play with your Dad?”

“Yes, but I want to tell you. It’s part of my project!”

That was my cue to put down the news and listen. She was inviting me into her world and I needed to accept the invitation.

Teenagers are Relational

It’s a popular idea in modern culture that older kids, especially teenagers, want independence. We are told that teenagers want to live a life separate from their parents, isolated in their bedrooms, with total privacy.

The teenage years are truly a time of phenomenal growth towards independence, but independence is not the same thing as isolation.

Isolation indicates that they don’t want to share their interests with us at all. But teenagers are relational. They are full of excitement and energy. They crave connection.

As kids grow and begin to cultivate interests that are different from their parents, a disconnect…