Does Anyone Know Why Kids Are Obsessed with Dumb Mincraft?

"Dumb Minecraft"? Really? Hmmm, I wonder how they could possibly have learned disrespectful language.

My theory is that if you want someone to treat you with respect, you treat them with respect. Start by not calling his game 'dumb'. You are only modeling the sort of mentality you don't want your child reflecting back to you.

Knowing kids, I know they can be rude. I want to say that your words are disrespectful of your son. Kids learn respect from the adults in their life. I sense that you are at least frustrated if not angry. It's common to yell at our kids when we feel powerless. Just as they are disrespectful when they yell at us, we're disrespectful when we yell at them.

Calling the game that is important to your son a "dumb game" is disrespectful. BTW: Minecraft is considered smart/beneficial by many people. Asperger Experts, an organization that helps kids on the spectrum, uses minecraft to reach kids.

Sounds like you need help with setting and enforcing boundaries. In my house, if kids were disrespectful, I would ask them to be respectful by telling them the correct way to talk to me. I'd warn them that I will send them home if they continue as they are now. To do this successfully, I have to be sure that I'm respectful in what I say and what I do. I'm careful to not put them down in words or attitude.

When I'm able to speak calmly, stating my expectations and consequences if not followed, most people/kids respond appropriately. Kids may roll their eyes. That's OK with me if they do as I say.

I suggest you read Live and Logic by Foster Cline, to see a different way to manage kids and their behaviour. There are many helpful parenting books. I suggest that with a different approach, these kids will either straighten up or not be welcome in your house.

Another helpful book is How To Behave so Your Children will too.

Have you taken the time to politely ask him "what about this game is so interesting to you?" Have you asked him if he does mods, or what kinds of civilizations he's creating? Have you typed "benefits of minecraft" (without the quotation marks) into google and then carefully read the answers and reviews - by educators, professors, scientists, doctors and others who are not promoting the game or gaining anything by talking about the game (they're not associated with it, nor do they earn money by promoting it).

Do you speak respectfully to him? We had a neighbor once who used to say, in public, for all to hear (when referring to her son, in his presence) things like "that little &*$% is so disrespectful" and "that ($*%ing piece of (*$*% is always rude".

I'm not saying that your speech habits are ANYTHING like that. But if you are saying things like "dumb minecraft" directly to him, then that can be damaging to your relationship.

Kids are rude. I don't know, other than doing things like the Duggars do (that family with the 19 kids who keep their kids in their house even after they turn 21, and who restrict their jobs and friends to pre-approved situations, and who arrange their kids' dates and marriages), how to shelter your kid from a rude kid. The best you can do is to teach him that we do not sink to the level of others who have no social skills, and who can't speak respectfully. When your child is unreasonably disrespectful to you, you use your respectful words to kindly and calmly teach him how words hurt.

Sit down with him and ask him to show you about Minecraft. Meet him in his world. I asked my daughter to show me, and I built a crazy tunnel or something that had her cracking up laughing (at my horrible building skills). No, I'm not interested in Minecraft in the least, but she is, and we spent a pleasant hour with her showing me the ins and outs of the game, and all the math and science and tech.

Not sure what Minecraft has to do with it. My son and his friends constantly played video games at my house, for many, many years, some dumb, some violent, whatever, and they were always respectful to me.
Maybe you should look less at the game and more towards how you are interacting with them, parenting, discipline, running your home, rules, etc?

I wish you would have written more. You ask what should you do, but you haven't told us enough to be able to do anything but speculate on what's going on.

So I'll you this: why are you allowing his friends to be rude to you? Or is it that they are rude to each other? Is this happening in your house? What do you do when they are rude? What do you do when your son is disrespectful?

Depending on the answers to these questions, you need to make some changes. If they are rude at your house, you institute a new rule. First, you tell your son that you are sick and tired of rudeness from his friends and from him. Tell him that you'll be having a conversation with his friends letting them know that they'll get ONE warning and then they will be sent home. Tell him that if he is rude and disrespectful to you, that he loses Minecraft for the rest of the day AND the next day. And NO, he won't get to go over to his friends to play it either.

I want to say here that I disagree with the posters who think that you must be disrespectful to your son if you are calling this game "dumb". Maybe you are, but just venting here about a game that seems to be making your son and his friends act badly doesn't mean that you deserve that label.

Bottom line is that you set the tone for what you will allow in your home. Be the adult.

Can you add more information? How are his friends rude? Are they in your house and being rude? Are they ignoring you? Are they speaking outright to you in a nasty way? Send them home. How is your son disrespectful to you? Back talk? Just not turning it off when he's in the middle of a game? Please edit your question to provide more info that all the Mamapedia members will want. And your question is double-posted, so just erase one as much as you can and put more info on the remaining one.

I would make my kid earn the privilege of playing video games, restrict the number of hours that can be spent on it, and make sure he's doing other things that benefit himself and the family (homework, household responsibilities, etc.). And I'd be looking over his shoulder to "learn more about Minecraft" and make sure that's what he's doing. Ultimately, you have the control to take the game away and restrict computer usage as well as visits to friends' houses where he may want to play. Good kids will learn to do the right things to gain fun privileges. There's nothing wrong with video games (although I object to the super violent ones) as long as kids are balanced in the rest of their lives.

Recreational computer time is not a right.
It is constantly earned by good behavior, working hard at school and doing chores.
If he's not earning his screen time (and that includes tv, computer, ipad, phone, etc) - then he gets none.
Any disrespect? take away his computer and/or devices and lock them up in a filing cabinet.
You give access to the internet - and you are perfectly within your rights to take it away.

In the mean time, if he likes to build things, get him a box of Legos and let him have at it.

It's a building game, a game with zombies, with pets, creatures, etc...it has everything and all their friends play it.

I am the only one in the house that doesn't play it. My hubby does it where he hosts the others and they can all play in the same "world".

Not a lot of info here to put this in context.

You teach people (including kids) how to treat you. So if your son is disrespectful you model what is respectful and don't accept anything less. In our house if someone steps out of line (which means crossing a boundary) then you let them know - and you don't engage with them. Here that means sometimes you are not invited to the supper table. Or no, you cannot watch TV show with us until you apologize and mean it. Until then, well - you can hang out in your room - but you don't get to engage in other privileges. I don't punish so much as have spent years enforcing rules that go for everyone in the house.

And it starts with adults. So calling it dumb Minecraft . I get that you don't understand it. I don't really either. But kids love it, and they bond over it - I've had a whole string of kids lined up against the wall here playing it all together and having fun. There is a time and place for it. It's part of kid culture - better to just accept it and show an interest in what interests them.

My husband steps out of line sometimes when he's cranky. He says things out of turn. So it's not surprising my kids (especially teens) think this is ok. And then it's very hard to say "No, YOU'RE not allowed to say that .." because it's already been modeled in the home. So that's when hubby and I have a talk. Because he sees how kids mimic us. It's human - we have to keep ourselves in check. Just a thought.