Viewing 15 posts - 81 through 95 (of 95 total)
  • What can I get a teenager to do?
  • cranberry
    Free Member

    Not a parent myself, but I do know a chap that has a pretty good (imo) outlook.

    He has a simple rule for both of his kids that they WILL participate in a sport (until they are old enough to move out at least), they can choose, or if not he’ll choose one for them.
    Gets them out of the house, gets them a good dose of exercise, and means they are interacting with others.

    Those kids are going to have a great deal of fun choosing his retirement home!

    Probably one with treadwheel and sadistic “carers”.

    jimjam
    Free Member

    The obvious answer is encourage him to become a professional gamer.

    colp
    Full Member

    I built him a mountain bike, went for a ride, and he had to get his mum to rescue him as he ‘got a bit tired’. This on a route his 6 year old sister can do on a SS Hotrock with 16″ wheels.

    My lad isn’t into xc type stuff, but is out all weekend, every weekend on his bike sessioning his local spots, building jumps etc. Maybe try more that kind of riding? Is there anywhere you can go just for a mess around on bikes?

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Gaming can’t be instagrammed and used to play one-upmanship with their friends.

    Oh, it absolutely can.

    Gaming is very much a social activity for many people. Just a different way of being social.

    Which is what I was saying earlier. Is he playing online with friends or on his own? I’m guessing the former if it’s CoD.

    Which leads to another question – does he have any local friends? “Go and play out” is all well and good, but if his nearest mates are on the other side of a town then what’s he supposed to do?

    When I was a kid, I had a mate directly across the road. We rode bikes, kicked balls around and generally got into pre-teen mischief. But I spent hours and hours and hours in front of a keyboard, either on my own or with mates. The only difference with modern gaming (aside from lack of keyboard) the is that mates are on headsets rather than within punching distance.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Anyway, I had a few random ideas this morning.

    if he likes tech, how about seeing if he’s got an interest in gadgets / coding? Raspberry Pi, breadboard and a bag of LEDs?

    If he likes shooting stuff there’s airsoft / laser quest / proper shooting ranges / archery / paintball.

    Go bowling? Go-karting?

    Walking even, go up a hill when the weather picks up. Take a tent, camp out overnight.

    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    Dad clearly doesn’t work for a living. Going around every wifi enabled device every day changing passwords sounds like the sort of the thing only pensioners and the unemployed would have time for.

    What? Just change the password for the router then devices can’t log on. How long is the password if you need to be unemployed to input it? How many wireless enabled devices do you have? I’m intrigued beyond belief now. I’m off to change the password on my router then see how many hours it takes to type a password in to devices. Should I quit my job first, just to be safe? 😉

    Cougar
    Full Member

    Just change the password for the router then devices can’t log on

    Unless you knew what you were doing, 13 year old me would’ve probably sniffed the new password and carried on regardless anyway. Fire a dearth packet, grab the handshake, set a password cracker running before leaving for school. Come home to the broken Wi-Fi password, profit.

    funkmasterp
    Full Member

    I have no idea what you just said there Cougar 😆

    Cougar
    Full Member

    That’s kind of my point (-:

    Ostensibly, maybe times have changed now as my generation have grown up with it, but I find the concept of parents knowing more about tech than their offspring to be somewhat optimistic.

    If it were my 13-year old, I’d tell him he could have the password if he could hack it. There you go, that’ll give him a hobby.

    Bunnyhop
    Full Member

    Our 13 nephew loves his stunt scooter, snowboarding and atm horror films.
    This weekend we took him out in the wind and cold to play crazy golf.
    He’s also into pokemon so its often easier to combine the outdoor time with us and the pokemon hunting.

    perchypanther
    Free Member

    Unless you knew what you were doing, 13 year old me would’ve probably sniffed the new password and carried on regardless anyway. Fire a dearth packet, grab the handshake, set a password cracker running before leaving for school.

    These Masonic rituals are really complicated.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Surely any hobby is doing the same thing regarding neurons firing in your brain. Assuming physical fitness is not being compromised by ones hobby then what’s the difference?

    Gaming is fine, but it’s mostly just one skill in a small area of human endeavour, but it’s very addictive and there’s loads of it. So kids can develop a one track mind. This I believe is detrimental. It’s ok to geek out on things, but you do need perspective and a wide range of mental activity.

    I used to spend a lot of time coding and somewhat less gaming – but I’ve always had other diverse interests.

    Malvern Rider
    Free Member

    Sorry but I fear there is no hope. Gen Xers ‘gift’ to Millenials was a virtual life. For the last 6 years I have volunteered once a year with young (18-20-somethings) from all over the world and 90% whatever else they do (be it kayaking, art/painting, camping, coasteering, photography, gardeining, cycling, cooking, drinking, socialising etc ‘IRL’) is taking time away from their internet-enabled device which they inevitably snap back to like a rubber-band.

    It’s a constant losing struggle. My generation is latterly addicted to the internet, their generation is normalised by it. Without constant intervention/encouragement/scheduling I find them sitting silently around the communal kitchen table or else alone in their dorms, each lost in their tablet/phone/PC. Ironically, those very few who do not have these devices are ‘loners’ who enjoy outdoor pursuits and active offline company. I observe that they too are most often frustrated by their peers quasi-religious adherence to the digital ‘life’. Quite how much of the internet-addicts reticence to engage in the wider world is coming from resultant lack of confidence is up for debate.

    teamhurtmore
    Free Member

    …but will be the winners in the long run.

    A new form of educational/career apartheid is emerging. Parents can do something about it, its their choice whether to bother or not.

    philjunior
    Free Member

    Have you tried him on drones? There are a lot of things you can get for not much and the bigger ones obviously require fresh air.

Viewing 15 posts - 81 through 95 (of 95 total)

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