Parenting,RelationshipsAPR 4, 2023

13 Y.O. Livid With His Mom For Grounding Him After He Deleted Her Games’ Progress

We all know how crucial rest is to people. And I don’t just mean sleep, but also having fun, spending time on hobbies, or hanging out with friends. Rest is especially important for parents of young children who don’t get enough sleep at night. They need every respite they get, whether it’s a short nap or something they love doing.

A mom raising a newborn and really needing her rest posted on Reddit wondering whether she was a jerk for grounding her son and taking away his devices for borrowing her game console and deleting all of her games and saves.

More info: Reddit

Playing video games can be a great way to relax, just like any other hobby you love

Image credits: Chris Ainsworth (not the actual photo)

A mom was wondering whether she is a jerk for grounding her 13 y.o. son after he used her Switch console for Fortnite

Image credits: Original-Oil-1792

Image credits: Iain (not the actual photo)

The mom let him play on her console, with the condition of no Fortnite as it wouldn't fit on it without deleting her other games

Image credits: Original-Oil-1792

The teen still installed his game on the Switch, deleting the mom's games and saves irreversibly, leading to him being grounded

The poster starts the story off by saying that she and her 13-year-old son love gaming, so the son has access to all game platforms at home. The son is also very spoiled and has Fortnite on all of these platforms.

The son had broken his own Switch console a while ago, so he asked for his mom's and got it under one condition - he wouldn’t install the Fortnite game on it, as it is too big to be on the console without deleting anything else. The mom is also currently taking care of a newborn, and uses the console to get some much-needed rest when she can get it.

He installed the game anyway and deleted the mom’s games and saves. She was naturally upset and grounded him, taking away all of his devices. The son was livid as well and tried complaining to his grandma, who in turn started berating OP and saying that she can’t parent.

A question that naturally arises from this is whether parents should share their games with their kids. According to The Guardian, games can be complex, and it could help greatly with understanding kids’ interests and what they do in their free time, allowing to keep them safer as well.

Gaming together or separately could provide a way for parents and children to have more open conversations rather than ones at the dinner table.

If you think you’d like to start playing games with your kids, you should first pick the game you’d like to play. If you have a difficult time getting into games in the first place, it may be a good idea for you to choose the game, as kids are usually more flexible when it comes to choices of what to play. If you’d like to bond with your child over something or have no idea what to play, you could also have your child choose what to play - you may be pleasantly surprised.

Next up, you should understand how to play. If you’ve never done it before, you should familiarize yourself with the controls. If it’s your first time, you may need some guidance from your child until you start getting it. Don’t worry about losing too much, as all the funny fails may lead to a bonding experience and a small memory of you two gaming.

Image credits: incommunicado (not the actual photo)

Once you’ve spent some time gaming, you should talk to your kids about your experiences. You’ll be able to bond and explore new topics and ideas thanks to the time you’ve spent gaming with them. But you shouldn’t forget to set limits. It’s important not to let chores and homework pile up. Know when you should call it a day and stick to specific amounts of time gaming instead of overindulging frequently.

Although gaming with your kids and enthusing together with them about video games is a great way to bond, there are downsides. With more than 390 million registered players, you’ve probably heard about Fortnite before, but it’s very rarely painted in a positive light. A 2021 study on Medium attempted to analyze why the game is so addictive.

It found that the thing that kept kids coming back was the fact that very little success was needed to move from the bottom of the leaderboards to almost being at the top. Since hitting a couple of well-placed shots can nearly lead you to victory, kids keep coming back to the game believing that “I’ll place those shots in this next game.” This huge amount of hope to succeed with relatively little effort inspires them to play and play until they get that win.

With this in mind, you’ll find lots of studies and articles arguing that video games are either bad or good. Ultimately, it’s up for you to decide how much game time is best for you and your kids.

While games can convey many benefits, improving coordination, reaction times, critical and creative thinking, at the same time playing too much may be detrimental, especially if you spend too much time on any one game.

So make sure to set boundaries for your kids and yourself, and if you’re both gamers - please talk about the consequences of deleting each other’s save files.

The community decided that the mom wasn’t a jerk, saying that 13 is a good age to learn responsibility for your actions. Commenters also said that the son should consider himself lucky that the mom doesn’t go out of her way to delete his saves. Share your stories about gaming with your family below! We’re eager to hear what happened when your parents caught you playing “just one more game” at 3 AM.