Over the years, it’s become clear that online gaming is here to stay. It’s permeated the lives of adults just as well as it has with kids. Actually, some experts have begun to argue that online playdates might have a positive effect on children. Why is that? We delve into the world of kids’ online game playing and how it helps them handle conflict in real life.

What Experts Say

When asked, many parents say they both love and hate games like Fortnite and their counterparts. However, many have acknowledged the positive effect it could have on kids. Playing together allows children to comment on anything that might have happened at school. From discussing someone’s “anger issues” to strategizing on how to overcome a difficult challenge while playing online, gaming has the potential to teach kids a lot.

With that in mind, playing online games doesn’t mean leaving kids to fend for themselves. Sometimes, parental intervention is necessary. Keep in mind that the rules of real-life playing together may not always apply to online games. Here’s why a parent should step into their child’s online world.

Online Gaming Develops Problem-Solving Skills

Randi Pochtar, Ph.D., is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone Health in NYC. She says parents should avoid meddling in their kids’ online gaming playdates, as it helps them develop problem-solving skills. The assistant professor believes intervention is necessary when there’s a safety concern involved. Otherwise, children should be left to develop problem-solving skills on their own.

Young kids may need assistance, though. Many of them still develop the language skills to express themselves. So, parents could help by encouraging them to use phrases that allow them to show how a certain action makes them feel.

How Intervention Should Be Done

If a parent sees that their kids struggle to solve some conflict while gaming online, they could try to speak with the other child’s parents (if they know each other, of course). Dr. Pochtar recommends parents suggest new playdates if necessary.

If you deal with an older kid, they may not always welcome a parent’s eavesdropping approach. So, trying an inquisitive approach may go a long way. Say, for example, a kid says their friend has “anger issues.” Instead of debating the issue with your own judgments, Dr. Pochtar suggests parents deal with the matter with curiosity. Of course, children are allowed not to like a certain action of their friends while gaming online.

The parent’s role, in this case, is to show their kid that there’s nothing wrong with being disappointed by their friend’s reaction. But they should also help them learn that different actions (or reactions) should be treated as happening in the context of the game. They might not define who the other individual is in general. Such an approach may help children not take things personally.

If you have a child starting kindergarten this fall, you’re probably wondering if they’re ready, and how to better prepare them for this new chapter in their lives. We’re here to help with that and tell you that sleep is a huge factor in successfully adapting and performing in kindergarten. Keep on reading to find out what researchers have found out.

Why Is Sleep So Important?

Sleep is of crucial importance for any human being, but especially for small children. If your kid is well rested, they will be more cooperative and ready to learn. In fact, a study called “Sleep Duration and Kindergarten Adjustment,” which ran over a year with 221 families with kids of the kindergarten age range, found out the big difference sleep can make. They compared the academic results and overall behaviors of the children who had a consistent bedtime routine and bedtime and who had 10+ hours of sleep per night with kids who didn’t. The results have shown that the kids who had better and longer nights of sleep were noticeably more engaged and performed better academically. However, they were also getting a good amount of sleep for months prior to starting kindergarten.

How to Improve a Child’s Sleep

If your child is getting less than ten hours of sleep per night and you would like to change that to help them better adapt to kindergarten and perform well, you can do some small adjustments. One of the things you can do is cap their afternoon nap. If the nap is longer than two hours, try to shorten it by waking up the kid every other day ten minutes early until you make the nap two hours long. If this doesn’t help make them go to bed earlier and easier at night, you can shorten it a bit more. Also, make sure you limit screen time before bed. Come up with a nice and relaxing bedtime routine that you can emulate every single day so it’s easier for your child to unwind and go down for their night’s sleep.