Are video games good or bad for your children?

Parents frown upon video games because they are a huge drain on time.

Education experts think that video games also corrupt the brain.

The media also blames violent video games for nurturing violent and antisocial behavior in children.

However, many scientists and psychologists believe that video games have many benefits – one of which is that they make children smarter.

Looking closely, video games can offer high-level thinking skills that children can use in the future.

So just how good/bad are video games for your children? Here’s what psychologists and other researchers have to say:

(more…)

There’s always that one experience when a child lashes out. Oftentimes, parents deal with an angry child the wrong way. Combined with miscommunication and the child’s incapability to properly deal with anger, the emotions can become intense in a short period of time.

You see, anger is like mercury on a thermometer. You cannot let the anger of your child go unchecked, otherwise the emotion can increase from simple frustration to full-blown rage and bitterness. Let’s face it. There’s just no definitive way to anger-proof your children, but you can teach them how to control their temper.

In all of my years working as a counsellor, I have not been able to give parents a fool-proof plan for anger. All I have been able to provide is a guide of sorts that will allow them to not only help their child control anger, but also help them develop the coping skills to avert and avoid anger.

(more…)

I am a firm believer of motivation and its benefits for raising your children the right way, but right off the bat, allow me to throw in this tidbit: we’re all different parents and we all raise our children the way we want them to grow up.

I like motivation. I like the way they can be used to drive your children to do something. Sometimes, I like to offer incentives to my children if they do something – like get good grades or do chores. However, I don’t do it as much as I want because I don’t want my children to grow up with the QUID PRO QUO mentality – I scratch your back and you scratch mine.

Rewarding your child with something, like food, can be positive but it can also be detrimental to their development and progress.

What do I mean by this?

(more…)