According to the Independent in the United Kingdom, four in 10 children are addicted to the Internet. You may think that your kid is addicted as well because they are on the computer every day. I suggest asking your kid how they spend their time on the Internet and why they use technology, to understand if they are addicted or not. If you’re kid is on the computer for 20 hours or more a week, you’re probably thinking that’s too long.

That’s because you haven’t heard of e-sports, what’s e-sports you ask?

E-sports stands for electronic sports, which in other words means competitive gaming. If your child is into e-sports, playing a game called “Counter-Strike: Global Offensive,” the bare minimum number of hours you need weekly to practice with teams online is 20-25.

If you were to cut your kids’ screen time down to two hours a day, there’s no way they will ever be good enough to be a professional and play with the pros or win the big time tournaments offering $100,000 prize pools! Now with e-sports in play, you must understand the difference between addiction and dedication when it comes to screen time.

This all comes down to personal opinion. For me, I just want to make sure that my child is prioritizing school, homework, chores, only staying up until their bed time, family outings and family social gatherings like birthday parties. As long as my child is following these rules I don’t mind how many hours they play online.

This is all subject to the parent’s personal preference on how they would like to raise their kid. Although, I do believe that children should be taken more seriously and have a voice when it comes to competitive gaming, as you can create a full-time job from playing video games competitively and even live streaming yourself playing and uploading to YouTube too!

Joshua Dunham

Bothell