Public Gaming

As a Homeschooling Mother; It only makes sense, to me, that there should be a Homeschool server for our Homeschooled gamers.

Now most of you know;I am not a fan of Public online Gaming.

This is why I do what I do here.

Public Online and Console gaming is open to anyone and all age groups. The few I do allow my kids to game on have become increasingly more centered on violence and 'hooking up'. The very things we are trying to protect our homeschoolers from, are still cleverly finding ways to trap them. Roblox for instance has taken a very violent and sexual turn. Likewise the most popular-trending Minecraft skins are nudes w/ pixelated detail. A simple search of Minecraft on Google images is shocking and more and more "first person shooting" (FPS) games are marketed to children. For instance a very popular game among children right now is marketed as 'Like Minecraft ie; you get to 'build things'. But the game actually centers around shooting others while you hunt for more guns and ammo. Please know; I'm not a prude, nor sensitive, nor self-righteous, or judgmental. There are many who don't allow their children to play Minecraft on the same basis of violence.

We each have our own threshold, tolerance, and understanding of what constitutes safe gaming. I grew-up in a home that didn't allow poker or any form of gambling. We played the heck out of Rummy and Solitaire though. When I was a teen, my friends and I played D&D. It was full of imagination, round tables of laughter, and an escape from hormones and public school issues. Our parents, not understanding the game, hated it. (meanwhile many of our peers were out drinking, fighting with their parents, having babies, and even breaking the law) But I've always been a gamer from Rummy with my Mom, Checkers with my brother, D&D with my friends, Pool & darts on dates, Board games with my kids, and playing/running a Minecraft Server; I'm a gamer at heart. I'm pretty open minded and will always listen to both sides of a debate. But I am concerned about exposure to adult content during the early stages of development and the influential teen years. Heck, I'm terribly worried about my own children! There are times I wish I'd never let them have their own PCs, never allowed them to access the internet without my very watchful eye. I worry. I worry a lot. In our home we talk about the dangers of online activity. We talk about how you can't un-see things. How we must protect the energy in our home and the sanctity of our souls. But I am also particular about language and sexual content around my children anyways. Hey, my aging parents curse more then I do! But my kids are not oblivious. You can't protect them from Society. But what the internet can expose them too is far, far from what I want them to witness inside our home. This is our Zen, our fortress, our controlled environment. (or at least I aim/pray for that!) My caution is this; consider strongly letting your young homeschooled gamer explore open-public-gaming platforms. Servers that have no whitelist, console games that have chat and actions outside of behaviors you want in your home. If we complain about young children being more violent, using guns to kill others, and being detached from any empathy....we must consider what entertains them, what it teaches them, what the message is that's being delivered. That's my peace.

Once again, thanks for reading.

Thanks for being apart of this awesome HG journey.

I am not a "booger".

Just an introverted Mom who feels inspired to speak up sometimes.

Many Blessings from our homeschool to yours! Sara.