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My DS8 played Minecraft at his cousins a few weeks ago and has been begging to play it again ever since. We bought the Creative version for the iPad and he is allowed to play it for 1 hour every Saturday as a reward for a good week at school and co-op. I can tell it could be highly addictive for him and so limiting time is important, but I want to know if I should be aware of any content issues? I have asked a few other parents and have heard that Survivor is the violent version but Creative is ok… I did notice he was killing cows with a bow and arrow to "eat" and I thought that was strange… I'm going to have DH play a few rounds and get his thoughts on it but he doesn't always have the same reservations about media that I have…. 

 

 

Anyway, sorry to ramble but just wondered if any parents out there had issues with Minecraft and what those were. Thanks!!

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My 7yo and 4yo play in creative mode and my DH plays in survival mode or creative if he's playing with the girls.  He describes it as Legos in a computer world.  

 

The killing in the game is not violent or gory (in my humble opinion), and creative mode there isn't a necessary reason to kill anything. Survival mode requires the player to do everything necessary to "survive".  The player has to mine for resources, cut down trees for wood, plant crops, kill animals, etc.  There is a "bad creature" (not sure what it's called) that can kill the player or the player can kill it (or run away/hide I believe).  Creative mode does not have the creature or the creature can't hurt them.  I'm not sure which as I've never seen it in creative mode but I'm not sure that the creatures aren't around.

 

My girls will often spawn (create) an over abundance of animals that will clog up their house or other thing they are building which means they have to kill them to get rid of them.  The killing reminds me of the old video games from the 70/80's. This may still be to much for some, but I feel like it is tame and very minimal to the game in general. 

 

 

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A friend of mine who is very anti-violence lets her DC play in creative mode.  It can be highly addictive but also somewhat educational.  Think of it like legos on the PC/Ipad.  The PC version is better and a lot more fun (IMO) I have found myself de-stressing by spending an hour on the kids games mining. There's just something soothing about digging giant holes in the ground.

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I let my kids play on Minecraft Homeschool.  They did the summer camp and are signed up for classes that relate to our history rotation this year.  For them it is a fun supplement.  Two of my kids also have supplemental Minecraft assignments related to their school work.

 

I limit their time per day/week.  They spend a lot less time playing other video games and a lot more of their screen time meeting up with "friends" they have made online.

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My kid says Herobrine is the scariest thing in Minecraft but he hasn't run into him in the game I don't think. I think he learned about him from YouTube videos. Pretty sure he only appears in Survival mode (he's played both modes). I actually would have guessed Enderman was the scariest thing in Minecraft. My MIL gave him an Enderman plush toy and giant cardboard head at Christmas... she just knew it was Minecraft merchandise lol. But it doesn't wig him out, thankfully.

 

I think by default you don't get animals in creative mode but there is a way to do it. Was your ds in creative or survival when you saw the animals?

Hebrobrine is not real. It is part of the canon but not part of the code.

 

Georgia

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My kids were super into it, but that interest seems to have waned a bit. As with any kind of electronic game, they have their "electronics privilege" time, and if that's what they wanted to do, they had a certain amount of time per day to do that. They played creative and survival, but we did not do the server thing. I actually was planning to do the Minecraft Homeschool, but they don't seem as interested anymore, so I am not going to push it. I will say I thought the vocab they learned through Minecraft was great!

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Our family plays minecraft, and we limit it to local play (just computers within our house) or a private server of a trusted friend. If you are concerned about monsters/fighting, one thing to keep in mind is that besides the difference between creative and survival, there is also peaceful vs. "normal" (or other non-peaceful difficulty levels). You can play "peaceful" difficulty in either creative or survival. In non-peaceful creative mode, there are monsters, and you can kill them but they can't kill you. In peaceful creative, the monsters aren't there at all. In peaceful survival, there are also no monsters and your hunger bar never drops so you don't have to kill animals to eat (though you might still need to kill an animal to get another crafting ingredient, such as leather). Then non-peaceful difficulty levels in survival are where the monsters will try to kill you.

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My thought is be wary of the people who want you to think that's it's an "Amazing Educational Tool." My experience has been that it's a video game. One with more possibilities for creativity and more flexibility for uses but it's still a video game. That's fine - I have nothing against video games for fun or as educational tools. It's the social "thing" of the moment and that makes it a powerful friendship tool for kids and when you're talking about homeschooled kids, I think it can be useful as a means of helping kids establish friendships with other kids, which can be really positive.

 

However, most of the educational uses that I've seen for it have been massively overblown. Kids can build historical buildings in it. Well, great. They could also build them in Lego or with blocks or draw pictures or just not focus on architecture. Kids can write Minecraft stories. Awesome. But they could also write stories about ANYTHING, including any other craze, video game or TV show or book. It motivates kids to read. Awesome. I remember when, a decade or so ago, everyone was on about how Pokemon helped their kids learn to read. It teaches math and social skills and so forth. Well, yeah, but so do most games.

 

If you get into mod design and some other elements, then it can be an entry to programming, but most kids are just playing. My point is not to say these things are bad - it's great that it's such a flexible video game that you can harness it for so many things. But it's not that special as an educational tool IMO. It's more that kids are into it and parents and schools have figured out ways to turn it educational, as parents have been doing with other kid crazes for decades.

 

My boys did not find it all that addictive. They only play occasionally.

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Thank you so much for all of the great feedback and info!! I think I understand about half of what I've read :). Good to know about the servers. We are keeping it to the iPad for now, so no servers or connected play. And he can only play it for an hour on Saturdays as a (very effective) incentive for showing self control and a willing attitude in school and co-op during the week. This is our first real foray into video games outside of learning apps, and I am realizing how proactive I am going to have to be in the coming years to stay in sync with what he is doing/playing/etc. It's a very different world than the Mario Bros and Oregon Trail I grew up with! 

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We stared with the ipad version and eventually upgraded to the full version on the pc. I don't have any problems with the content. I would be careful about playing on public servers.

It's addictive like any video game. I limit the time on the computer and all is fine at my home. I would not call playing the game educational in any way.

 

It has become educational as my boys have been taking a class through youth digital and they now spend much more time creating mods than playing the game. They are actually getting into the source code and learning how to edit the game and drop their own pieces into the game. Since a lot of computer programming today involves editing programs that already exist, they are learning important skills. They have learned a lot about how computer games are built this way.

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About three months ago I signed my son up for Youth Digital's ModDesign 1 tutorial because 1) my DS love programming and 2) all the boys at Cub Scouts incessantly talk Minecraft.  I could tell right away that the tutorials and the extensive mod testing (DS could easily get sucked into "testing" for an hour) was going to be a problem so I gave DS only three days a week to work on the tutorials, and only in the evening after he finished his schoolwork.  Despite those limitations DS's behavior has slowly changed for the worst.   :glare:   He has become increasingly aggressive with his sister and he will not stop the behavior even if she repetitively asks him to stop.  DS has also almost stopped practicing his violin because he feels like it cuts into computer time.  Youth Digital and Minecraft have replaced activities he used to enjoy, like jumping on the trampoline and archery.   In addition, he's become quite moody and will collapse on the couch if he feels like going out for activities are going to cut into his programming time.  I know that not all children have the same reaction to video games but for our family this little foray into Minecraft has not turned out well.  I'm just waiting for DS to package up his mods (probably this Tuesday) and then DH will delete Minecraft from our computer.

 

 

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I was thinking about my post and thought I would clarify that my DS reacts poorly to most video games, not just Minecraft.  Last year, when I actually let him have 15 - 20 minutes a day of video game time, I noticed that his behavior was worse when he played games on the Lego website versus the puzzle games on CoolMathGames.  I couldn't figure out why.  

 

Since starting Minecraft I've been studying his behavior and have come up with a theory.  It appears to me that my DS's brain synchs with the fast pace of the video games: one more level, the next zombie to slay, little more treasure, on and on until his actions in real life start to mimic the relentless, restlessness of video game pacing.  My son is also very intense and has the ability to start on an enjoyable task and stay with it for hours; I suspect that intensity somehow makes him more susceptible to the influence of video games.  (Research anyone?)

 

Anyway, I think possible behavior changes is something to consider before starting a child on video games.  Or at least something to watch for once gaming has started.

 

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My kids and I play it and love it. We don't use servers at the moment. We usually play in survival but with the hostile characters turned off. I personally find creative mode incredibly boring. I think it's got a lot of positives. I love the way my eldest who has quite poor planning skills in real life, will plan and organise people and resources in minecraft. They also mostly play with our friends on friday afternoons and it's a great way to connect the kids, particularly the two that have autism. I can understand people spending huge amounts of time in it as it's so open ended.

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My daughter just got into Minecraft recently and she watched some Youtube videos were the youtubers played it as an economy (ie no killing etc) and she said it reminded her of a class I teach at our co op where the kids learn economics by "being" the economy.

 

She asked if I could set up a server through my business and repeat this idea - and so I have. We have very strict rules (no killing, profanity, stealing etc) and if anyone does that they are kicked off immediately. First  month is free and then if they want to continue it will be $3 a month just to cover expenses (I pay moderators to keep a close eye on things plus the server hosting). I make people actually apply to be on to try and keep it safe. So, if you are a regular here and sign up - just give me your username here and I will PM you to check. The blog post is here that explains it all. We have 7 students on 2 servers right now - one is for up to 9th grade and one 9th to 12th. We will keep the numbers on each server to 25 at the most so it will stay a smallish environment.

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My thought is be wary of the people who want you to think that's it's an "Amazing Educational Tool." My experience has been that it's a video game. One with more possibilities for creativity and more flexibility for uses but it's still a video game. That's fine - I have nothing against video games for fun or as educational tools. It's the social "thing" of the moment and that makes it a powerful friendship tool for kids and when you're talking about homeschooled kids, I think it can be useful as a means of helping kids establish friendships with other kids, which can be really positive.

 

However, most of the educational uses that I've seen for it have been massively overblown. Kids can build historical buildings in it. Well, great. They could also build them in Lego or with blocks or draw pictures or just not focus on architecture. Kids can write Minecraft stories. Awesome. But they could also write stories about ANYTHING, including any other craze, video game or TV show or book. It motivates kids to read. Awesome. I remember when, a decade or so ago, everyone was on about how Pokemon helped their kids learn to read. It teaches math and social skills and so forth. Well, yeah, but so do most games.

 

If you get into mod design and some other elements, then it can be an entry to programming, but most kids are just playing. My point is not to say these things are bad - it's great that it's such a flexible video game that you can harness it for so many things. But it's not that special as an educational tool IMO. It's more that kids are into it and parents and schools have figured out ways to turn it educational, as parents have been doing with other kid crazes for decades.

 

My boys did not find it all that addictive. They only play occasionally.

This. Except my girls are addicted because my husband is a horrible influence! ;)

They get 30 min a day.

 

For my dd who struggles socially, it's been a game changer. She now can talk about THE thing that all of her friends are talking about. Not only that, but it's something she's good at and can fully participate in.

 

I'm not sure I'd want them on for any more than that. It's a video game. A friend is trying to get them to do the Youth Digital coding class and we might do that.

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I'm tired tonight, so I'll have to come back later and find the links to the research, but....

 

My objection to Minecraft would be less with the content and more with the format. It isn't real. And there have been studies (I'm just too tired right now to find them again) that show that young children should spend as much time as possible in the real world, doing real hands-on activities, with real (tangible) materials.

 

Legos in a computer world.

 

Real LEGOS are better for a young child than virtual LEGOS. Possibly even better for everyone.

 

Think of it like legos on the PC/Ipad. [snip]  There's just something soothing about digging giant holes in the ground.

 

Again, real LEGOS. Also, real holes, in the backyard, with real dirt and real shovels. Or plant a garden and call it "survival mode." Real dirt, not virtual dirt. Real cows, not virtual cows.

 

Hebrobrine is not real.

 

None of it is real.

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You know what's funny, I kind of agree with both Sadie and Sahamamama. Kids need real world experiences and real hands on experiences desperately and they don't get enough of them - especially not when people are convincing them that they "need" to be on a computer game. On the other hand, I don't buy that computer play in moderation is harmful for the vast majority of kids.

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I understand the imaginative play aspect, but what I'm referring to is the need children have to handle things -- LEGOS, blocks, rocks, tools, dirt, living animals, real plants, hot and cold things, and so on. Their brains develop in that way better than through, say, clicking a mouse on something virtual. That's what I mean by "real." From what I've studied, they need this more than most of us realize, and every time they're engaged in a virtual world, they are not engaging in the "real one" -- real as in "the actual things that the virtual world only represents." HTH.

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You know what's funny, I kind of agree with both Sadie and Sahamamama. Kids need real world experiences and real hands on experiences desperately and they don't get enough of them - especially not when people are convincing them that they "need" to be on a computer game. On the other hand, I don't buy that computer play in moderation is harmful for the vast majority of kids.

:iagree:

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I generally agree with that, Sadie, but there is research emerging to show that kids are losing really basic things like core strength, small motor skills, and good distance vision and that some of these may come from being on screens too much.

 

I'm definitely not a technology alarmist. My kids are allowed a pretty generous screen time - which occasionally includes some Minecraft. But I do see that it's an uphill climb these days to get kids outside, playing with real stuff, doing physical activities. I guess I don't worry too much about screens - I'm often an advocate for people to chill out about them - but I do sort of chafe when so many people have tried to tell me that kids *need* to be playing Minecraft or that Minecraft is sooooo educational. I think that attitude can lead people to prioritize it and encourage it over other things when actually I think it needs to be in basically the same category as Mario Kart - fun, good for playing with friends, but not something you want you kids to be doing all day.

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I don't know any children who live in the virtual world and have no access to handling, touching and playing with 'real' things.

We were out a Labor Day shopping at premium outlets (factory outlets) and every child including those in strollers have a tablet to play. Some little kids are playing their parents smartphones.

 

I do know neighbors in my complex whose kids has no non-electronic toys. Their first "toy" is their parents iPhone.

 

Even IKEA has free WiFi now.

 

Minecraft is no longer the IN thing around here though. The popularity has faded many months ago. It is no longer an ice breaker.

 

ETA:

Maybe it is the high dense areas but tablets and smartphones has become a constant companion nowadays. Almost everywhere is free WiFi.

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I'm tired tonight, so I'll have to come back later and find the links to the research, but....

 

My objection to Minecraft would be less with the content and more with the format. It isn't real. And there have been studies (I'm just too tired right now to find them again) that show that young children should spend as much time as possible in the real world, doing real hands-on activities, with real (tangible) materials.

 

 

Real LEGOS are better for a young child than virtual LEGOS. Possibly even better for everyone.

 

 

Again, real LEGOS. Also, real holes, in the backyard, with real dirt and real shovels. Or plant a garden and call it "survival mode." Real dirt, not virtual dirt. Real cows, not virtual cows.

 

 

None of it is real.

 

I only wish we could afford real legos. We can't. We are happy with Minecraft. Thank you :) (oh, and we rent, so we're not allowed to dig up the yard...we do that at the beach)

 

Honestly, out of all the video games that have come out over my lifespan, from atari to video arcades to Nintendo and so on, Minecraft is the one that I do like above all others.

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I understand the imaginative play aspect, but what I'm referring to is the need children have to handle things -- LEGOS, blocks, rocks, tools, dirt, living animals, real plants, hot and cold things, and so on. Their brains develop in that way better than through, say, clicking a mouse on something virtual. That's what I mean by "real." From what I've studied, they need this more than most of us realize, and every time they're engaged in a virtual world, they are not engaging in the "real one" -- real as in "the actual things that the virtual world only represents." HTH.

 

Why are you thinking that it's either or? My kids have both. They have a whole dang swamp reserve to play in. They have a back yard. They have a playground. We have beaches and rivers and lakes. We have a rabbit and friends with farms. My kids aren't stuck on the computer. They get a certain amount of time for Minecraft per week. Just like anything else, there are rules and limitations.

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Darth plays Minecraft, as do most of his friends. I guess I'm not seeing why it has to be either or: real world experience ~or~ a video game. No Minecraft is not real. However, it's given ds some real boosts in his problem solving skills, which he applies in the real world. It's also given him a lot of enjoyment, which is no small thing in my eyes, either. I'm with Sadie on this one- no reason to treat it, or the technology, like it's inherently evil.

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I only wish we could afford real legos. We can't. .

Just an idea. If you want legos, they can be found secondhand for cheap. We find great legos at consignment sales here. Last year I got DS a two gallon ziploc full for $10. A quart sized bag of Lego people with some Star Wars parts for $5.

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We play on Skrafty, a multiplayer homeschool Christian server. It's a safe online world that is heavily moderated and has chat filters that weeds out the majority of bad language. It's free to play, and has classes available for a small fee per class. They have three creative worlds, three survival worlds, and lots of fun mini-games.

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Kids can play Minecraft at my public library internet computers for kids. The kids just need their library card for 1hr of internet games. I don't know if there is any moderators for Minecraft. Kids come after school dismissal to play on the PCs then go home. The library's free wifi is not moderated. It is on an honor system.

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I'm not a gamer. Computer games and video games hold NO appeal to me at all. Zero interest. 

That said, my kids love Minecraft, and my cold, anti-gaming heart has slowly warmed towards the game. I still don't have any interest in it at all personally, but I can now see why it's such a big deal to my kids and why it has merit. I wouldn't even go so far to call it educational, but as a leisure activity/hobby it certainly has merits. My youngest worked particularly hard at her reading lessons this past year, largely motivated by her desire to be able to keep up with her older brother on Minecraft. Meanwhile, my oldest has made friends from around the world and has learned a surprising amount of coding. 

I agree with the previous posters who said that it's not an either/or thing. My kids can spawn chickens on Minecraft all they want, but it's still their job to make sure that the real chickens in our backyard get food and water each day, and that the dog and cat are fed as well. They can take take classes and play piano and spend all afternoon at the park with homeschool friends and get their fingers dirty helping me tend our own garden and build with plastic Lego bricks and sing in operas and hike and swim and celebrate "not back to school" at the lake with their kayak...and still play Minecraft for enjoyment in their freetime, while maybe managing to even get something positive and worthwhile out of it. 

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I understand the imaginative play aspect, but what I'm referring to is the need children have to handle things -- LEGOS, blocks, rocks, tools, dirt, living animals, real plants, hot and cold things, and so on. Their brains develop in that way better than through, say, clicking a mouse on something virtual. That's what I mean by "real." From what I've studied, they need this more than most of us realize, and every time they're engaged in a virtual world, they are not engaging in the "real one" -- real as in "the actual things that the virtual world only represents." HTH.

 

LOL, I am quoting myself. Anyway...

 

I've been thinking about this, and I agree with Farrar, that the vast majority of kids who play in moderation will not be harmed by video games. I do think that some children may be affected by some visual components of the games (I'm thinking about two children I know who can't play, because the flashes seem to trigger absence seizures), and others who may have a tendency to be drawn to the addictive and/or violent aspects of some games, but, overall, they are games.

 

It's not a matter of either/or for me, and I didn't say I see games as "evil." :confused1: If there's enough time in the day for other things, gaming in moderation could be just one more things kids do. IME, though, some kids will play for hours and hours every day. I personally know families who homeschool this way, where the kids play for hours each day, with little else required. I suppose that skews my perspective a bit.

 

We played games, too, as children, right? I'm laughing now, just thinking about Atari and Frogger. I can hear that "squished frog" sound in my head. :)

 

Here's what I was getting at: Let's take, for example, the hands-on Spirograph that I played with for HOURS and HOURS as a child. I loved Spirograph. To say that I was addicted would not be an overstatement. I had to have colored pens! And cardboard for the base, and paper, and pins, and those wheels, gears, and little flipping oval things. ;)

 

When you do "real" Spirograph, you use your hands, eyes, and brain simultaneously. This is also true of video games, which my husband likes to point out. BUT, with "real" Spirograph, you have to adjust your hand pressure to the realities of the gears getting out of sync with the wheels, with the little ovals flipping off the outside of the wheel, with the paper, the pins, the pens, the whole thing. One false move will ruin your masterpiece. It's using your own hands to manipulate things, rather than letting the computer do it for you, if that makes sense.

 

My childhood obsession with Spirograph eventually led to string art. Remember string art? It involved circles and measuring and lots of little dots on real wood. It involved hammering tiny nails firmly into that wood, according to a pattern. It involved wrapping colored strings around those nails, according to a pattern. Skip counting. Knots.

 

[Edited to remove photo of string art].

 

There is a digital Spirograph now. I don't know a thing about it. It's probably fun, but is it the same hands-on experience?

 

I spent hours in the basement, "organizing" my father's many tools and various bolts, nails, screws, nuts, anchor bolts, and more. I got in trouble a lot for taking things apart (clocks, toasters, lawn mowers -- yes, I was that child). BUT I learned how real nails work, how real hammers work (ouch!), how real screws work, and more -- gears, motors, the crowbar, various screwdrivers, drills, the vise grips, saw blades, planer, sander, and so on. I made fire from rubbing sticks together (took hours). I dug clay from the creek and made "pots." What a riot that was.

 

I also learned about the inside of an accordion, but I put it back together again upside-down (oblivious). Years later, my parents took it out of the case and my mom tried to play it. "Hey! Why is this accordion upside-down?" Why were they all looking at me? :blush:  (guilty)

 

I could go on about the garden, the kitchen (cooking, baking, canning), the craft room (sewing, needlework), the art table (painting, drawing, sculpting), riding bikes all over town, playing in the woods and the creek -- all real experiences without screens -- but that's enough for now!

 

When I watch kids these days play video games at friends' houses, I admit to having an old-lady curiosity about these modern things. I've done that WiiFit dance game at birthday parties, so I'm not a total prude.  :biggrinjester:

 

In the end, though, I just don't think the kids are getting the same kind of "real" information from the computer that I got from Spirograph, the workshop, the garden, the kitchen, the bike, the art and craft materials, or the outdoors. Or from other people, face to face.

 

I think the hands give the child's brain so much more information in a "real" context than a joystick or controller or mouse, especially when combined with input from all the senses -- the warm breeze on his face, the smell of lilacs and honeysuckle, the buzz of honeybees, the feel of new grass underfoot. This is life in the backyard sandbox in early summer, and it's the place for a seven year old to be. Just me, I guess.

 

 

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My DS8 played Minecraft at his cousins a few weeks ago and has been begging to play it again ever since. We bought the Creative version for the iPad and he is allowed to play it for 1 hour every Saturday as a reward for a good week at school and co-op. I can tell it could be highly addictive for him and so limiting time is important, but I want to know if I should be aware of any content issues? I have asked a few other parents and have heard that Survivor is the violent version but Creative is ok… I did notice he was killing cows with a bow and arrow to "eat" and I thought that was strange… I'm going to have DH play a few rounds and get his thoughts on it but he doesn't always have the same reservations about media that I have…. 

 

 

Anyway, sorry to ramble but just wondered if any parents out there had issues with Minecraft and what those were. Thanks!!

 

 

We know of some families who allow their children to play minecraft, and so my little man asked if he could play it. After a bit of research I had my doubts, but ended buying a copy for our game console—in order for us to explore this so-called, digital lego-like, "creative learning" together—for $5 at WalMart on a clearance sale. Even as I watched him play it my doubts continued and increased, as did his. When he stumbled upon a sacrificial alter—yes, blood included—we both cringed and were immediately sick to our stomachs. A little more research proved that the game in fact calls for human and animal sacrifices to appease some god(s) and other such (evil) nonsense. Do your research!

 

In short, the game was tossed into the garbage. Nuff said.

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We know of some families who allow their children to play minecraft, and so my little man asked if he could play it. After a bit of research I had my doubts, but ended buying a copy for our game console—in order for us to explore this so-called, digital lego-like, "creative learning" together—for $5 at WalMart on a clearance sale. Even as I watched him play it my doubts continued and increased, as did his. When he stumbled upon a sacrificial alter—yes, blood included—we both cringed and were immediately sick to our stomachs. A little more research proved that the game in fact calls for human and animal sacrifices to appease some god(s) and other such (evil) nonsense. Do your research!

 

In short, the game was tossed into the garbage. Nuff said.

 

 

This entire post tells me you were playing something other than Minecraft. You don't "buy a copy for our game console" nor is it possible to "toss it into the garbage". There is NO sacrificial altar where you have to sacrifice humans, animals, or anything else for any gods. In fact, there are no gods in Minecraft.

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We have it for our xBox, in tossable form. I have threatened to snap it in two on (terrible, horrible, no good, VERY!) bad days. We also have it on the computer, in its original form, for use with the YouthDigital Java programming class, but we had the xBox version first.

 

I have never seen the altar or gods as described above, so I asked DS11. He said there aren't any. No altars, no sacrifice, no gods. I said, "Who would be a god if there was one?" and he said, "No one." And he actually added that the only way those things would be there is if you made them. LOL There are aspects to the game that I find disturbing, but I think mainly that was after they started doing some outside server stuff. My kids learned about suicide bombing that way. Thought it was funny. I was (euphemism alert!) not happy. I corrected that. But it made me wonder what else, and made them quit external servers. The game itself is what you make of it, what you allow. DD can't stand animal killing, so they mostly played creative.

 

(As an aside, DS11 takes umbrage at the comparison to LEGO, as he thinks they are not at all similar.)

 

I didn't respond to the OP although I have been reading all along. I have VERY mixed feelings about Minecraft. We have allowed video games and allowed Minecraft because we never really had any serious addiction problems here. Enter Minecraft, insta-addiction. It is a great game. Very creative. You can make a world. It is totally cool. I get it. But at the point when I had kids who couldn't think of anything else, I sincerely wish I had never introduced that particular game to my kids. It's one I wish I could take back. DD would play and then ask me to take it away, even while she couldn't pull herself away. It is currently taken away for the school year. DD was relieved. Immediately. DS11 thinks it is for the best but still asks for it. DS8 knows it is for the best and is so obviously content to play with a mind free of the call.

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AVA, thank you. I didn't know it came in tossable form. I'm most familiar with the buy and download online, which, I believe, is how most play. I thought it worked the same for boxes, hooking up to the wifi. 

 

I did think on this and the ONLY way I can think that someone would come across sacrificial altars they themselves did no create, would be if you were playing an adventure map (that you would have to go search for online and happen to run across one that actually had such...the blood would be a redstone circuit block...hysterical if you know what you are actually looking at...I thought the circuit blocks looked like blood trails when I first saw them also) or you were on a particular server where someone had built them. But there is no sacrifices for getting through games. I'm sorry, but it almost made me laugh when I read the description of such a horror of a game and the person thinking they were playing minecraft. Maybe they got a knockoff with some creative programmer that tried to blend games? I have a son that does game programming with others; I'll have to tell him. He'll get a kick out of it or know what's up and can fill in more. (I spoke to one of my other kids that knows a lot about the various forms of the game and he says that it sounds like CMama got what is called a mod...it's not the game, but something that modifies the game and adds new stuff). Minecraft is something that many programmers use as a base program and then tweak it and offer the tweaks aka mods to others. You can choose what you add, you can choose never to add, you can choose what and how you play. (I like peaceful and switch back and forth between survival and creative. My younger children rarely play, because they like to delete worlds others have worked hard on, but they always play in creative).

 

Some people also have more tendency towards addiction than others. Some can be easily addicted to anything. Others don't have that as an issue. Those with addictive personalities naturally needs schedules or some controls. I have an addictive personality (minecraft isn't an issue for me, but I can see the draw); as a child, I was addicted to books. Seriously addicted to books. Books were taken away as punishment and there were threats of bonfires. I would blame personality, self-control or lack thereof, and parental boundaries or lack thereof...not the game. The game is amoral. It's what you choose to do with it.

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I agree that the game itself is neutral and that some people are more prone to addiction than others. I do find it interesting though, after hearing it called MineCrack for years and thinking my kids seemed to be immune to video game addiction after playing dozens of games on Wii, xBox, and iPhones/iPad over the years without problems, that Minecraft became a huge problem from the start. Maybe the game is just that awesome, LOL, but the fact is there is something different about this particular game for all three of my kids, and I say that as someone who likes the game.

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My ds LOVES Minecraft! About the addiction aspect, yes, I do believe he is addicted to it. But my son often becomes addicted to whatever it is that catches his fancy at a specific time (at one point it was basketball, at another it was meerkats). I do limit his time playing it, that's for sure. He has some videos that he enjoys watching and he has started making his own videos as well.

 

One question...how do you find the servers that your kids play on? Right now, ds is playing on a server that only has about 20 players and it was created by a friend of a friend (trusted). I'm okay with that, but he would like to try some others.

 

Also, because I want to make sure I am doing my due diligence as a parent and keeping track of what ds is doing, is there any way for me to monitor what he is doing on Minecraft? How do I know what servers he is using? How do I know what type of "chatting" the players are using? 

 

Ds is 10.5 and I no longer sit right next to him as he plays. I want to make sure that I know how to work this technology he is using.

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(As an aside, DS11 takes umbrage at the comparison to LEGO, as he thinks they are not at all similar.)

 

Not trying to single your post out but wanted to illustrate why Minecraft is compared to LEGO.

 

LEGO was the easiest and best way for DH to describe the game to me (we were discussing letting the kids play and I do not play computer/video games myself), and I got the reference. I replied, "So it's a game where you build things using blocks."  It is a very simplistic comparison, and in reality they aren't the same thing and the differences are numerous, but for someone knowing nothing or very little and asking about the game, it is a good quick analogy most people get.  

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A little more research proved that the game in fact calls for human and animal sacrifices to appease some god(s) and other such (evil) nonsense. Do your research!

 

I play and have never heard of nor seen anything like what you describe. Can you provide references to this research of yours? I use the wiki, the forums, other websites to learn more about the game (mostly redstone stuff), including watching youtube videos. NEVER anything about sacrifices. Certainly not in the base game, perhaps in a mod (modification) created by a player.

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I agree. This is not Minecraft.

 

This entire post tells me you were playing something other than Minecraft. You don't "buy a copy for our game console" nor is it possible to "toss it into the garbage". There is NO sacrificial altar where you have to sacrifice humans, animals, or anything else for any gods. In fact, there are no gods in Minecraft.

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Even as a Christian, I think this is TOTALLY out there...but hey, just like you can twist ANYTHING to make it sound evil, you can also twist ANYTHING and make it sound good. 

 

So, here is someone that is touting Minecraft as a Christian game and why ;) :p

 

http://objectiveministries.org/zounds/review-minecraft.html

 

And, of course, at the end there is the announcement of how Mojang turned it into something occultic (equally out there), because there are enchantments and witches. *gasp!*

 

So, I guess we should all ditch Minecraft, right? Because it was created to trick non-Christians and now has alchemy. *eyeroll*

 

Still, there's no sacrifices. Let me know when there are sacrifices. 

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I haven't read the whole thread. In our house, Minecraft is a well-liked game and it is something the kids have in common with their friends at school - they will sometimes arrange to play with their school friends on Minecraft afterschool or on the weekend (these kids do not live in our neighborhood).  I won't let my younger ones play PVP yet, just creative mode.  For my ds11s, Minecraft opened the door to Scratch (programming).  I can't remember how that happened exactly, LOL, but Minecraft was the stepping stone.  Of course, one could just go directly to Scratch and skip the Minecraft step :)

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