Matthew Lang

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that my youngest son Drew is spending a crazy amount of time drawing. You can usually find him sprawled out on the floor of his bedroom with sheets of paper everywhere and a circle of Sharpies around him. He loves it, so what harm can come from it?

The thing is, the source for his new love of drawing comes from a Youtube channel that we found one day while he was looking for some drawing inspiration. The channel is the Art for Kids Hub.

After we checked it over, we thought it was okay for him to be left alone with it for an hour. Now though, we’re at the point where he doesn’t draw without it.

I remember being slightly older than Drew when I first started taking an interest in drawing. I did the same thing, except instead of watching Youtube videos, I frequently drew from books and comics that I had in my room. After a while, I realised that I had enough of the basics down that I could pretty much draw anything. And I did.

The concern we have now is that he’s using a screen to do it. Sometimes he can be in his room for hours drawing. When’s he’s done he will come down with about ten drawings from a single session. Is that amount of time spent in front of a screen good for him?

There are so many conflicting reports and findings of kids and the amount of screen time they should have. The saving grace here I suppose is that he’s not just sitting there doing nothing. He’s doing something creative, and the screen is only a guide.

As long as he’s producing drawings, I can’t see any harm in it. I think in time, he’ll realise that he doesn’t need the iPad and he’ll start drawing on his own.

American government officials have finally taken their shot at video game lootboxes. Specifically, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri announced his intention to introduce the “The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act” to the US Senate.

This is the culmination of slow-burning anti-lootbox sentiment that’s bubbled up from the gaming community over the course of the last year-and-a-half. Ever since games like Battlefront II and Middle Earth: Shadow of War took lootboxes and in-game purchases from just “occasionally-overpriced bling” to “pay-to-win garbage,” those who regulate fair trade have begun to sit up and take notice.

— American senator pleads for children’s protection in anti-lootbox bill

Pay to win games on games consoles received a massive backlash from gamers and I think that games developers have taken notice of this.

Overwatch gets it right, with its loot boxes that can only reward you with cosmetic changes. I hope games like Overwatch can get to keep their lootbox system.

Pay to win games on mobile devices is an entirely different beast though. Games on mobile devices frequently use pay-to-win tactics through in-app purchases as a way of making money on free games. It’s these games that I hope to get targeted through this bill.

There’s one other consideration as well. Games are sold with ratings on them which indicates the age with which the content of the game is aimed at. If you decide that your kids are okay to play games that have a much higher age rating on them, then, in my eyes, you are also responsible for ensuring that your kids know the do’s and don’ts of that games lootbox system.