If your kids are anything like mine, they really love to play video games. My little boys can’t wait until their school work and chores are all finished so that they can go play Lego Star Wars or Super Smash Bros on the Wii. My older school age kids usually like to grab their tablets and play Mine Craft or some other game. Even some of my adult children like to disappear after work and play on their XBox.

I’m actually not a huge fan of gaming, but I don’t think that there is anything wrong with it, as long as you play in moderation. In our house, all of your school work and all of your chores have to be finished before you’re allowed to get out the controllers, and even then, we have a time limit on how long you can play.

I AM a huge fan, however, of spending time outside. When the time is up for gaming, I send the kids out! Out for some fresh air and some good old vitamin D! You can never have enough fresh air. We have a nice back yard, a dog who will play ball for hours on end, and a trampoline just waiting to be jumped on. There are endless possibilities for what kids can do out in our back yard!

If it’s such a great place, then why do my kids come in after 10 or 15 minutes of wandering around aimlessly and ask if they are allowed to come back inside? Why do they tell me that there is nothing to do out there? If I tell them that they need to stay outside and play longer, a lot of times they just go and sit on the trampoline looking miserable or if I do let them come back inside, they usually just tell me that they are bored and that there is nothing to do. I know exactly why.

Addiction. There. I said it. My kids are addicted to screens. I think that most of you, if you’re being honest, could say the same thing about your own children. Kids in this day and age spend so much time playing inside, in front of a screen, that they’ve forgotten how to use their imagination. They are so caught up in what their high score is or what time their friends will be on so they can play against them, that they’ve lost the art of playing with someone. A lot of their conversation revolves around what games they are currently playing, or, if your kids are older, they’ve exchanged face to face communication with Snap Chat or texting or some other form of social media. Even we as parents get caught up in our own social media venues and watching our favorite TV shows and movies. Today’s culture is really, truly addicted to screens.

So, what can we do about this? Well, I believe, like any addictive substance, you have to stop using. Unplug the consoles. Dock the tablets and phones. Put the controllers away. Hide the power cord if you have to. Declare a video game fast!

For several years now, on our last day of school, I let the kids know that on a particular date, the games will be off for the entire summer. The first week is always really tough for them. They mope around the house saying that there is nothing to do. “I’m bored” is a phrase that gets really old after hearing it for the fiftieth time! They know better than to ask if they can play Nintendo though, because when this mama says that the games are off for the summer, then the games are off! Non-negotiable!

An amazing thing happens after that first week, though. I hear “I’m bored” less and and less and I begin to hear the happy sounds of children using their imaginations! Toys that have sat unnoticed are rediscovered and played with for hours. Suddenly, the back yard becomes an exciting place for endless adventures. All this in just one week of turning off those screens!

I’ll admit, I struggle with wanting the “me time” that I would get by letting the screens babysit my kids, but I love my kids too much to let them waste their summer hours sitting in front of a screen for hours on end. I have to ask myself, if my kids were addicted to drugs, alcohol, or porn, wouldn’t I do everything in my power to wean them off of those and get them interested in more life-enriching and healthier things? Then why is an addiction to a screen any different? Any one of those addictions affect the mind in a negative way – gaming included! One day my kids will be grown and moved out and I’ll have plenty of “me time”. I need to make the most of the time that I have with my children now while they are still at home. Isn’t losing my “me time” worth making sure my kids are living their life to the fullest extent and enjoying the wonders of God’s creation? Absolutely yes.

If my kids are going to be addicted to something, the only thing that I want them to be addicted to is their relationship with Jesus Christ. This is why we spend not only our summers unplugged, but also several weeks throughout the year. I’ve been entrusted with 10 precious gifts to raise and train by God’s grace, and I’m not here to raise junkies. I’m here to raise warriors.