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The change in parenting at home with video gaming

As gaming continues to become legitimized as a sport and potential career, it's changing how some parents are approaching the form of entertainment when it comes to their kids.

AUSTIN, Texas — How much time do your kids get to play video games every night? Does it feel like they want to play more than you did when you were a kid? 

Video gaming is not only changing on the screen, it's changing in the home as well.

Playing Xbox is a big part of Jackson Marshall's free time. He's a freshman at Round Rock High School. While he doesn't consider this as his "sport," he has many friends who do.

"They definitely see it as something they want to compete at," Jackson Marshall said. "They want to do it on a daily basis and get better."

Jackson's dad, Kyle Marshall, also competed as a kid. He played both Atari and the original Nintendo system.

"As pixelated as the pictures were, it seemed like it was amazing new technology," Kyle said.

Jackson's mom, Hilary Marshall, said they do keep an eye on how much he plays on weeknights and weekends.

"We do make sure it's not to an excess," Hilary said. "They're not playing eight hours a day or even six hours a day."

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As the e-sports world grows, though, what if six to eigh hours a day is just a part of a gaming athlete's practice? 

For more than 20 years, Elizabeth Vandewater has been studying the impact of media and technology on children's development and health behaviors at the University of Texas. Video games are included in her research as a senior research scientist.

Vandewater said that, generally, there remains a negative connotation when it comes to video games and what they provide to kids in the home. However, some parents could potentially start treating this entertainment more and more like other outdoor sports and seeing their kids get into it competitively at a younger age.

"I think what's really changed is the way that we think about them and use them," Vendewater said. "It's one thing to win at Tetris. It's quite another thing to win at these first-person shooter games."

However, Vendewater said like anything you devote to in your life, moderation is important. Too much of a single thing can force someone to start and get obsessed or hooked onto something to an unhealthy degree. 

For some people, though, getting into video games is a potential career path. Concordia University is currently offering thousands of dollars in video gaming scholarships. No matter how you define it, video gaming in the home is clicking with kids in a whole new way.

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