Mindful Gaming

Have students access the student chapter Game and Screen Diary and tell students to use it to keep track of their gaming for the next week.

• Note: Make sure this period includes a weekend, since some students may not play games during the week. (If students do not play video games, or do not play them very often, tell them to track another screen activity instead.)

Remind students each day to fill out their Game and Screen Diary.

Two or three days after distributing the Game and Screen Diary, have students access the student chapter Mindful Gaming and go through it with the students.

Explain to them that the word “mindful” means you’re doing something on purpose and that you’re paying attention to what you’re doing: the purpose of these strategies is not to get them to stop playing games or doing other screen-based activities, but to help them to make thoughtful choices about them.

Ask students to think about how the tools and strategies in that handout connect to their game play habits (or habits with digital activities) and to try applying those that seem likely to be helpful.