video game addiiction?

[Anonymous]

It's a different world and we are too old to understand it. This generation will find its way though. I am confident of that.

[Anonymous]

In my view, screen addictions are one reason to justify the "overscheduling" of kids that people sometimes complain about.

Yes, travel sports or theater or band or whatever are a ridiculous if they consume a lot of time in the afternoons and weekends, but they do keep kids away from screens.

I remember this when people yearn for the mythical unstructured 1970s (when, frankly, people spent a lot of time in front of screens, too -- they just looked at the same screen).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 10 year old is exactly the same way. He is only allowed screen time Friday - Sunday. As soon as he gets home from school on Friday he immediately gets his Kindle. I had to implement a time rule for Saturday and Sunday because he'd wake up at 7am, before anyone else, and immediately start playing his Kindle. No TV, no breakfast, nothing. Straight to the couch with his Kindle. He also has a PS4 but most of his time is spent playing games on his Kindle.

I actually don't have strict guidelines for how much time he can spend on his allowed days which I think is where I'm lacking. I really need to implement a time limit rule. If allowed my son would do nothing all weekend but play video games. On Saturday mornings as soon as he gets home from soccer practice it's straight to his Kindle. If we go out anywhere, it's straight to Kindle when we get back home.

OP you are not alone, trust me.

I could've written this about my 10 yr ols DS and the laptop. His friends must play during the week which I don't allow so I am pretty lenient on the weekends. I did tell him that I will impose limits if he turns down other activities to play video games instead. If a friend invites him to laser tag, the movies, bowling, etc, he will go and not say no because he wants to play video games. He won't pass up sporting tournaments because he wants to stay home to use the laptop.

[Anonymous]

Women hate video games because men love them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Glad to stumble upon this thread.
My DS is 11, and totally addicted to screens/video games. His behavior is that of an addict. He lies, he's secretive, he cannot stop himself from playing a video game once he starts.
I tried the "let him play until he's sick of it" route, but that was a complete failure. He would play video games all day and all night, so that experiment ended quickly.
Once, when I accidentally left myself logged on, he snuck downstairs and played video games all night!
Now, I've limited his computer time to 30 minutes a day, and he has to use that time for homework. If he doesn't use if for homework, he gets no extra computer time, and his homework doesn't get done.
Fortunately, he does care about getting his homework done, so he uses his computer time for homework. But he's found ways around it. Just a couple days ago, he tricked DH into giving him extra time on the computer when I wasn't around to warn DH about his tricks (he did it to me a while ago too!), so he ended up spending hours on the computer playing video games.
My child is so addicted that even though we've blocked access to all video game sites, he's found out about a Google game played with images from Google (Atari something?), a shooting game, that he plays for hours whenever we accidentally give him computer access (he'll go on his sister's account if she leaves the room, for example).
I heard on NPR that the part of the brain stimulated by video games is the same part that is stimulated by addictions to drugs and alcohol.
This really does not bode well for my child. DH's mother, cousin and several aunts are all alcoholics, and we know alcoholism has a genetic component. I've talked to DS about this, but at age 11, I'm not sure what, if anything, it means to him. He's seen his stupefied grandmother, so knows what alcohol does to a person, but he can't stop himself from playing video games, so we're keeping him away from them as best we can.
He does sports, plays an instrument and has other interests (clubs, Boy Scouts, etc.), but his biggest interest is screens (he loves videos and movies too).
I hate technology, really, really hate it. I think it's doing a real number on a lot of our kids, especially boys. His sister has no interest in screens or video games (I don't think she's ever played one). But he's hooked, and that really worries me.

To this PP: There was a thread a while back, not sure where on DCUM it was (possibly here on Tweens/Teens) that was someone seeking a therapist who could help a kid with video game addiction. Please search and try to find that thread, PP, as I think it contained some names of local therapists who have worked with kids with this problem. From your post about your son, you might need to consider talking with a professional to see if this is indeed addiction, and even if it's not diagnosable as such, you might need help in reeling your son back in from the screen and dealing with the deceptiveness and sneakiness he's exhibiting in order to get what he wants. And you may have hit on something here when you note that addictive proclivities are in the family already. It's worth finding out more. Even if he's not truly addicted, he is behaving dishonestly with his parents, and that needs a wake-up call. I hope you can see someone about it.

[Anonymous]

If you have a child who loves computers and has an addictive personality, channel it into other pursuits. I nanny and have homeschooled, and I've found that khan academy's math and computer programming are great tools for getting kids interested in educational things, not just gaming.

[Anonymous]

Ummmm, how many minutes of screen time are all of you getting? Hmmm? Have you seen someone for your addiction yet?

I have kids who play video games. We didn't get a system until they were 12 and 13. They played for about a year , I had no restrictions. After that you couldn't pay them to play anymore.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand this. If it is bothering you so much and it is a cause of arguments and whining in your house, why not just get everything - console and games and sell on craigslist or donate? NOt as a punishment for the kid, but as something you realized it is not working for your family and you have decided to get rid of.

[Anonymous]

I was like this as a kid (on a PC AT) and am like this as a 40 year old lawyer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Women hate video games because men love them.

A lot of women are addicted to Facebook. It's the same thing...distracts form reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Women hate video games because men love them.

Actually I love games, but I'm picky about what I play. Things like SIMs are very infrequent, as there isn't enough to the game to make me think. I don't play anything that is simply creating matches (jewel pop and similar), nor do i play anything that is first person shooter (halo and the like). I love tycoon games like simcity and I play with kids occasionally, as it teaches the kids to think about their microcosm in relation to the rest of the world, and the moment versus long-term. Games like zoo tycoon have ecology and biology tied in, rollercoaster tycoon has physics done in a way that kids love. I like using the old ages of empires games to get kids to see that one choice can change the process of a battle, a battle can change a war, and a war can change everything. Video games don't have to be about mindless entertainment, not if the person playing them is willing to use their brain.