Please help—Gaming addicted 13 year old needs text/talk only phone

[Anonymous]

I am not techy, so need help finding a phone that has no internet access for my DS, who is being treated for gaming addiction (long sad story).

I have not found any phone without a browser, even a dumb phone.

I have an old non-Apple (sorry, I can’t remember what those are called!) smartphone. Is there an app or monitoring software I could put on the phone that would totally disable the internet?

My kid is very smart and can hack around most restrictions we’ve tried.

He wants to get his problem under control, but needs a phone to text his friends (since NO middle school kids will use the telephone to communicate!) Right now he has no phone, but that is limiting for him socially.

Please, no trolling. This is a painful problem, and I’m trying very hard to help my kid.

[Anonymous]

Why can't he just call his friends from the home phone (assuming you have one)? My 13 yr old doesn't have a cell phone but he has plenty of friends and calls them from our phone.

[Anonymous]

https://www.wirefly.com/no-data-required-phones

[Anonymous]

Yeah sounds like he needs to go cold turkey and not even have a phone. He'll survive. We all did is a few decades ago.

[Anonymous]

Tracfone. You can pick from various phone options including flip and then you just pay for the minutes (including texts). No need to buy data.

There's a ton of parental control apps like netsanity, ourpact, qustudio but a motivated kid can probably find ways around those. For the situation you describe, I would just go with a basic phone with no data option.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

I second Tracfone. I purchased it online from Walmart. I got the non-smart phone. Cost me $20 and then loaded it with a $20 calling card that lasts 3 months. It’s a dollar per text or phone call so it’s really only for emergency and it’s very embarrassing for my 12 year old. My friend had a similar situation as you and she stopped cold turkey. Not even a basic phone. Also if it makes you feel better by brother had a similar issue growing up finally got out of it by getting involved in sports and is a highly specialized surgeon today. There is hope.

[Anonymous]

I re-read your message. Don’t feel bad about the social aspect. Do you really want your kids being friends with other kids that are always on the phone? Nope. Their parents are clearly not putting in the effort to monitor and intervene. There are a lot of middle schoolers that do not have phones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I re-read your message. Don’t feel bad about the social aspect. Do you really want your kids being friends with other kids that are always on the phone? Nope. Their parents are clearly not putting in the effort to monitor and intervene. There are a lot of middle schoolers that do not have phones.

I have two middle schoolers who don't have phones. They have iPods and can text (no social media) but never really use them. They hang out with friends all the time and I go through parents to make arrangements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I re-read your message. Don’t feel bad about the social aspect. Do you really want your kids being friends with other kids that are always on the phone? Nope. Their parents are clearly not putting in the effort to monitor and intervene. There are a lot of middle schoolers that do not have phones.

I have two middle schoolers who don't have phones. They have iPods and can text (no social media) but never really use them. They hang out with friends all the time and I go through parents to make arrangements.

I was going to suggest ipods for texting too, but ipods have internet

[Anonymous]

If he is being treated for the addiction, it seems odd that those treating him are not providing you guidance on this and helping you implement limits. If the professionals you are working with can't provide you that info, they can't help your child. There are actual real options for kids with gaming addictions. Get in touch with such a place for help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't he just call his friends from the home phone (assuming you have one)? My 13 yr old doesn't have a cell phone but he has plenty of friends and calls them from our phone.

OP here. Ha ha ha ha. No.

He refuses to use the telephone. His friends won't use the telephone. Why? I have no idea, but that's the social norm at his school. They text or talk in person. Nothing else. The only way he gets together with friends is if I call the friend's mom, and we set up a meeting via phone, email or text. He finds this completely humiliating.

The counselor at his school agrees it's stupid, but she says kids who don't text find themselves isolated.

I really need a phone for him that has no internet access, just texting and phone (which he'll only use to talk to me or his dad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If he is being treated for the addiction, it seems odd that those treating him are not providing you guidance on this and helping you implement limits. If the professionals you are working with can't provide you that info, they can't help your child. There are actual real options for kids with gaming addictions. Get in touch with such a place for help.

Like what? Where? The counselor he's seeing has looked, in our area, but found no one. He's an A student, plays sports, has friends. He's going to need a phone sooner or later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I re-read your message. Don’t feel bad about the social aspect. Do you really want your kids being friends with other kids that are always on the phone? Nope. Their parents are clearly not putting in the effort to monitor and intervene. There are a lot of middle schoolers that do not have phones.

Maybe this is true at your school, but at my son's school there are only a few 8th graders without phones. Among his circle of friends, he's the only one without a phone. All of them have iphones. No one has a dumbphone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I second Tracfone. I purchased it online from Walmart. I got the non-smart phone. Cost me $20 and then loaded it with a $20 calling card that lasts 3 months. It’s a dollar per text or phone call so it’s really only for emergency and it’s very embarrassing for my 12 year old. My friend had a similar situation as you and she stopped cold turkey. Not even a basic phone. Also if it makes you feel better by brother had a similar issue growing up finally got out of it by getting involved in sports and is a highly specialized surgeon today. There is hope.

This is the OP. I bought him a Tracfone. I bought him one like this: https://www.amazon.com/TracFone-LG-306G-Contract-Phone/dp/B00JG3M47E/ref=sr_1_19/144-1123252-8046824?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1517956445&sr=1-19&keywords=tracfone

It has no data plan. I bought him a 60 minute card, which equals 180 minutes. He used all the minutes in two days, then claimed the phone was "broken"!!! I finally realized there is a browser in the phone, and that he was able to access games through the browser, which explained why his minutes disappeared. So I took that phone away. He had it for 2 days.

What Tracfone did you buy that has no browser? It seems like all of them have a browser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tracfone. You can pick from various phone options including flip and then you just pay for the minutes (including texts). No need to buy data.

There's a ton of parental control apps like netsanity, ourpact, qustudio but a motivated kid can probably find ways around those. For the situation you describe, I would just go with a basic phone with no data option.

Good luck.

Can you recommend a good app? I am not familiar with any of the ones you mentioned. Are they only for smartphones? Will they really kill the browser? I fear my smart DS will figure out ways around the apps. He's very clever and has gotten around all our controls on our computers. We now take the cord to his computer into our bedroom at night. That's the only way to keep him from gaming. Sad, yes.