OP you are correct! All our kids are gonna be living in the basement ,eating chicken nuggets, playing Xbox while your amazing snowflake will cure cancer and reverse climate change. You win, but your kid will still hate you for not getting him grand theft auto.

Anonymous wrote:Video game industry has grown to nearly $200 billion in revenue – that ain't because it's not addicting.

A fitting comparison, the opioids market (e.g. OxyContin) worldwide is only $30 billion.

Oh, for crying out loud.

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Anonymous wrote:You can play games with a group of friends online. Boys no longer call each other to talk. They talk while playing games using Xbox or PlayStation. If you have no gaming system it can be hard to be social.

My son started a new school for 5th grade. He now plays with 3 other kids from his school for 30 minutes to an hour in the evening. He would feel really isolated without that connection.

That’s exactly right. Instead they spew misogynistic and racist garbage through their video games because nobody is watching. Your kids are exposed to all kinds of things you don’t know about on there.

They do this in the gym, on the playing field and everywhere else.

I’ve never heard my son say anything inappropriate on Xbox live or on the playing field. Sorry your son was so poorly raised though.

My kids are 6 and 8. We don’t have one. That was a ridiculous comment.

My knowledge is based on half a dozen male friends who tell me what goes on in the chats. My black friend plays and nobody knows he’s black and he says you should hear the racist crap people say and all kinds of hateful things about women. It doesn’t surprise me. Anonymity of being online makes things worse. That’s different than being in person in an all-male macho environment.

I have played Xbox live for 18 years and I haven't heard any rampant racism or misogyny. Either your "male friends" are full of shit or somehow they run in bad circles. Get better friends.

Same here. Also sounds like the “black friend” is playing with randoms instead of people he knows. My son’s not interested in playing/chatting with strangers (nor is he permitted) just the friends he would normally socialize with.

This. You don't chat on line with random people who don't know who you are.

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Anonymous wrote:No you are not the only parents who make your kids' life miserable. Signed, someone who grew up in a no screens household, and whose brother nearly dropped out of college because of videogame addiction

So your brother couldn't play video games at home so once he went to college he went crazy playing. Maybe if he learned to play in moderation at home it wouldn't have been a problem.

This was exactly my point!

Because that is how much game systems cost now.

Video game industry has grown to nearly $200 billion in revenue – that ain't because it's not addicting.

A fitting comparison, the opioids market (e.g. OxyContin) worldwide is only $30 billion.

Anonymous wrote:Our teen son claims every one of his friends is getting one. Are we the only parents who don't allow these addiction machines in our house? I don't understand how parents not only welcome this addiction into their homes, they pay $500+ for the privilege – it's a freaking drug. Boys are far more likely to drop out of college and twice as likely to live at home as adults. These video games are sapping their ambition and attention span, and often end up controling their life.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-creativity-cure/201603/the-silent-epidemic-young-men-dropping-out-college

He might not be a reliable source of information, lol.

My knowledge is based on half a dozen male friends who tell me what goes on in the chats. My black friend plays and nobody knows he’s black and he says you should hear the racist crap people say and all kinds of hateful things about women. It doesn’t surprise me. Anonymity of being online makes things worse. That’s different than being in person in an all-male macho environment.

The vast majority of Xbox live chats are between friends in the same party, not between anonymous strangers.

If your “male friends” are hearing lots of racism and misogyny, it’s because they have shitty, racist misogynistic friends.

And as they say, birds of a feather flock together. So your male friends....

Anonymous wrote:Our teen son claims every one of his friends is getting one. Are we the only parents who don't allow these addiction machines in our house? I don't understand how parents not only welcome this addiction into their homes, they pay $500+ for the privilege – it's a freaking drug. Boys are far more likely to drop out of college and twice as likely to live at home as adults. These video games are sapping their ambition and attention span, and often end up controling their life.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-creativity-cure/201603/the-silent-epidemic-young-men-dropping-out-college

This sounds like the opening lines of the remake of Footloose, aptly named "Addiction Machines" wherein the children are banned from playing video games.

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Anonymous wrote:You can play games with a group of friends online. Boys no longer call each other to talk. They talk while playing games using Xbox or PlayStation. If you have no gaming system it can be hard to be social.

My son started a new school for 5th grade. He now plays with 3 other kids from his school for 30 minutes to an hour in the evening. He would feel really isolated without that connection.

That’s exactly right. Instead they spew misogynistic and racist garbage through their video games because nobody is watching. Your kids are exposed to all kinds of things you don’t know about on there.

They do this in the gym, on the playing field and everywhere else.

I’ve never heard my son say anything inappropriate on Xbox live or on the playing field. Sorry your son was so poorly raised though.

My kids are 6 and 8. We don’t have one. That was a ridiculous comment.

My knowledge is based on half a dozen male friends who tell me what goes on in the chats. My black friend plays and nobody knows he’s black and he says you should hear the racist crap people say and all kinds of hateful things about women. It doesn’t surprise me. Anonymity of being online makes things worse. That’s different than being in person in an all-male macho environment.

My black son plays and his friend group is very anti-racist, anyone who spews that kind of hate gets put in their place immediately.

+1 and playing with strangers is different than playing with friends. You can still have a console and not allow games with strangers.

My kid is in college now. We were reasonably lenient with the PS4, 3, 2, and 1.

He never had a problem with addiction to gaming. He did well in school, caused no trouble, and did his chores.

It is one of the things that keeps him close to his cousins, who he rarely sees.

In these times of Covid, it is something kids can do with their friends.

So maybe rethink?

We had video game systems in our house when our kids were born, and acquired more over the years. We never placed any particular limits on them because they kids usually only wanted to play for long hours when they had brand new games (usually at the holidays when they were off school anyway). I'm not buying the new systems because no one wants them.

Somehow, no one is addicted. Not even my ADHD DS. He did go through a period of playing a PC game online in MS, but it wasn't a problem and he outgrew it (as did his friends).

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Anonymous wrote:You can play games with a group of friends online. Boys no longer call each other to talk. They talk while playing games using Xbox or PlayStation. If you have no gaming system it can be hard to be social.

My son started a new school for 5th grade. He now plays with 3 other kids from his school for 30 minutes to an hour in the evening. He would feel really isolated without that connection.

That’s exactly right. Instead they spew misogynistic and racist garbage through their video games because nobody is watching. Your kids are exposed to all kinds of things you don’t know about on there.

They do this in the gym, on the playing field and everywhere else.

I’ve never heard my son say anything inappropriate on Xbox live or on the playing field. Sorry your son was so poorly raised though.

My kids are 6 and 8. We don’t have one. That was a ridiculous comment.

My knowledge is based on half a dozen male friends who tell me what goes on in the chats. My black friend plays and nobody knows he’s black and he says you should hear the racist crap people say and all kinds of hateful things about women. It doesn’t surprise me. Anonymity of being online makes things worse. That’s different than being in person in an all-male macho environment.

My black son plays and his friend group is very anti-racist, anyone who spews that kind of hate gets put in their place immediately.

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Anonymous wrote:You can play games with a group of friends online. Boys no longer call each other to talk. They talk while playing games using Xbox or PlayStation. If you have no gaming system it can be hard to be social.

My son started a new school for 5th grade. He now plays with 3 other kids from his school for 30 minutes to an hour in the evening. He would feel really isolated without that connection.

That’s exactly right. Instead they spew misogynistic and racist garbage through their video games because nobody is watching. Your kids are exposed to all kinds of things you don’t know about on there.

No not if one parents.

Winter is coming...