My 10 year old son is addicted to Fortnite! HELP!
It has been a MINUTE- a long LA- style "Minute" since I last wrote...
I find my son becoming at the age of 10 a rebellious volatile teenager who prefers to stay up all night and spend the entire day playing a degrading- highly stressful and anxiety-producing game called Fortnite- YES! every parent's worst nightmare these days. Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about?
I'm sure, like many of you I have seen all the news reports of TV about Fortnite and read numerous articles telling us about how detrimental this game is to our children's mental health not just physical. But the question still remains, what do we do? We cannot take the game entirely away from them and setting a timer seems to evolve gradually over weeks and months into increased times spent playing the game instead of decreasing that amount. Maybe someone out there has the perfect solution, perhaps a parent or someone who understands the appeal of this game has the magical quick fix to regaining our children and feeling like we know them still. This game has not only taken control of my son's life but that of his family, meaning me, our dog's and my (since six years ago,) Partner's. Fortnite dictates when he eats, and pees or not (instead will "accidentally" pee a little in his pants in an attempt to" hold it in" lest he misses a second of the game) when he sleeps or not and whether or not he actually leaves the house for any prescheduled and necessary appointments or classes. I mean my son quite literally lives and breathes this game - from the moment he gets up til the when he passes out asleep. I'm terrified of the long-term effects this will have on him, not just how it will affect his health but his mental wellbeing as well, I hear him going to moments of sick pleasure when he's managed to out-smart someone to crying inconsolably and quite literally believing he was just killed...Parents this is not to be taken lightly, especially the whole creepy old men perverts online posing as young kids, like how sick and demented is that??!?!
I fear taking away the entire game will cause him actual withdrawal symptoms due to extreme deprivation, which I've already witnessed a week ago when I took the control away from him after receiving an "unsatisfactory progress report" from his Teacher at school. As a child I was forbidden any kind of junk food or candies. So the moment I got a full scholarship and was off to college I went overboard and put on like 20lbs eating everything in sight and especially the Yoko Ono icecream at Bates Cafeteria at Sarah Lawrence donated in perpetuity...out of despair and fear of loosing my child I've decided to fill his schedule with activities and sports and make the extra effort to be more present in his life. I think ultimately this is what has driven our children away from us, our own busy lives whether it be work or whatever we fill-up our days doing, I think our children need more of us and certainly more of our attention and TLC.
My plan is to sign him up for at least one sports activity and do more outdoor things with him, more physical stuff - going on long walks with the dog or playing in the park, taking him out to see more art shows or see a really good movie that is meaningful and conveys a powerful social justice message. I plan on introducing more music and culture into his life as much as he will resist it and tell me how "boring it is" to him and have to endure the initial aversion to such activities, I'm determined to push on as I do not want to lose my son to some dumb meaningless video game that only breeds fear, anxiety, hatred, and violence. Gone are the days when he would proudly show me the cool designs and buildings he created in Minecraft, with elaborate constructs and indoor sunken pools with multiple beds for all his "doggies" not just Estrella, but all the ones he was going to adopt or buy for his huge house. So wish me luck in this new endeavor, I must admit it is not for the faint of heart, we had a whole brujaja this weekend where I almost was convinced I was becoming my own mother by my own son who never experienced what that ordeal was all about, and Thank God never will! But it was horrifying and I made up my mind to bring about change.
I find my son becoming at the age of 10 a rebellious volatile teenager who prefers to stay up all night and spend the entire day playing a degrading- highly stressful and anxiety-producing game called Fortnite- YES! every parent's worst nightmare these days. Raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about?
I'm sure, like many of you I have seen all the news reports of TV about Fortnite and read numerous articles telling us about how detrimental this game is to our children's mental health not just physical. But the question still remains, what do we do? We cannot take the game entirely away from them and setting a timer seems to evolve gradually over weeks and months into increased times spent playing the game instead of decreasing that amount. Maybe someone out there has the perfect solution, perhaps a parent or someone who understands the appeal of this game has the magical quick fix to regaining our children and feeling like we know them still. This game has not only taken control of my son's life but that of his family, meaning me, our dog's and my (since six years ago,) Partner's. Fortnite dictates when he eats, and pees or not (instead will "accidentally" pee a little in his pants in an attempt to" hold it in" lest he misses a second of the game) when he sleeps or not and whether or not he actually leaves the house for any prescheduled and necessary appointments or classes. I mean my son quite literally lives and breathes this game - from the moment he gets up til the when he passes out asleep. I'm terrified of the long-term effects this will have on him, not just how it will affect his health but his mental wellbeing as well, I hear him going to moments of sick pleasure when he's managed to out-smart someone to crying inconsolably and quite literally believing he was just killed...Parents this is not to be taken lightly, especially the whole creepy old men perverts online posing as young kids, like how sick and demented is that??!?!
I fear taking away the entire game will cause him actual withdrawal symptoms due to extreme deprivation, which I've already witnessed a week ago when I took the control away from him after receiving an "unsatisfactory progress report" from his Teacher at school. As a child I was forbidden any kind of junk food or candies. So the moment I got a full scholarship and was off to college I went overboard and put on like 20lbs eating everything in sight and especially the Yoko Ono icecream at Bates Cafeteria at Sarah Lawrence donated in perpetuity...out of despair and fear of loosing my child I've decided to fill his schedule with activities and sports and make the extra effort to be more present in his life. I think ultimately this is what has driven our children away from us, our own busy lives whether it be work or whatever we fill-up our days doing, I think our children need more of us and certainly more of our attention and TLC.
My plan is to sign him up for at least one sports activity and do more outdoor things with him, more physical stuff - going on long walks with the dog or playing in the park, taking him out to see more art shows or see a really good movie that is meaningful and conveys a powerful social justice message. I plan on introducing more music and culture into his life as much as he will resist it and tell me how "boring it is" to him and have to endure the initial aversion to such activities, I'm determined to push on as I do not want to lose my son to some dumb meaningless video game that only breeds fear, anxiety, hatred, and violence. Gone are the days when he would proudly show me the cool designs and buildings he created in Minecraft, with elaborate constructs and indoor sunken pools with multiple beds for all his "doggies" not just Estrella, but all the ones he was going to adopt or buy for his huge house. So wish me luck in this new endeavor, I must admit it is not for the faint of heart, we had a whole brujaja this weekend where I almost was convinced I was becoming my own mother by my own son who never experienced what that ordeal was all about, and Thank God never will! But it was horrifying and I made up my mind to bring about change.
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