Sure we like to poke fun at people with MMO addictions, and we all know at least one friend who has had their lives affected by such games as Everquest, Final Fantasy XI, or World of Warcraft. But what does one do when they find themselves the single parent of a child who has also become addicted to something as easily accessible as World of Warcraft?
That is the problem that one woman is facing in the land down under who wrote in to Australia’s Telegraph. She is seeking help for her 13-year-old son who has become an aggressive computer addict that now skips school and even threatens violence if pulled away from his game.
According to the report, the boy is much bigger than his mother and has missed most of his schooling since he started playing WoW almost two years ago. Speaking with the boy about his addiction has bared no fruit and physically moving him is an impossibility, as he outweighs his mother, and she has even gotten the local police and his school involved.
“We have spoken to the school and they have spoken to him but he is not worried about it at all,” she writes. “We have called the police because he gets aggressive when you take the computer away.
“He starts punching holes through the walls, throwing things around and threatening you.”
Before her she bought the game and subscription for her son two years ago, he was a healthy, and athletic kid who now is even developing a hunch in his back. Don’t mistake this anonymous writer’s intentions though. She’s not trying to toss blame, instead she is merely trying to bring to attention the fact that there is no support for this kind of problem in Australia.
“You are dealing with aggression, anger, swearing, pushing, punching,” she writes. “We need support from the government to open up facilities around Australia, places for children to wean off it.”
This is definitely a new problem that we as parents are facing today and it is because of these kinds of new addictions that many states, including Florida, are taking very seriously. If a child is absent from school for more than 10 days (only 3 if they are consecutive) without a note from either a Doctor or the child’s parents, Child Services steps in and investigates the reason behind the child’s absence from school.
I may let my kids play video games during school days but they have to earn video game time by proving that they are ready for upcoming tests, doing various exercises or chores. If they choose not to be prepared to Ace their Friday tests as early as Monday night, they won’t play and video games. What other ways do you parents out there keep your kids from becoming slaves to the industry?