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Sounds like there are a couple of issues here. The primary being this woman's interest in a child who is not her own. The secondary being the video game issue.
I've been gaming since Pong. I love all sorts of video games. I fully agree that there are some games that are not appropriate for young children. Heck my youngest teenage son still has all his games vetted by his mother and me. Twice I have been in game stores and seen adults buying Grand Theft Auto games for kids who were definitely too young to be playing, and twice I have told the adult some of the content of the game and asked if they felt it was appropriate for a child that age. Twice I was completely ignored.
What you and I believe about something can only affect how we raise our own children. It will have very little impact on the way other people raise their children.
This kid is being neglected and verbally and emotionally abused by his parents. He is not happy and is suffering. People (other than his parents) can see it, but they choose not to do anything.
Allow me to point out a few things:
His parents do not spend any time with him. On the rare occasion that his mother spends time with him, she treats him like crap. I've seen her yell at him for absolutely no reason at all. She treats her dog 10 times better than her own child.
His parents allow him to eat tons of candy, junk food, and soft drinks. I NEVER see him eat anything healthy, even at supper. He barely eats supper, he's usually too full from all that candy and soda.
When he was a toddler, his front teeth actually rotted out from all the crap he was allowed to eat and his parents failing to brush his teeth.
His parents do not get any of his medical problems fixed unless they cause a negative impact on their life, not his. They don't care about his suffering, only their suffering is important.
The other day he woke up at 12 noon, his mother was STILL in bed (she slept past 1 pm), and his father ignored him. He didn't get breakfast/lunch (he doesn't know how to fix his own) and spent the next hour or longer in his room playing violent video games.
He is permitted to watch R rated movies that contain violence and sexual situations.
He has no friends, none of his classmates like him, and the teachers don't either. He acts like a know-it-all with the teachers and argues with them.
He has a very noticeable speech impairment. Sometimes I can't understand a word he says. He is in the 4th grade and is on a 2nd grade reading level. His parents do not help him with his homework. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was five years old. He does not act like a nine year old.
Last year he nearly set the house on fire playing with a lit candle while his grandmother was in the same room.
His mother has called him a loser more than once. He has called himself a loser more than once.
After he got frustrated at nothing in particular, I saw him smacking/hitting his dog on two separate occasions. A child that abuses animals is often being abused themselves.
He has a tendency to be destructive. Since he was a toddler he has destroyed some of his toys for no reason at all. Rather than play with the toys he'll just tear them up.
There is so much more than this, but I can't remember it all. I just know that I've seen and heard enough to be seriously concerned. It's hard for me to articulate the emotional abuse that I've seen take place.
My father verbally and emotionally abused me and it caused severe depression. My parents, my teachers, my guidance counselor all knew that I was suicidal and not one person did a thing. I managed to pull myself out of that black hole, but only after hitting rock bottom. The entire time, everyone just stood by and watched my downward spiral.
If I don't look out for this kid, who will? I wish I had someone to look out for me when I was a kid/teenager. Everyone in my life failed me. I will not fail this child. If anyone here has a problem with that then you shouldn't even be posting in this parenting forum. The whole purpose of this forum is because we care about the children in our lives, if we didn't, this forum wouldn't exist.
My concern over the video games is that I know for a fact that video games and TV/movies can have a detrimental affect on certain impressionable kids/teenagers. I never would've admitted that when I was younger, but I realized somewhere along the way that some video games and TV/movies affected me in very negative ways. I suspect depressed kids/teens are more susceptible to this kind of thing.
So sue me for being the only one concerned about this kid.
How often are you around your Aunt's grandson? It sounds almost as though you live with them.
If you see this boy on a regular basis, why not give him some age appropriate games to play and spend a little time playing them with him and showing him how it's done. Challenge him to a weekly match, he'll have fun trying to beat you. Do you have any favorite books that you've saved from your own childhood? If so, share them.
Toss the football around with him in the front yard. Take him on a bike ride. Help him develop a fun hobby, like collecting bottle caps or even rocks. One of my kids used to collect super balls.
You don't have to spend every minute or even every day with this kid. Just set aside some time on a Thursday afternoon (or whatever) and maybe a little time on a Saturday or Sunday.
This kid is being neglected and verbally and emotionally abused by his parents. He is not happy and is suffering. People (other than his parents) can see it, but they choose not to do anything.
Allow me to point out a few things:
His parents do not spend any time with him. On the rare occasion that his mother spends time with him, she treats him like crap. I've seen her yell at him for absolutely no reason at all. She treats her dog 10 times better than her own child.
His parents allow him to eat tons of candy, junk food, and soft drinks. I NEVER see him eat anything healthy, even at supper. He barely eats supper, he's usually too full from all that candy and soda.
When he was a toddler, his front teeth actually rotted out from all the crap he was allowed to eat and his parents failing to brush his teeth.
His parents do not get any of his medical problems fixed unless they cause a negative impact on their life, not his. They don't care about his suffering, only their suffering is important.
The other day he woke up at 12 noon, his mother was STILL in bed (she slept past 1 pm), and his father ignored him. He didn't get breakfast/lunch (he doesn't know how to fix his own) and spent the next hour or longer in his room playing violent video games.
He is permitted to watch R rated movies that contain violence and sexual situations.
He has no friends, none of his classmates like him, and the teachers don't either. He acts like a know-it-all with the teachers and argues with them.
He has a very noticeable speech impairment. Sometimes I can't understand a word he says. He is in the 4th grade and is on a 2nd grade reading level. His parents do not help him with his homework. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear he was five years old. He does not act like a nine year old.
Last year he nearly set the house on fire playing with a lit candle while his grandmother was in the same room.
His mother has called him a loser more than once. He has called himself a loser more than once.
After he got frustrated at nothing in particular, I saw him smacking/hitting his dog on two separate occasions. A child that abuses animals is often being abused themselves.
He has a tendency to be destructive. Since he was a toddler he has destroyed some of his toys for no reason at all. Rather than play with the toys he'll just tear them up.
There is so much more than this, but I can't remember it all. I just know that I've seen and heard enough to be seriously concerned. It's hard for me to articulate the emotional abuse that I've seen take place.
My father verbally and emotionally abused me and it caused severe depression. My parents, my teachers, my guidance counselor all knew that I was suicidal and not one person did a thing. I managed to pull myself out of that black hole, but only after hitting rock bottom. The entire time, everyone just stood by and watched my downward spiral.
If I don't look out for this kid, who will? I wish I had someone to look out for me when I was a kid/teenager. Everyone in my life failed me. I will not fail this child. If anyone here has a problem with that then you shouldn't even be posting in this parenting forum. The whole purpose of this forum is because we care about the children in our lives, if we didn't, this forum wouldn't exist.
My concern over the video games is that I know for a fact that video games and TV/movies can have a detrimental affect on certain impressionable kids/teenagers. I never would've admitted that when I was younger, but I realized somewhere along the way that some video games and TV/movies affected me in very negative ways. I suspect depressed kids/teens are more susceptible to this kind of thing.
So sue me for being the only one concerned about this kid.
I love how when you point out you don't agree someone, they always add addendum's to the OP.
Grandson means he's a dude. 9 years old? Yeah he'll be alright. Trust me he's been exposed to a lot worse than cgi.
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