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Old 07-28-2008, 07:38 AM
 
Location: Western Hoosierland
17,997 posts, read 9,019,239 times
Reputation: 5943

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Hello.

My Neighbor's 14 years old son has a severe addiction to his XBOX 360 Live. He has the most irregular sleeping problems waking up at 9pm and staying up for days and then falling asleep at noon. all he does is stay in his room he wont talk to anyone unless their online. the only time he comes out is mostly at 3 AM to raid the pantry of pop, chips and candy and then he is at it again. he sometimes goes up to 6 days without taking a shower. he constantly complains of Stomache problems and headaches

he used to be a child that was always in trouble with the law. now he wont talk to anyone. he used to always be outside with his friends and you always had the hardest time getting him to come in. now he has totally abandon his friends and has only left the house 4 times this summer and has only left the property twice.

his friends think that he is severely depressed. his mother doesnt think her son has a problem. Her Boyfriend is really concerned about her son the other day i was talking to him about the boy and he said that he is considering taking away the XBOX next week.If you ever go over to his house and ask for the DSL to get on the internet he is always breathing down your neck asking you when you will be finished.

his addiction has gotten so bad that he took his Grandmother's credit card and spent $400 on buying some kind of points and his Grandmothers account went negative.


I side with the Boyfriend he has a severe video game addiction problem and it needs to be stopped. school for him starts in less than 3 weeks and with his irregular sleeping problems,eating and social habits he will have a severe problem.


So what is your take on the problem? could you offer any solutions on what we can do to help this child? because something needs to be done quickly!
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Old 07-28-2008, 09:31 AM
 
Location: home state of Myrtle Beach!
6,892 posts, read 22,455,059 times
Reputation: 4559
Sounds to me like the boyfriend needs to convince the mother to take that xbox away from that boy. The boyfriend has not got much authority here and that is why the mother needs to be convinced. I would have taken it away from him when he used his Grandmother's credit card fraudulently. This child needs help and he may need more of it when he can't play his games anymore.
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Old 07-28-2008, 09:55 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia PA
260 posts, read 943,747 times
Reputation: 127
I agree, this boy needs help badly. Taking the video game is not going to help. You say he got in trouble with the law before..well, what make you think that he won't do something like stealing in order to get back to playing his games? He already did something fraudulent by using his grandmothers credit card. Now....his mother should set sometype of bounderies and really get a back bone and handle what might really be wrong with her child. He is a child, he needs guidance and apparently his mother isn't providing it. He seems to have an addictive personality, so his mother is probably like "I rather have him home all day playing video games, than out on the street getting in trouble with the law"...which is a lazy mentality for a parent to have. If his mother or familiy ain't willing to help...CPS should be called in...cause the boy is endangering himself and his family ain't doing nothing about it.
Just my two cents...
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Old 07-28-2008, 10:40 AM
 
Location: Western Hoosierland
17,997 posts, read 9,019,239 times
Reputation: 5943
Quote:
Originally Posted by myrc60 View Post
Sounds to me like the boyfriend needs to convince the mother to take that xbox away from that boy. The boyfriend has not got much authority here and that is why the mother needs to be convinced. I would have taken it away from him when he used his Grandmother's credit card fraudulently. This child needs help and he may need more of it when he can't play his games anymore.

when talking to the boyfriend we discussed that. the mother doesnt think that her son needs help she had never set rules for her children for as long as i know. the boyfriend in this situation since he pays all the bills i would consider him the head of the household but is work schedule is very irregular one week it will be 9-5 the next 9p.m. to 5a.m. or something really bizzare like 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. then midnight to 6 a.m. the boyfriend tries to set rules for the kids but as soon as he goes to work all hell breaks loose and the house ends up looking like a warzone.it is very hard convincing the mother her son has a severe problem she says that her son just stays up alot to watch his favorite shows. when in reality he actually sets his alarm clock so he can get up and start playing.
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Old 07-28-2008, 10:48 AM
 
Location: Western Hoosierland
17,997 posts, read 9,019,239 times
Reputation: 5943
Quote:
Originally Posted by yayamyers View Post
I agree, this boy needs help badly. Taking the video game is not going to help. You say he got in trouble with the law before..well, what make you think that he won't do something like stealing in order to get back to playing his games? He already did something fraudulent by using his grandmothers credit card. Now....his mother should set sometype of bounderies and really get a back bone and handle what might really be wrong with her child. He is a child, he needs guidance and apparently his mother isn't providing it. He seems to have an addictive personality, so his mother is probably like "I rather have him home all day playing video games, than out on the street getting in trouble with the law"...which is a lazy mentality for a parent to have. If his mother or familiy ain't willing to help...CPS should be called in...cause the boy is endangering himself and his family ain't doing nothing about it.
Just my two cents...
the boy has been in trouble for stealing,breaking and entering,truancy,out past curfew and battery on his mother and sister and destruction of government property.his mother has and never will set boundaries i can tell you that.

we discussed the issue of proper Guidance i told the boyfriend of my previous bouts with the police. i talked to some police officers and it really helped. it also helped alot when i was sent to a week long boot camp up in northern indiana. i even went as far as getting the registration papers so he could sign up and go.



"I rather have him home all day playing video games, than out on the street getting in trouble with the law"... Wow you must be a mind reader thats exactly what his mother says!


I agree that CPS should step in because he is a danger to himself. if this severe addiction continues he is liable to do even more drastic things.
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Old 07-28-2008, 11:00 AM
 
Location: home state of Myrtle Beach!
6,892 posts, read 22,455,059 times
Reputation: 4559
Quote:
Originally Posted by yayamyers View Post
I agree, this boy needs help badly. Taking the video game is not going to help. You say he got in trouble with the law before..well, what make you think that he won't do something like stealing in order to get back to playing his games? He already did something fraudulent by using his grandmothers credit card. Now....his mother should set sometype of bounderies and really get a back bone and handle what might really be wrong with her child. He is a child, he needs guidance and apparently his mother isn't providing it. He seems to have an addictive personality, so his mother is probably like "I rather have him home all day playing video games, than out on the street getting in trouble with the law"...which is a lazy mentality for a parent to have. If his mother or familiy ain't willing to help...CPS should be called in...cause the boy is endangering himself and his family ain't doing nothing about it.
Just my two cents...
I agree with everything you said; I just didn't want to be the one to say it.

It's sad that the mother can't see the problem since she is home more often than the boyfriend. I'm afraid that unless mom develops that back bone CPS will get involved sooner than later. Maybe the boyfriend can talk to the school guidance counselor with the mother's blessing.

OP, if your children and this boy are friends, can you lean on your kids to try to play with the boy more; to get him out of the house? It kinda sounds to me that maybe if that is the case your kids are hurting because of this possibly.

And here's a classic...have mom and the boyfriend stop paying for Xbox Live and anyone in contact with this boy needs to securely hide any credit cards the boy thinks he has access to. It does cost money AFAIK.
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Old 07-28-2008, 11:46 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia PA
260 posts, read 943,747 times
Reputation: 127
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdude View Post
"I rather have him home all day playing video games, than out on the street getting in trouble with the law"... Wow you must be a mind reader thats exactly what his mother says!
It is a sad shame his mother is not doing her part to help this child. Our kids only do as much as we let them do. The bootcamp sounds like a great idea. I mean, why isn't the mom more involved in what is going on with this child?
Seriously....CPS should be called in, at least that will be a wake up call to the mom that she is not doing what she is supposed to be doing to make sure their kids are well taken care of.
Someone has to put an end to this boy's misery, he might need to really have some serious time with a counselor/psychologist...someone that can dig deep and help him and his family understand what is causing this disruptive behaviors.
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Old 07-28-2008, 12:01 PM
 
Location: Western Hoosierland
17,997 posts, read 9,019,239 times
Reputation: 5943
thanks for the responses i dont have any kids right now i am in High School. even if i did it wouldnt work because we have exhausted all the possible resources that we have to try to get him outside.

everyone around the boy is already takings steps for (If it does happen) the day the XBOX is taken out of his room.


i just have received word from the boyfriend the mother has scheduled a appointment with a doctor to see why he is having stomach problems but everyone around her already knows what the problem is!


as far as i know they are getting rid of the XBOX on the 31st.

and as far as referring to a school guidance counselor in the district i live in i wont be able to reach a guidance counselor till 1 week after school starts. they are busying with adjusting schedules and helping new students which this year everyone is new student because we start school on 8/13 at the new high school
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Old 07-28-2008, 12:07 PM
 
77,903 posts, read 60,048,025 times
Reputation: 49251
Quote:
Originally Posted by gdude View Post
thanks for the responses i dont have any kids right now i am in High School. even if i did it wouldnt work because we have exhausted all the possible resources that we have to try to get him outside.

everyone around the boy is already takings steps for (If it does happen) the day the XBOX is taken out of his room.


i just have received word from the boyfriend the mother has scheduled a appointment with a doctor to see why he is having stomach problems but everyone around her already knows what the problem is!


as far as i know they are getting rid of the XBOX on the 31st.
The mom is a real piece of work.
Sometime in the future I forsee her son going to prison for a long time or committing suicide and her blaming it all on someone or something else.
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Old 07-28-2008, 09:47 PM
 
Location: home state of Myrtle Beach!
6,892 posts, read 22,455,059 times
Reputation: 4559
I dare to ask; where is the boy's father?
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