Second Life ?

thefishdude

tesuhoha wrote: »

I was a parent like you, although my son didn't play computer games when he was 8. It was when he was 14 that I didn't pay a lot of attention to what was going on. I had a liberal attitude. He was playing World of Warcraft for much of the night without my knowledge. It came to light on parents evening when I found out he had been lying about homework, migraines, school and pretty much everything else.

By that time it was too late. He was out of control. My husband took a sledgehammer to his Xbox but he had skipped school, missed GCSE exams. He failed everything apart from German and only got a C in that. This was a grammar school boy who had been identified as gifted and talented by the school.

We paid for him to go to a private college but he took sick days without our knowledge so after a year we withdrew him. He took out a phone contract with a free playstation 3. He tried a 2nd time to get A levels at the local college but dropped out after befriending some musicians. His only saving grace was his other obsession with the guitar which started at a young age.

Now aged 22 he is long term unemployed having never had a job, he still plays games half the night and is nocturnal cooking meals in the middle of the night. He is the bass player in an exceptionally good rock band and tonight is out playing a gig. They go down really well wherever they play and are liked by young and old. He has a wide circle of friends. Brought up in a non smoking house he started smoking at the age of 21. We have just accepted the way he is but it is not what we dreamed of for him.

So have you thought of buying him a guitar?

im not disagreeing with you but world of war craft can not be played on an xbox or a ps3 it is on a pc only.

as for op if it was me i would not let my son play games like that at his age no way. ratingsa re there for a reason i stick to them

tesuhoha

thefishdude wrote: »

im not disagreeing with you but world of war craft can not be played on an xbox or a ps3 it is on a pc only.

as for op if it was me i would not let my son play games like that at his age no way. ratingsa re there for a reason i stick to them

I know but my point is, if they are addicted they find a way whatever the means. I was also warning the OP they don't want to be like me in 10 years time looking back regretfully and wishing I'd done it differently.

getmore4less

get real

There is little verification on-line.

access to payment methods helps (a bit)

Kids are ahead of their parents with technology

tesuhoha

getmore4less wrote: »

get real

There is little verification on-line.

access to payment methods helps (a bit)

Kids are ahead of their parents with technology

Your last point is why parents should worry.

tesuhoha

thefishdude wrote: »

im not disagreeing with you but world of war craft can not be played on an xbox or a ps3 it is on a pc only.

as for op if it was me i would not let my son play games like that at his age no way. ratingsa re there for a reason i stick to them

I've just realised your point. He had a pc with internet access which was supposed to help him with school work, and an xbox. Was not just addicted to one game but gaming in general and the xbox too.

PolkaDotsAndLace

I think you need to take the advice of people on here, and get your head out of the sand.

You may supervise him now - are you still going to be sitting next to him on the computer when he's 12? 13? What do you think he'll be doing then?

As an alternative game, I suggest Minecraft as many others have - good, and no sexual undertones to it! And I see someone mentioned a Minecraft Tardis thing, so even better!