Mum reveals how her pre-teen boy plays games online for up to 10 hours A DAY… and blames his TEACHERS for his addiction
Rowena Grant says her lad refuses to eat or leave the house and has become very argumentative and aggressive as a result of his obsession
A MUM has told how her 11-year-old plays online games for up to 10 hours a day and blames his TEACHERS for his addiction.
Rowena Grant, 39, from Kent, said son Mikki spends a minimum of five hours a day during the week playing internet-based games like Minecraft.
This increases to 10 to 12 hours at the weekend, with the lad so engrossed that he refuses to eat or go outdoors.
Rowena, who runs a cleaning business, said: “I’m worried sick. He plays for almost 45 to 50 hours a week.
"Adding up the hours shocked me. He is not the only child I know to be addicted and as a mother I think it’s time parents became more active in seeking out support for their children and themselves.
“My two other children are girls, and while they use Facebook and social media, they are always out and about.
“But Mikki, like other boys in his class, is obsessed with gaming and wants to stay indoors.
“This is a growing epidemic and unless we band together our children could be lost to us.”
Rowena told how her son has a TV, a PlayStation 4, an iPad and a phone, which allows him to communicate with players around the world from his bedroom.
She said Mikki has become very argumentative and aggressive as a result of the games he plays.
Rowena admitted: “In the last two years his obsession with gaming has rapidly increased to the point where he barely talks about anything else and refuses to go outdoors.
“I have to physically force him to eat his dinner and beg him to leave the house and come shopping with me.
“I did have a minor breakthrough this Christmas, when a friend got a metal detector. He went out with one of his mates for two hours on a Sunday, but then it was back on the games.
“When he is not playing on them he will be on the iPad watching YouTube videos of other people playing the games and picking up tips.”
Rowena said she blames Mikki’s school to some extent for her son’s addiction.
She explained: “Computers and iPads are commonplace in the classroom.
“The teachers let the kids use them and don’t teach them to write properly.
“If a child has problems they let them type. The education apps encourage the children to earn rewards to play games, and that plants the gaming seed.
“That has, in part, caused my son’s obsession.
“I also feel guilty for buying the computers and games, but I literally have no idea how to fix this.
“My son wants to be like other kids his age and I don’t want him bullied at school for not having the games and being able to join his friends online.
“The trouble is, it’s now out of control and I have an 11-year-old addict for a son.”
Rowena also thinks other parents set a bad example by constantly texting and using social media.
She added: “I am appalled that some families text each other in the same room. I don’t want my son to be part of that.”
The mum-of-three, who is widowed, has been forced to put him into homework club at school because she can’t get him off his online game long enough to concentrate.
She said: “It’s my only way to get him to engage without computers around, but I shouldn’t have to do that.
“I have also signed him up to after school clubs to ensure he does something other than online gaming for a couple of hours.
“However that costs, and one of the reasons I am speaking out is that I think there are tens of thousands of parents in my position who know their children are addicted but are scared to admit it or seek help.
“I am desperately worried that, without major intervention, my child and others like him will end up unable to write or read properly and their social skills will decline.”
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Rowena told how she’s made to feel like a bad mum when she has to force Mikki off his game to go to bed or eat.
She explained: “He gets so upset and tells me other mums let their sons stay up longer.
“I have tried timers and he ignores them. I tried hiding the game consoles and he finds them. It’s extremely difficult. I am caught between a rock and a hard place.”
As well as schools, Rowena is calling on the government to start an initiative to help families cope with internet and gaming addictions in young children.
She said: “I want to see special holiday camps set up for parents to take their children, where there is no Wi-Fi.
“The kids can do mini rehabs and learn to reconnect with each other. I think parents should go as well.
“I am telling my story in the hope other parents will realise they are not alone and that we can do something to help our kids.
“This is about the next generation, and for me I am at the point where I will do anything to help my son.”
A growing number of young people, including children as young as five or six, are reported to be suffering from internet addiction disorder...
A study in 2014 found four in 10 young people fear they are addicted to the internet, with two thirds of 11 to 17-year-olds taking their tablet, smartphone or laptop to bed with them and using the devices to play games, talk to friends online and watch films.
In the UK tens of thousands of children and young teenagers are spending more and more time indulging in online gaming or using iPads and computers.
Claire Lilley, the head of online safety at the NSPCC, said: “While the internet can be a great place for children to learn and socialise, it is worrying that so many feel that they are addicted to it.
“There is a lot of pressure on young people, including from their peers, to be ‘always on’, and the 24/7 nature of children’s access to the internet means that issues like online bullying can escalate quickly.”
The charity has seen a large increase in the number of children contacting ChildLine about online bullying, leaping from 2,410 in 2011/12 to 4,507 in 2012/13.
In June 2016, the online gaming craze Pokémon Go spread to the battlefield in IRAQ as a soldier spotted ‘Squirtle’ while fighting ISIS.
Last year we told how a 19-year-old was so addicted to online gaming his feet started to ROT after a six day binge.
Another teenager killed himself after losing more than £5,000 on internet betting sites.