What about young children?

Hi Free. This is very simple advice, but it has worked with my girls. We play board and card games. It's not 'cool' I know, but they REALLY like it. Now that you are not gaming as much, you might have more time to play with him. I remember my mom use to play Yatzee (sp?) with me when I was a kid. I still have fond memories of that to this day. P.S. Now that I quit my gaming, I can stop saying "no" to my girls when they want to play boardgames (yes I'm ashamed to say that I have done that).

Looking back on it now, I'd say that if I'd known "then" what I know now, I'd have gone to almost any lengths to keep my son away from compulsive gaming. It has wasted so, so many years of his life. It has chewed up so much time that could have been productively used. He loves to play the piano, and I think he really grieves for all the years he spent gaming, when he could have been practicing and getting much better than he is today. Your son may well be at loose ends because he cannot conceive of much that is interesting to do except gaming. Gaming is multi-dimensional and sensory. It is much more vivid and engaging, in some ways, than imaginative or building play. Yet, these other kinds of play are your son's developmental "work." He needs to be figuring out how to interact with his world, including both the animate and inanimate objects in it. Screen time should be nil, or virtually so. Just like with an adult gamer, the child gamer's brain becomes conditioned to the stimulus provided by the games. Everything else feels like a pale imitation, it doesn't provide the adrenaline rush of the games. The lucky, lucky thing with children is that, once away from the massive overload of the games, they can recover their innate sense of wonder at the world. Maybe not as quickly as you'd like, but it can still happen. You will need to direct, prompt and encourage your son. You will need to make opportunities available. You will need to watch out for that "spark" of interest and nurture it into a flame. Sports and outdoor play are not the only things a child can do. There is reading, cooking, music, art, dance, outdoor exploration (hiking, geocaching, nature study). How about a pet? How about a bicycle? Join a theater club? A star-gazing club? Make a plan to visit at least one museum, art gallery or historical site per weekend. What I found with my own kids was that I had to expose them to a giant variety of things. Just because we went to the aquarium didn't mean they became marine biologists, but it was fun and we still talk about it. I don't know about where you live, but it seems to me that every weekend, I look at the local paper and there are multitudes of organized events for kids. Model train shows, children's theater workshops, library book clubs, pow-wows.... and that doesn't even count the organized stuff for kids, like Scouting, church youth groups, rocket clubs, and environmental clubs. Your son is bored and sometimes... a little boredom can be healthy. Your son will learn that life does not mean being entertained all the time. One rule I set with my kids was that if someone came to me complaining of boredom, they automatically got a chore. Maybe they were still bored, but at least they were quiet about it! Good luck to you. You have chosen the more difficult, but ultimately hugely more rewarding, path. Stick to it! Jane in CT

This is something that worries me already and my son is only 2 months old. I know when I grew up, I was the only kid on the block with a nintendo or sega or anything like that. Part of what my parents had me do to keep me busy was sports for every season and chores. I learned REAL quick never to say "I'm bored" as there was always tons of work to do around the house. My goal, since my son will never have seen me playing video games, is to never introduce them to him and keep him busy with 3 sports or other activities. Unfortunately I came from a family of teachers so I always had a good sized reading list for when I was "bored".