AIBU to be in utter disbelief at this woman in on This Morning

[namechange383738]

Name changed for this but am a regular poster. I don't normally watch This Morning because it's shit but I've got ironing that needs doing and I've finished Line of Duty.

This woman is trying to blame the fact that her son was hospitalised (with what sounds like severe sleep deprivation but apparently they still don't know what it was) because he was up all night playing fortnite, on fortnite. Her son apparently grew up with video games and had been playing with them since he was two. He was 9 at the time and had the Xbox moved into his room because she didn't like it being played constantly on the tv in the living room. The psychologist on with her was obviously politely trying to imply that maybe it wasn't Fornites fault but perhaps her inability to say no. Now I get that limiting screen time can sometimes be difficult but common that is ridiculous. DD would watch Peppa Pig non stop if she had her way and I didn't take responsibility as the adult and say no. A 9 year old in hospital because she couldn't say no? AIBU to be in utter disbelief at this woman's denial at being at fault? Did anyone else see this?

we are a gaming family, DH is very geeky/techy and has always been interested in gaming. i've done a few all night Sims sessions in my time.
However all consoles are downstairs, all tablets/phones are left downstairs at bedtime (and are often turned off way before bed)
The kids do plenty of activities - scouts/cubs, gymnastics, climbin etc and we do lots of hikes, days out etc
its all about balance, we dont restrict time on electronics but if we feel the kids are spedning too much time we will enforce a non-electronics day.

Poor cow. Imagine being given that sort of platform to display your pure idiocy to the nation.

It is better to keep quiet and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove any doubt.

My son takes violent meltdowns in response to 'no'. Sometimes I just go along with it because I'm tired of my life being turned upside by them.

Which is understandable, and completely different from what the parent on TV was describing; the problems with her son's addiction were solely due to her parenting.

@dronesdroppingzopiclone if she'd explained he had ASD or something similar it would've been a different story entirely. But he doesn't, your situation is entirely different and it must be extremely frustrating and very difficult and I sympathise with you. This was down to her poor parenting whilst your situation is down to your sons condition and entirely out of your control.

In 2018 the World Health Organisation listed video game addiction as a pathological condition. That speaks volumes.

Had a look at her 'blog' has the cheek to promote herself as some parenting guru! Gawd help us, looks like another idiot out to self promote.

I don't restrict electronics either as my gaming DC does (through choice) 8 hours of sport outside of school each week plus another 3 hours at school and D of E silver. We have days out when no electronics comes with us except for my phone in case of a car breakdown.

@ProvincialBelle

What an old prehistoric look at modern life. Video games involve a lot of problem solving, puzzles, consequences, physics, maths and all sorts.

The Desert Island Discs with the creator of Deep Mind was quite illuminating on the subject. Like all things - there is good and bad, too much or too little.

I could spend my day reading Henry James or Take A Break magazine, I could spend 30 minutes in a waiting room on my phone playing games or reading the Sun. Who's to say which has more merit?

I used to stay up late reading Point Horror books, how is that better than my DH who used to play CounterStrike?

How can she be a parenting guru if she isn't actually parenting?

How can she be a parenting guru if she isn't actually parenting?

How long before this thread is deleted as 'not being in the spirit'

She's made me realise that I'm not the worst parent on the planet.

@polarpig 😂it did make me feel a little better about letting DD watch Peppa Pig whilst I drink coffee

Political Biscuit indeed some games have some intellectual content, I’m not convinced Fortnite (which is what the OP was concerned with) is one of them

I wish programs like this morning wouldn’t give air time to people like her!

namechange have you seen Peppa Pig - not for your DD though

I love gaming as does my DH, he’s a game developer for a major AAA studio. I totally agree it’s very easy to blame the game for a child’s behaviour. While I don’t like Fortnite, I think it’s temporarily the new poster boy for games we can play kids behaviour on but we actually cannot be arsed dealing with.

I watched a YouTube video which features a mum who let her 12 year old lay GTA and Fortnite. He became violent, aggressive and he would shout and swear at her, calling her peasant, demanding she bring him drinks and food.i I don’t blame the game though. Blame the person who bought him the games!

Games we can blame

Hmm, I’m mid 50s and I’ve never been into gaming. But I kind of feel a bit like my parents who were mid twenties and married with kids when modern pop music really started in the sixties. They never really got it; it was all noise and rubbish and they preferred the Everly Brothers.

So I suspect video games are a massive exciting world that I’ve just missed out on. And it would be a bit stupid to slag off something I know nothing about.

Some video games are built to be addictive. The whole task/reward thing.

And someone mentioned McDonald's.

They are built to be as addictive as possible and marketed to children. I agree parenting is important, but so is not allowing the marketing of harmful, addictive products to children. Gaming like this and gambling are dysfunctional siblings. We really need to parent AND ban any advertising to children.

My kids are adults now but they still have loads of fun gaming together. It brings them together wherever they are. . 😅 I don’t know anyone else’s kids that keep on touch with each other as much as mine do and that’s mostly because or their shared love of gaming together. I think it’s adorable.
I monitored and limited what and how much they played when they were kids and i don’t think there were any negatives to them playing at all. I’ve never allowed anything I didn’t like in the house even when they were adults. If gaming is done correctly then it’s just brilliant.

My kids always did other things as well as gaming. I don’t think it made their brains ‘rot’ at all.

My DD is 11 and would spend all her time on the xbox if I let her. She knows any rule breaking results in lose of time on them.

Letting a child spend all night on it because you cant say no, is not the fault of gaming, that's just shitty parenting.

Also, what kid needs to be gaming at 2?

YANBU, people like this make me despair. Of course the kids will play 24/7 given the choice, or live off sweets, or skip school, or watch telly all day, not go to bed early etc. etc. That's what the grown ups are for, to teach them. FFS.

Not to mention - Fortnite 12 year old min age for playing. I have NO sympathy for people who let their kids play games that they're to young for or watch movies that they're too young ofr and then complain that it affects their behaviour. The age limits are there for a reason...

I've got two kids with ASD who we have to limit on the computer or face the consequences. They've grown up knowing that they have to come off after a certain time (Usually 30 mins to an hour), so they do. They play Fortnite too (among others), but with few problems.

We give them a warning a few minutes before the end, so they can start to detach from the game. If they don't come off when they're supposed to, they don't go on again for a day or two! We also try to have something to move on to (eg dinner or a favourite game) to distract them.

No excuse for this kid to be playing so much, if we can do it this Mum can!

Every time I see about video game addiction it seems to mention Fortnite. I don't even know what the game is, AIBU that this makes me really want to play it? (Then DS babbles or needs something and I forget again until next time).