Desperately looking for advice, my 11(nearly 12 year old) appears addicted to technology.
He is fairly respectful at my house (watches TV if told he is allowed, barely plays my playstation/pc) however it has taken a few years to really get there.
Unfortunately at his dad's house it is different and he gets hours of xbox, PC, TV etc each day.
He has just gone to secondary school and walks and so he has been bought a mobile with strict rules my side. I control his use daily and can restrict apps from my phone etc..... But he just wants it constantly. He will do duolingo just to get technology. Today at a family gathering , he had his phone blocked by me but every time I went to a different room he had convinced a family member to use their phone instead..... Someone asks a question and he wants his phone unlocked to search the answer etc.
I could probably cope with that but he was at his dad's this week and he is known for getting up early (5am) to find a console.... His dad has finally followed my advice and has a lockable cupboard and sticks all remotes in there overnight.... However he woke up to my son playing a 20year old game boy that he had found somewhere?!
Whilst it could be easy to turn a blind eye as it mostly happens at his dad's, I'm wondering if I can help at all as I'm concerned about it now.... It really feels the same as an addiction (think of an alcoholic hiding alcohol etc).