I have a nearly 14 year old who loves gaming. When he's not gaming, he's on his phone. In the school holidays, he was on and off on screens for 18 hours one day. He'll play ps4 for a while, get off and use his phone in the bath, then back to ps4 etc... "all my friends can play whenever they want" is what I get a lot. He doesn't like school and always plays games when he gets back first as a way of relieving all the pressure of the day.
School work is ok, he's bright and not doing bad but he lacks motivation. Not really bothered if he does well and revision usually is a quick look and lots of arguments if I get involved. Apart from scouts, he doesn't do anything else since covid disrupted some of the club's he went to. His father wants to take away his games during the school week but I worry he'll feel depressed and not have an outlet when he gets home. He says he likes playing and he looks forward to it. I feel like he's become a bit addicted to it so I'm worried and want him to not play during the week.... just can't find the balance. I've spoken to him about reducing the time during the week but he doesn't listen.
He chews the skin on his fingers and he says he does it when stressed or bored so I'm worried about his mental health. What's the best way to deal with this? Anyone else going through similar situation and have any tips please?