Does anyone else have a child with facebook addiction?

[kimballot]

Ok... I guess I should have anticipated this. My son went through a pokemon obsession when he was in preschool. That morphed into Kingdom Hearts videogame addiction in elementary school, followed by other various video games and online gaming with friends. He recently got a face book account. I thought it would be a good way to socialize and work on typing. MISTAKE! Between that and the post IVIG exacerbation, he is now on complete facebook addiction... including rages when he cannot have it and total tune-in focus while he is on it. He was off it for about 30 hours due to non compliant behavior with homework and he just earned 30 minutes. He looks like a crack addict who just got a fix. Anyone else have this?

[eljomom]

Not to make light of this, but I have good friends who act exactly like you described your son regarding facebook! I did it briefly, and could feel myself being sucked in, getting bothered when my kids needed to ask me something when I was facebooking....so I quit. Anyhow, if it give you any peace, this may be a normal facebook reaction!

[kimballot]

Not to make light of this, but I have good friends who act exactly like you described your son regarding facebook! I did it briefly, and could feel myself being sucked in, getting bothered when my kids needed to ask me something when I was facebooking....so I quit. Anyhow, if it give you any peace, this may be a normal facebook reaction!

 

the problem with my son is that he does not do anything that is not "normal" for his age... he just does it with such frequency and such intensity that it is dysfunctional!

[LNN]

My DS is too young for facebook, but yes, we have that abnormal intensity on video games. It's worse when he's not well. It's as if it becomes his outlet to compensate for all the things he feels is going wrong in real life. A place he gets to escape and be top dog. When he's feeling good, he still wants to spend a lot of time in front of the PC or Wii, but will dis-engage with normal groans when time's up. When he's in a bad place, we get unhealthy intensity during game play and when it's time to shut down. It's a trait that makes me worry a lot.

 

I'm sure you've already taken steps to make sure his privacy and security measures are in place. Also let him know you're monitoring his posts. I know of a 17 yo boy whose hormones got the better of him and ended up in a she said/he said claim of unwanted affection. His facebook and phone text transcripts were subpoenaed. I don't have answers for how to break the addiction aspect, but make sure he understands the ramifications of words that you can't take back.

 

I'm dreading the facebook years.

[kimballot]

My DS is too young for facebook, but yes, we have that abnormal intensity on video games. It's worse when he's not well. It's as if it becomes his outlet to compensate for all the things he feels is going wrong in real life. A place he gets to escape and be top dog. When he's feeling good, he still wants to spend a lot of time in front of the PC or Wii, but will dis-engage with normal groans when time's up. When he's in a bad place, we get unhealthy intensity during game play and when it's time to shut down. It's a trait that makes me worry a lot.

 

I'm sure you've already taken steps to make sure his privacy and security measures are in place. Also let him know you're monitoring his posts. I know of a 17 yo boy whose hormones got the better of him and ended up in a she said/he said claim of unwanted affection. His facebook and phone text transcripts were subpoenaed. I don't have answers for how to break the addiction aspect, but make sure he understands the ramifications of words that you can't take back.

 

I'm dreading the facebook years.

 

 

Fortunately, we have a computer with good parental controls so I am able to set a "stop" time when he goes on and I don't have to fight with him to get off. I also read everything he posts - he does not know just how much I read... but that is how I knew the depression was setting in. The internet is a scary place.

[tpotter]

An addiction specialist spoke at my son's school last week, and he specifically mentioned facebook. BTW, there are other computer addictions, too. Beware.

[tpotter]

Oh...one more thing. these kids can be very good at computers. My 18 yo has managed to "break through" almost every parental control that we've tried (including a physical timer that "locks out" the person when time has run out.) He also manages to break through the security measures at school, but I understand that a lot of kids do that, and it's almost like a game to them! Unfortunately, we have had computer addictions of the years. He says that this last IVIG has helped, though, and it looks like it may have. Good luck.

[PhillyPA]

I would remove the addiction.

[P_Mom]

BTW, there are other computer addictions, too. Beware.

 

 

Like this forum?

[Kayanne]

BTW, there are other computer addictions, too. Beware.

 

 

Like this forum?

LOL!! I'm guilty!

[SarahJane]

I'm NOT making light of your child's FB addition at all. But what would constitute an addition to FB or this forum? (Or...Angry Birds...hypthetically, of course.) How many hours or how many checks per day? I probably should get parental controls on my computer...but my parents don't know how to use the computer...and I'm 40. Plus, you'll never get my iPhone away from me now that I finally got a new one. My old one was holding a charge for maybe 5 minutes for the past 3 months. Got a new one Sat & am already on level 12 of Angry Birds...hypothetically. It is nice to have a mobile phone again tho' vs. using it while standing at the kitchen counter while it's charging.

[ilovedogs]

My ds loves FB and spends a lot of time on there. But, once I say turn it off, he turns it off without a fuss. He also finds other things to do with his time when he's bored of it. It is the first thing he does when he wakes up in the AM and it's the last thing he does before bed, but for the most part I haven't had to manage it too much.

 

I just wanted to say that internet addiction is a very real thing, though. My sister is married to a guy who has some real problems with computer addictions, p*rn, video gaming, etc. It has been a struggle their entire marriage and they are in their mid-30s. He will literally beg her to help him turn the stuff off at a decent time at night. It's like he's not capable of getting off the gaming. She said he stays up many nights until 2 AM playing video games or being on the computer. They actually had a situation last year where he met another woman on World of Warcraft and started an emotional affair with her. He told my sis last year that he wanted a divorce and that he was in love with this woman, whom he had never met IRL. It can get out of hand even for adults so it's so important for us as parents to know what our kids are doing online or with their gaming.

 

Luckily for us, ds has not much interest in gaming. He gets bored after about 30 minutes of video games, LOL! But, my sister is concerned already about her 5 year old son. He is already following in daddy's footsteps and loves to participate in the gaming stuff.

[jdude]

Not to make light of this, but I have good friends who act exactly like you described your son regarding facebook! I did it briefly, and could feel myself being sucked in, getting bothered when my kids needed to ask me something when I was facebooking....so I quit. Anyhow, if it give you any peace, this may be a normal facebook reaction!

 

the problem with my son is that he does not do anything that is not "normal" for his age... he just does it with such frequency and such intensity that it is dysfunctional!

 

WOw, that is my son to a "t"...everything he has done, was done with "gusto" and complete obe\ssession...Thomas the Tank Engine, Club Penguin, and now X-Box (he's almost 11).

[eljomom]

My non-pandas son, when he was a toddler, and for years after, had to sleep with whatever thing it was he was addicted to. AT one point it was the case of his favorite video, which he watched over and over....another was his bee-ball frame (a picture frame with baseballs on it...and he was INTO baseballs)...hmmmm.....maybe he was/is pandas....sigh. I actually wonder about all 4 of mine....my 8 year old has a vocal tic that comes and goes, separation anxiety that comes and goes (though not much since we started homeschooling), evening up....and the past few months her pupils seem huge to me, but she has NO other symptoms, other than headaches that come and go, and her chest will hurt..that comes and goes too....why do the pupils get big?