How do you combat a case of iPod/iTouch addiction?

Started by Mike, Jun 10 09 08:02

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Mike

How do you combat a case of iPod/iTouch addiction? I'm not joking...this has become a serious issue in our home. I bought an iTouch for my 15-year old son a few months ago and it's taken over his life. He fools with it 24/7, to the point where his grades have slipped, he's become completely disconnected from my wife and I, he gets very rude and surly if interrupted while using it, etc etc.

His behavior encompasses all the classic signs of a drug addiction. Taking it away "solves" the problem in the short term, but he simply cannot moderate his behavior at all when he has it. When he has it, everything else in life takes second place to it- everything, including eating and sleeping.

I've totally had it and all I want to do is take a hammer to it. I want to smash it into a thousand pieces. I don't want to be the iPod Cop in my home, doling out its usage like Methadone. Is there any way to find some middle ground for reasonable usage, or is a hammer the only practical solution?  


P.C.

Ya but...15 doesn't get to make the rules.

  Time to learn compromise.  'X' amount of time per day for usage...confiscation if the rule is broken.  

Simple rule.... easy to make, tougher to follow through on.   Also maybe he is filling a possible void...so a conversation about what he might be escaping or feel like he is missing, is in order too.      
Sir Isaac Newton invented the swinging door....for the convenience of his cat.