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?