Dear Aunt Jeanie,
After reading the email about the problems of Samuel, I feel so worried about as well. As a cousin and a close friend to Samuel, I will certainly try my best to help him. Here is some advice to him. I sincerely hope that he can maintain a right balance between studying, social life and gaming.
First, to help Samuel gradually abstain from computer addiction, I think you could communicate more with him, try to understand him more on the reason why he only plays computer games but gives up the precious time and great opportunities that he could make use of to enrich his life.
Also, Samuel should set limits on how long he can play and to encourage to include other activities in his life, for example, he can try various types of activities which are informative to his teenage growth other than solely playing computer games, for example, sports, music, clubs, etc. Let him know that it is important to seek help outside.
As you told in the email before, that Samuel is addicted to violent online games and has become quite violent as influenced by the games. I think he should get rid of such behaviour by stopping playing such games and trying to play some neutral and puzzle games, such as Tetris Battle and Sudoku. These interesting games can rather help him to train his mind instead of teaching him to become a character in a violent game and beat others. What’s more important is that, he can set a timetable himself, set a time limit for using a computer.
However, when his addiction gets so bad that he isn’t being able to do his ordinary chores, it’s time to get some sort of help. It doesn’t mean that he has to see a shrink, just tell Samuel to think about his 24 hours that he has per day, then take those 24 hours minus the hours he spends in front of the computer, the result is often quite frightening but it will hopefully give him a wake-up call and warn that he has to change his lifestyle, because if he wants to sit more than 10 hours in front of the computer, he must start thinking about the things and time he is sacrificing to get the ‘privilege’ to play virtual games.
Finally, Samuel should do more outdoor activities and see more far objects to broaden his horizons and social life and protect his eyes. He will find that the real world is more fun, more enjoyable, and the new friends he will make are more interesting and friendly than all things he sees in the virtual games.
To help him totally eradicate his addiction problem, I will try my best to take time for him, talk to him and go out with him. Don’t worry too much, aunt. Samuel will get back to normal.
Love,
Nephew Samson