One kid in Australia has reportedly headbutted his mum after she tried to confiscate his Playstation.
Britta Hodge insists her son, Loga,n has become addicted to online gaming and his latest obsession is the massively popular battle royale game, Fortnite.
His mum says the Sydney-based teenager plays all night long and only leaves his room to eat or to go to the bathroom. Which – horrific enough – is as close as you can get to the episode of South Park where they all become addicted to World of Warcraft and Cartman doesn’t leave the room.
Britta revealed in an interview with 9 News’ 60 Minutes that Logan has lashed out at her when she’s tried to take the console away, Metro reports.
She said:
It’s not as simple as taking the cord away and going, ‘Oh well, bad luck, you haven’t got the internet’.
Because the repercussions from that – angry, aggressive – we’ve had to call the police. I have been headbutted, I’ve had concussions.
Britta claims before she bought her son the PS4 two years ago, he was sporty and regularly went out with friends.
And Fortnite is just the latest of his addictions, he’s also been playing Minecraft, Call of Duty, Destiny and Ark.
He’s banned from playing the games until 4pm, but spends as much time as possible on the console, leaving the house just once a week.
Britta said in an interview with 9Honey:
An addiction is an addiction. It doesn’t matter if it’s drugs, sex or online gaming.
It’s chronic. We’ve been to doctors who have said ‘I don’t think we’ve seen such a chronic case’.
Logan, who has been diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety has lost contact with the outside world and says the game ‘is the only thing that gives him happiness’.
When I was about 10 years old I accidentally smashed the glass on the front door to my house. It was a total accident but a pane of glass had to be repaired.
My parents decided I’d lashed out, despite not being there, and sided with my big brother and friend, who’d decided to gang up on me for bants. What happened? I didn’t get any pocket money for about six months. My summer was completely ruined. The money, which ironically would’ve been spent on video games at the arcade, went to something productive. I haven’t smashed any doors since.
But that was the 1990s. It was a different time. I respected and feared my elders despite spending dozens of hours playing Mortal Kombat. God knows what goes through the minds of kids nowadays? I still have anxiety and I grew up before social media and smart phones. Classic hipster me, I was into this stuff before it was cool.
One mum is calling on a video game to be banned because she believes she’s ‘lost’ her 10-year-old son to it.
Leo appeared alongside his mum, Suzanne, on ITV‘s This Morning earlier this year.
Suzanne told hosts Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby he now finds ‘normal life boring by comparison’, and said his moods had changed since he started playing the game.
Kids: just say no. You’re not going to impress anyone sat on your back end playing vidy. Go for a walk or something. Life doesn’t get any easier as you get older.
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Tim Horner is a sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated with a BA Journalism from University College Falmouth before most his colleagues were born. A previous editor of adult mags, he now enjoys bringing the tone down in the viral news sector.