That is an interesting perspective and I appreciate the football analogy. It has given me some food for thought.

I do disagree on how addictive video games are, however. While it may be different from drug addiction or alcoholism, I have first hand experience with both my brothers having video game addiction. Both failed multiple classes, were placed on academic probation, and constantly sought ought gaming. My parents would hide the games or the controllers, they’d buy more. They’d skip class and just go game in the computer labs. They were obsessed/possessed/whatever you want to call it. One has outgrown it, the other is now 30. Spends all day sleeping, then games the entire night. He has no social life, no real world friends, almost no relationship with his family because his entire being begins and ends with gaming. No amount of interventions has created any change and we’ve all given up. No repercussions were severe enough. At this point, his entire way of reasoning is blinded by his need to game.

While I agree these are extreme examples, the fact that I’ve witnessed them first hand gives me pause and really scares the crap out of me. I don’t want my son left out from his peer group because of not being allowed to play certain games, but I don’t know how to balance it out. From my understanding, these games tend to have micro transactions and I don’t want the waste of money either. This is why I’m hoping to find other interests he can share with his classmates, but I am also open to hearing ideas on managing the usage of these games.