Hobby Tool | Find New Activities to Replace Gaming

In the world of addiction therapy, most psychiatrists treat addiction as an obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.  OCD can be difficult to treat, and there are some psychoactive drugs now available to treat OCD.  Many of these drugs are SSRI'S and carry significant side effects. The use of SSRI drugs in children also carry other significant side effects

Most parents and physicians prefer to not put children or teens on psychoactive drugs, except in the most severe types of depression, when other options fail.  While it is challenging to treat OCD it is possible to transfer their form of gaming addiction to other forms of entertainment, or activity.  Teens often have sports activities, tennis, running, baseball or football. The neurochemical response to any addiction is a release of endorphins, running in particular. ( Endorphins, dopamine and serotonin are all related to mood elevation.  What is the difference between endorphins and dopamine in your brain? While endorphins are neurotransmitters that help you to cope with pain and stress, dopamine is a mood-boosting neurotransmitter that is released after you reach a goal.)

In this way, dopamine is involved in the reward circuit in your brain and helps to motivate you toward tasks (in contrast, low dopamine would also be de-motivating). Higher endorphins can actually lead to higher dopamine production; in this way, endorphins and dopamine are not mutually exclusive but are actually connected in the system that promotes action toward rewards and the good feelings that result.

In other words, you might feel motivated to participate in a marathon because of your dopamine reward system, which is further reinforced by the endorphins that are released during the actual act of participating in the race. In this way, endorphins are the quicker-acting "feelings" while dopamine is the longer-acting afterglow.

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Our most recent edition of Health Train Express discussed Behavioral addiction to online social networking and its association with emotion regulation deficits.

Most parents and others recognize that their children are missing from the dinner table or refuse to participate in normal family activities.  They linger far into the night with their bedroom doors closed.  In some cases, they may be gaming alone or have a virtual social network to play games with friends they know already or have never met from other countries.

In previous generations, many parents wanted to know who their children hang out with.  Today, such is not the case.  Parents rarely know with whom their children socialize.  Back in the day mothers would insist on meeting the 'friends' and also their parental units to either give approval or suggest they find other friends.

Many parents from prior generation(s) are internet incompetent, however, today's young parents grew up in the internet age and are knowledgeable about its pitfalls.

Parent Guides from ConnectSafely

Is a handy guide for parents with information about many internet gaming sites, such as Snapchat, Instagram,  Roblox, Tiktok, Amazon Parent Dashboard, Amazon Fire TV. Discord, Cyberbullying Messenger, Messenger for Kids, developed by Facebook allows parents the ability to control their kid's messenger contracts.

One important tool is Google Family Link which allows monitoring and permissions remotely from a parent's smartphone or computer.  It requires an app on the child's device and the parent's device. Other software such as parental blocking on a home Wi-Fi router can help as well, but many social networks and games can be accessed via cell phone without internet.

Top Questions from Parents

1. What is Family Link? 

Family Link is an app from Google that allows you to set-up, manage and monitor a Google account and Android device for your child so even young children can take advantage of the benefits of having a smartphone or tablet. 

2. What does Family Link do? 

The app gives you the ability to manage what apps your kids can use and when they can use them, what websites they can visit, and when they can use the device. Parents can set a device’s “bedtime” so that it can’t be used for anything except phone calls during specific hours of the day or night. 

3. What do I need to set up a Family Link account? 

You need a compatible Android smartphone or tablet for your child (find details on this webpage) and either an Android or Apple phone or tablet for yourself to manage your child’s account. You can manage some of your child’s account settings from a web browser, but need an Android device for some features and settings. You’ll also need to be in the U.S., and have your own Google account. 

4. What are the minimum and maximum ages of kids who can use Family Link? 

The app doesn’t have a minimum age. It’s up to parents to decide when their child is ready to have a managed smartphone. For Family Link users, Google will notify both the parent and the child before the child’s 13th birthday, “to encourage a family conversation around when the child will be ready to take control over their own account and device.” The child has the option to transition to a regular account or remain under parent management up until their 18th birthday. 

5. Why should my family use Family Link? 

There are a great many benefits to smartphones and tablets, even for very young children. We can’t list them all, but they include the ability to make calls and send and receive texts and emails with family members, the ability to use educational apps or games, the ability to take and share pictures, track health and fitness data, and much more. Also, it’s possible to configure your child’s phone so that it securely reports its location to you, which means you know where the phone is and, if the phone is with your child, where the child is as well. Of course, you could give your child a device without Family Link but then you wouldn’t have the ability to manage the apps they use, the sites they visit, and the times they’re using it, and be able to monitor how your child is using the phone. Family Link helps your child learn how to responsibly use their device while giving parents extra peace of mind. 

6. Who can manage my child’s account? 

By default, it’s just the person who sets up the account but the family manager can add another family member to serve as a second parent who can manage and monitor the child’s device. 

7. What should I say to my child before installing Family Link? 

It is always a good idea to have a discussion with your child before allowing them to use a device and before using any monitoring or device management tool. Remind your child about their responsibility to use the device appropriately and to take good care of the device. Explain any family ground rules and policies, and talk with them about the features in Family Link so they understand what information you can monitor and how you will be able to manage what they can do with their device. If you elect to limit the apps and sites they use, explain how they can ask permission if they come across an app or site that they would like you to add.

Authors notes:

The situation is not hopeless, and there are credible solutions to protect children from exploitation. As the reader can see Facebook has "Facebook for Kids", Tiktok has Privacy settings, 

Hobby Tool | Find New Activities to Replace Gaming