Intervention

"I just don't think it's good for you honey. When you're on it, you're a different person. It's not fun for you anymore. I think you need to take some time off. It's just not good for your brain."

My seven year old dissolved into a puddle of tears. We were taking away his one true love... Mario.

To be fair we weren't really taking it away. We were just putting more restrictions on his game play.

Harrison's love of Mario started innocently enough. About a year and a half ago he could barely get the character on screen to walk and jump at the same time. We would turn on our game system (an 8 year old Wii) for about half an hour a month, we'd have a little family fun, and then turn it off. Then about a year ago we started playing a bit more, working toward earning stars in Mario 64. Before I knew it he was getting good. Really good. Like "Ok how'd he figure out he can use that portal?" good.

Then he started to draw Mario. He dressed up as Mario for Halloween. He made Mario Legos. He played Mario at the playground. I was starting to get concerned but he was only playing a few nights a week. We'd time him for half an hour at a time. Responsible parent right? However some nights it didn't seem fun for him. The levels were getting hard and he was starting to blow up if he messed up. We'd turn it off. We'd talk about how we can't scream when we're angry. He'd be upset a while and then try again the next night.

One of Harrison's Mario Comics. Drawn 1/27/2015

Then at Christmas he got a Wii U. The whole family was excited. We can play more cooperative games now. He loved it. He wasn't getting as angry. Game time wasn't a stressful thing.

He was making more and more little comic books. Adorable hand drawn books he made himself. We told ourselves it could be a good thing. He was writing! He was being creative!  However, he wasn't touching his other Christmas presents. He was asking about the geographic location of the Mushroom Kingdom. He was talking about Mario when others around him were having a conversation about something else. He was.... only answering to the name Mario?

Huh?

When did we go from casually liking something to it completely consuming him? I tried to think about the last time he drew Captain Underpants or played with Star Wars Legos. When is that last time he asked to watch TV?

I did a little research into video games and autism and found this article. Basically children on the spectrum tend to become addicted to video games and then children who play role playing games are more likely to become defiant and disobedient. I thought about some behaviors we had been noticing and while I wouldn't say for a second he was being disobedient, he was definitely not his 100% sweet self.

I knew something had to be done. I knew we had to start to limit his game play even more. Not just less time but only on the weekends when his brain could handle the stimulation. And I knew we had to be honest and up front with him.

This brings us back to the conversation from the beginning of this post. He was positively devastated. As a parent it's easier to make those decisions when a kid is in trouble. Bad grades? No more video games. Got in trouble at school? No more video games. This was a little more of a gray area. It didn't slow me down but it made it a more difficult conversation to have. Made his pain harder.

This is day two of our detox and so far so good. I'm already noticing a more relaxed demeanor at night, less Mario talk, and better language use. Mario is something he will always love but for now he needs to love it in small, controlled doses.

Princess Peach Ellie, Tinkerbell Alex (Godsister), and Mario Harrison