Children Concerned By Parents' Web Habits

praps writes "Children are becoming increasingly worried about their parents' Internet habits, according to a report just released in Sweden. Unsurprisingly, dads surfing for pornography is the most common problem, but chatroom addiction also featured in the report — as is a mother who has become obsessed with World of Warcraft. 'This summer she has been sitting up all day and all night and she forgets what's important to me,' wrote the woman's 13-year-old daughter. 'And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing.'" There are also a lot of scammers out there who like nothing better than to find retirees who they can sucker into get-rich-quick schemes involving real-estate, stock options, and convincing the neighbors to be part of a "downstream" for MLM marketing ploys.

Comments

Oblig

[Anonymous Coward]

I just need to run another 10,000 google queries for Brazilian Fart Porn and I'll ding level 70..

Re:Oblig

[Huggs]

At the risk of this being relevant to the parent post... that sounds kinda like http://pmog.com/ (Has nothing to do with Brazilians, Farts, Porn, or any combination of the above)

WoW

[EriktheGreen]

The WoW thing could be bad... depends on whether she's chatting/enjoying herself, or whether she's actually addicted. The Dad surfing for porn thing is normal though.

Re:WoW

[EraserMouseMan]

I've never played WoW. I've got a few friends who do. One told his wife he'd quit after he got to level 70. He's achieved level 70 and now he's going for all upgraded gear and getting "epiced" (or something). Is there any end? Or is the game built so you never really become king of the hill? Is there always another carrot out there to keep you coming back?

Re:WoW

[EriktheGreen]

Let's put it this way: If possible they never want to lose a subscriber, ever.

You can't win the game... it's like a never ending soap opera or comic book. Actually providing resolution so people walk away is not in the plan.

There's always another carrot.

Erik

Re:WoW

[Awptimus Prime]

The Dad surfing for porn thing is normal Agreed. My dad had a big stash of hardcore magazines he kept locked away in one of his shop cabinets, my grandfather kept a big stash of lower quality stuff in his garage. Just because this generation gets it on the computer, doesn't mean the concepts are anything new.

I can agree, somewhat, that the younger people have some gripe about their parents fiddling around in chatrooms or WoW, but kids of previous generations often dealt with parents that were either gone fishing, drinking, or like one of my parents and buried in novels endlessly. It was much the same thing, if she wasn't holding a book, she'd be rather distant, would read through the family tv time, would skip meals to find out what the next chapter holds and when one book was finished, it was off to the next one. It seems more like humans exhibiting the same particular types of behavior through different conduits.

Re:WoW

[EriktheGreen]

It's not the amount of time, it's the ability to go without or put down the game for other reasons, real-life or otherwise, and whether or not playing is a detriment to your life.

If you suspect addiction, then take a break, and if you're really not sure, see a psych. or counselor.

It's supposed to be for-fun, to enhance your life, not replace it.

BTW, I play WoW too, mostly at night before bed, when I have time.

Re:WoW

[caffeinemessiah]

'And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing.'"

Correlation and causation, folks. Sigh. It's highly unlikely that WoW took a perfectly normal mother and converted her into a zombie like this. These symptoms are indicative of deeper psychological issues that manifest in an unhealthy obsession with WoW. So WoW not having an "ending" is hardly an issue -- people can get addicted to anything that offers escapism, and the fact that this mother is addicted to WoW is not a cause to point fingers at WoW. And I speak as someone who stopped playing warcraft after warcraft 2 back in the 90s.

Re:WoW

[tukang]

The Dad surfing for porn thing is normal though. Especially if the mom is playing WoW all day ...

Re:WoW

[spun]

Some things are more prone to cause addiciton than others. Video games are not just simple escapism, they are specifically designed to hit our reward centers in consistent ways. They can be very addicting.
But that is no reason to impose any kind of rules or restrictions on them. It is simply a reason to educate people. "Hey, you might want to watch yourself if you play video games, and just make sure they aren't taking over your life to the detriment of your job, health and relationships."

That is really the most that needs to be done for ANY addictive substance. Any other 'solution' causes more problems than it cures.

Re:WoW

[Opportunist]

It doesn't end. That's the whole point.

People pay per month. In other words, the maker of an MMORPG gets money as long as someone plays it. So the goal is to make people play as long as possible.

How is this done? By dangling carrots in front of people. There is yet another boss to kill, yet another item to get. And that's what WoW like every long running MMORPG is about: Items.

You get them by killing bosses. But not every time. They drop it once in a while. So you have to kill bosses over and over to get your item. And you don't just need one. You need a set. A helm, a chestpiece, a pair of boots, a sword, a shield. Each of them dropped at some other boss.

To get to such a boss, you have to defeat his minions, pretty much like in a plain old platform game. The size of those areas makes sure that in any given evening, you can only do it once or maybe twice. In other words, two shots an evening to get an item that drops about every tenth time, and you need about 8 such items to have your gear.

Well, the gear to get the next gear. You see, you can't just level to 70 and then go into the top dungeon. You won't make it. You first have to get other gear that gives you the bonus points you pretty much need to even stand a chance in other dungeons. WoW is now, IIRC, at "Tier 6". I.e. you do that whole thing six times before you're at the top.

To make it less trivial, you can't do that alone. You have to find a group to do something like this. And since you can't just depend on some random freaks (I mean, would you want to waste an entire evening to find out the healer you signed up is a complete tool?), you usually do that in more or less constant groups. People form guilds, clans, whatever the name, i.e. groups of people you more or less can trust.

This is another quite strong incentive for many people to keep playing, since they don't want to let their "friends" down. They "depend" on you to some degree.

And since not everyone has time every evening, such "raids" are usually not done every night. Most of the time, you can get a shot at a boss about twice a week.

So let's calc'. Twice a week, two runs an evening. Let's be generous and say you can raid five times a week (unless you are in one of the guilds that really have no life anymore). Five tries on something that drops about once out of ten times (and let's assume the unrealistic situation that you "may" always take it, i.e. that nobody else with "more right" to the item gets it, should it drop) means that you're busy about two weeks to get one of your set items. Now let's furthermore assume you don't go on raids into dungeons that you don't need at all because nothing you need drops there, but your healer friend needs it and he won't come along for your sword (because there's nothing to gain there for him) if you don't help him. But let's assume that doesn't happen.

Then you're busy two weeks per item, eight items a set, six sets to go.

Do the math yourself when you'll be "done". The only question that remains is, will it be before or after Tier 7 comes along? Or tier 8, tier 9...

Re:WoW

[mrbluze]

Some things are more prone to cause addiciton than others. Video games are not just simple escapism, they are specifically designed to hit our reward centers in consistent ways.

These things are well on the way to being recognized as psychological/psychiatric disorders. They do cause significant social problems and that is, essentially, all that's needed to diagnose a behavioural disorder.

WoW is not bad, computers aren't bad, etc. But, as much as liberal ideals should be the norm, regulation has to be a part of game design and if gaming companies don't act responsibly (eg: somehow curtailing excessive use by individuals) then we'll see governments stepping in and ruining it for everyone.

Re:WoW

[R2.0]

Meh - she said that her Mom was totally ignoring what SHE wanted.

Let me clue you in, toots - I have a 13 year old daughter too, I've never played a second of WoW, and I ignore what my daughter WANTS all the time. But I never ignore what she needs.

It's called parenting, and you won't get it until you have kids of your own.
(Alt-tab back to the porn I was surfing)

Re:WoW

[caffeinemessiah]

they are specifically designed to hit our reward centers in consistent ways.

In other words, they are designed to be consistently enjoyable. I could say the same thing about sunny beaches, and yet not everyone goes giving up their lives to become beach bums.

Re:WoW

[lymond01]

When your online life is more stimulating than your offline life, you tend to stay online longer. Join a team of something (softball, volleyball, swimming, debate, soup kitchen, crafts, etc). Get yourself *involved* with your offline life. Unlike an MMO which is designed to keep you involved with the online life, offline you sort of have to choose your own density. I mean...destiny.

Re:WoW

[billcopc]

CmdrTaco needs to raise the mod point cap to 50, because even at +5 you deserve to be modded up.

I started playing WoW a few years ago, at a time when I was depressed out of my skull, but I just didn't know it yet. I eventually reached a point where I was too depressed to haul my sorry ass to work in the morning, so I called in dead and played WoW 16 hours a day for months. I didn't code, I didn't hack, I barely left the apartment. Eventually the anti-depressant meds kicked in and I was wired into semi-sanity. By the time I got back to 90% normal and had found myself a new job, I stopped playing WoW, just quit cold turkey.

I fired it up again a few weeks ago, to try out a private server... I found it all extremely boring and quit after a few days. That tells me the WoW playing was a symptom of my depression, not the cause. It was the only thing easy enough to do, that didn't get shot down by my total lack of motivation.

I think the WoW mom needs to see her doctor, and a therapist.

Re:WoW

[EriktheGreen]

So I'm guessing you're not real familiar with teenagers?

Depending on mood, they can ignore you completely, and actually avoid you, or, they can compete with your bathroom breaks for your time.

What I'm saying is that a teenager giving an anecdote about her parents' behavior is enough to warrant a second look by someone else (not a social worker) but is not enough to diagnose her parents with some type of behavioral disorder.

Re:WoW

[Gewalt]

People say that alot, but... I went through a few phases... I was completely addicted to my family and my job til a friend convinced me to do a 30 day trial of wow. Then I became addicted to that and only that. Sure, maybe I'm just one depressed son of a gun. Maybe I just needed an escape, sure.. But I kinda liked my old escapes better than when WoW was my escape.

I did manage to quit wow, and have since turned my addictions to spending time with my kids... but I gotta tell you... It was hairy there for a while...

Re:WoW

[Spy der Mann]

I recall reading this article about some guy spending too much time on his second job - an online job. He would often get called, and new responsibilities were given to him. He had to take care of new people, he was always given new duties and he could never quit - people depended on him. It was a burden so heavy that it felt like if the world could end without him. It didn't matter that he got no pay for the job - it was too important to ask for pay.

That second job was World of Warcraft.

Re:WoW

[Gewalt]

Being a beach bum costs significantly more than 15$/month.

Re:WoW

[spun]

But how frequently is a sunny beach going to hit your reward centers? Is it going to let off for a little bit and then hit again, or is it going to stay at the same level of stimulus pretty constantly, fading into the background? Video games can be engineered to be addictive in a way that no non-interactive media or experience can be.
Not everyone who tries crack goes on to be a crack addict, either. Addictive tendencies run in families. Likely, people who have these tendencies already know they do, which is why a subtle, "Hey? You know how you get obsessed about certain things to the detriment of the rest of your life? Yeah, this may be one of those things, you may want to pace yourself," is enough. Forewarned is forearmed. For most people, it won't be an issue anyway.

Re:WoW

[dave562]

On the other hand, there are a signficant number of WoW players who do have substance abuse habits. For the most part it seems to be alcohol and marijuana, but the game also caters to those who like to stay up for extended periods of time. I think that the two (WoW and substances) attract very similar personalities. Although sitting in front of the computer for hours and hours at a time might not be as physically destructive as crack, it isn't exactly good for you either. The human body needs exercise.

Re:WoW

[Cookie3]

>You first have to get other gear that gives you the bonus points you pretty much need
>to even stand a chance in other dungeons. WoW is now, IIRC, at "Tier 6". I.e. you do
>that whole thing six times before you're at the top.

Just a point of clarification:
WoW's tiered systems work in conjunction with a "gear reset" (or "mudflation", if you prefer the negative term) each expansion. Quest rewards from each expansion will roughly equal the tiered rewards you earn from raiding previously.

For example:
In classic WoW, a level 60 player might go to MC, BWL, and Naxx (raid dungeons), and get Tier 1-3 armor.
In BC (the first expansion), a level 60 player can still go to the old raid dungeons for gear, OR they can do solo/small group quests for similar rewards (while simultaneously leveling to 70). If you do many quests and dungeons, you will be wearing gear that is similar to Tier 3 once you arrive at level 70, and be ready immediately for Tier 4 content, even if they've never set foot in any of the previous Tiers (raids) before.

Blizz has already said the same sort of gear reset will occur for WotLK. A new level 80 player in WotLK will be wearing Tier 6-equivalent quested gear, and will be immediately ready for Tier 7 content.

Re:WoW

[johndmann]

Not debunking that it is excessive, but your math is flawed due to your lack of play mechanics (no offense meant, you're just underinformed is all).

Yes, there are 6 tiers of equipment, but the first three are remnants from level 60, all but useless, and almost noone even tries for them, except for maybe nostalgia. Tier 4 is even becoming dated enough that most people skip it and jump right into Tier 5. Thus, there are usually only 2 tiers to go through.

Another number change for your formula is that there are not eight items in each set. T4 and T5 only have 5 pieces. T6 has 8.

Also, there is Player vs. Player (PvP) gear available which is as good as each of the tiers. Most players go to the battlegrounds between raids, which is more time, yes, but results in less actual raiding. PvP gear is "guaranteed", whereas the Tier stuff, you just have a chance at getting. If you waste enough time each day in-game (oh, say 12-14 hours a day), you can get the equivalent of Tier 5 in PvP gear in less than a week.

Supposedly, there will be no more Tiers ever again, that they are going to a new system, but still, there will be upgrades at some point, yes.

Your statements have the correct intent, just a bit exaggerated due to the game working differently than your math made it seem. It's actually much shorter of a time, and much easier to get the top level gear than it used to be way back when.

A great number of people are stopping their subscriptions with WoW due to how easy it is to "max out" the game, even when new content rolls out, they just devour it in hardly any time at all. In the past it used to be a challenging game compared to what it is now. Blizzard has slowly "dumbed down" the game so that they can obtain a larger user base who want a casual game.

Re:WoW

[Omestes]

You forgot the crappy glove enchant, and the mithril spurs.

I guess they aren't items unto themselves, but still.

Pedantry ho!

Re:WoW

[caffeinemessiah]

Video games can be engineered to be addictive in a way that no non-interactive media or experience can be.

That is a sad perspective, and certainly not true. I'm a rock climbing instructor part time, and people who don't climb find it difficult to understand the passion and sheer addictiveness of climbing. There are very large portions of the general populace who get no joy at all from video games, and that majority would find your claim...questionable. I won't even bother to go into more examples of experiences that are consistently enjoyable, non-chemical and still addictive.

Re:WoW

[Starayo]

You're making the mistake of assuming it's all about the game. I recently quit after playing for three years (god, it sounds like I'm talking about smoking addiction...) and the thing that kept me playing wasn't the game - while fun, after levelling my second character and exploring the whole game world, plus plenty of end-game, I quickly tired of the actual gameplay. What kept me logging on night after night was the people I played with - they were interesting, funny, intelligent, and we could have enjoyable conversations about things I couldn't talk about with my less-geeky regular friends. My guild even had a few real-world get-togethers, barbecues mostly.

Now, as for rejecting a BJ, I know there are times for me personally where the need for mental stimulation easily outweighs the desire for physical... But I would still reject a game to be with someone I care for.

Now excuse me while I go ponder the possible ramifications of a combination of a BJ and end-game raiding...

Re:WoW

[Urkki]

'And when she's not at the computer she's like a lost soul. She just looks straight ahead and says nothing.'"

Correlation and causation, folks. Sigh. It's highly unlikely that WoW took a perfectly normal mother and converted her into a zombie like this. These symptoms are indicative of deeper psychological issues that manifest in an unhealthy obsession with WoW.

Oh, it is more than likely. When you're addicted to a game (be it non-computer, offline or online game), or to a discussion forum or to a chat service, then that fills your life. When you're not on it, you're thinking of what you'll do when you again have a chance to get on. Even when there's some time you're waiting (like in many online games) before you can do stuff, waiting for that time to arrive fills your life.

That's addiction. Not everybody gets addicted, but it is possible, and it is common, and just because you may not even understand what I'm talking about here (lucky you!), it doesn't make it unreal or unlikely. This particular mom sounds just like this. So called real life is a chore, a burden for her, and only things worth living for are in the game, interacting with other people *there* and doing stuff *there*.

Or is this just me? Anybody else here know what I'm talking about? :-)

Got sick of fixing my parents computer ...

[Falstius]

So I installed linux on it. The last support call I got was because my dad couldn't figure out which port the speakers plugged in to (and apparently he's becoming color blind). I think they're just making stuff up now to guilt me into visiting. They're happy with it and my mom is even an advocate for it at her school.

Re:Got sick of fixing my parents computer ...

[Hatta]

The last support call I got was because my dad couldn't figure out which port the speakers plugged in to (and apparently he's becoming color blind). I think they're just making stuff up now to guilt me into visiting.

You could at least leave the basement for dinner.

Can't you meet them on SecondLife?

[EmbeddedJanitor]

Especially if mom lives there now.

Re:Can't you meet them on SecondLife?

[Kreigaffe]

I doubt you'd want to meet anyone, most especially your parents, in SecondLife.

Nobody wants to see a Fox version of their father getting sodomized by a well-endowed Lion-mother.

And that, good friends, is SecondLife in a sentence. You may think there's more to that game, but it's all a scam.

Re:Can't you meet them on SecondLife?

[TornCityVenz]

There are a lot more interesting things in SL than just the furry scene, Although if that's what your into I suppose that's what you will find. There are some interesting persistant world Sims for Star trek, Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars amounst other things.

Re:Can't you meet them on SecondLife?

[fishbowl]

>And that, good friends, is SecondLife in a sentence. You may think there's more to that game, but it's all a
>scam.

I myself operate a Zen meditation house, and a live music venue, and do quite a few things not mentioned in your sentence, and you've basically just accused me of "scamming."

what's with the porn hate?

[geekoid]

"dads surfing for pornography is the most common problem"
Why is that a problem? so dad likes some porn, big deal.

Hmmm, yes I've seen this with WoW. I highly suggest that 13 year old change the router so it 'drops out' during certain times of the day..also she needs to get her mother in intervention.

Obviously, my porn comment is for casual viewing, if it impacts going to work, taking care of the kids etc, it's a problem too. The fact that it's porn or WoW doesn't matter.

Re:what's with the porn hate?

[Penguinisto]

Well, it depends - is dad doing the surfing discreetly after the kids have gone to bed, or is he trolling for pr0n in the living room at midday when the kids are sitting only a few meters away?

The latter would be pretty indicative of a problem, y'know?

/P

Re:what's with the porn hate?

[halivar]

And you confirmed that you're the dirty old man who likes to flash kids at the playground ("get back here, you little runts! It's just natural!"). That was never up for debate, either, like most other ad hominems.

Re:what's with the porn hate?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got to say, once you're a parent you might feel differently (I'm assuming with a UID like yours you're a young pup ;-). Even if you feel there's nothing wrong with porn (I agree with this) there is such a thing as age appropriate.

I don't have a problem with my teenager seeing violent movies, but I did not let him watch violent movies when he was younger. There are many reasons for this... Just as there are many reasons for not wanting to expose young children to everything an adult can handle.

Young children are not emotionally or rationally prepared for porn (or kinds of porn). Much like other children, I remembered sneaking playboys in 6th grade, etc. I do think there's a difference between a 6th grader seeing a playboy and seeing gangbang bukkake furries...

My DM is like that... WOW Addict

[Sir_Eptishous]

I don't have a parent with an "internet problem", but my DM does. He is always looking to stop the game so he can play WOW and get that slack jawed look.

He told me he has 7 70's.

Is this a problem?

The problem isn't the Internet...

[syousef]

I wonder how many of these problems are kids whining for attention the way they might whine for ice cream, and how many of these issues are genuine problems. In many cases, if there is a genuine problem, I suspect it'd manifest in other ways if the Internet didn't exist. For those seeking escapism, it might be that the parent goes to the dog track or casino instead of the endless web surfing.

As for kids coming across daddy's little porn stash, I worry for the parents more than the children. If the parent isn't being inappropriate with the child (Yes showing them porn isn't appropriate but I'm talking about interfeering with them) it's the parent that could end up in jail in our paranoid society. The truth is that if kids are to be equipped to deal with the modern world, they should learn about sex early so that they can avoid predators and dangerous misinformation. They just should not engage in sexual activity early. People have become so scared that their children might engage in sex early that they're willing to go to extreme measures and label ordinary parents as sexual predators. Honestly how many slashdotters would have had fathers who had a stash of playboy magazines and who'd secretly sneaked a peak at them when they were young. This is the internet equivalent.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

[qbzzt]

Kids need to learn about sex. The problem is that porn often teaches the wrong things about sex.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

[Penguinisto]

If only I had mod points...

Hell, there was a time when fathers kept playboys in the Den in a basket next to the recliner (well, okay, not a perfect analogue since Playboy is pretty soft-core and it did have articles worth reading). Nowadays that would likely get you jailed.

One nitpick though: equipping a child to deal with sexual subjects upon maturity doesn't necessarily involve pornography, especially the stuff that is pretty commonly found online.

I mean, it's one thing to discuss the emotions and mechanics of the subject to the kids in a way that shows love and tenderness between 'mommy' and 'daddy'. It's another ballpark entirely to have to explain why there's a popup showing someone with a ball-gag in her mouth while being urinated on (or something else just as "WTF!?"-inducing).

/P

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

[syousef]

Kids need to learn about sex. The problem is that porn often teaches the wrong things about sex.

Isn't that what a parent is for? To explain the good and bad and put into context what the child is seeing? It's not very fashionable but it's called parenting.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

[syousef]

I protection is used, why shouldn't children engage in sexual activity as soon as they express an interest in each other?

Perhaps because they don't understand the consequences and implications of what they're doing, the protection isn't 100% effective, their minds and bodies aren't ready to deal with the gamut of emotions, and because they're vulnerable to predation from adults who take advantage of this.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

[Strange Ranger]

I don't like what porn teaches either:

-Sex is easy to get and everybody's doing everybody else.
Everybody but you.
-It's not uncommon for 2 or 3 incredibly hot young girls to seduce some lame looking dude.
Just not you.
-There are literally thousands of hot young people gathering together around the globe to have orgies.
You're not invited.

and of course...
-A shaved pubic area is beautiful.
When the red bumps are airbrushed out.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

[WrongMonkey]

That's true of most adults as well. Nothing magic happens when you turn 18. But protection and eduction are better than closing your eyes and pretending that teenagers don't have sex.

Re:The problem isn't the Internet...

[Kneo24]

And what are those wrong things? Some of those things you consider wrong, women actually like. Don't knock it till you've tried it, twice.

WoW

[mqduck]

Unsurprisingly, dads surfing for pornography is the most common problem, but chatroom addiction also featured in the report â" as is a mother who has become obsessed with World of Warcraft. I had a therapist once who told me (either that or I read it) that she treated a patient with such severe social anxiety that the only way she could talk to her son was in World of Warcraft.

I guess that's... better than nothing, right?

Re:May I be the first to say

[vux984]

I'll be off the computer in a minute sweaty, go watch TV.

Maybe you should send your kid outside to play instead of sitting on her fat ass watching TV.
Then maybe one day you'll call her 'sweety' instead of 'sweaty'. :)

Re:My DM is like that... WOW Addict

[Anonymous Coward]

He told me he has 7 70's.

Is this a problem?

Yes.

There are nine character classes available.

Clearly he is slacking.

Re:May I be the first to say

[bagboy]

You really shouldn't have your child nearby if you are watching pr0n and getting 'sweaty'.

There's another problem...

[night_flyer]

parents behaving this was is bad enough, but this statement here says alot about the kids today
"This summer she has been sitting up all day and all night and she forgets what's important to me"

Re:There's another problem...

[NoodleSlayer]

Yes, because kids were never self-centered little brats before this generation.

Re:There's another problem...

[Thiez]

Children need social interaction with their parents from time to time. This is important to them. If the child notices he/she is not getting any attention over a longer period of time (such as the whole summer), saying so does not make that child some greedy self-centered demon.

"This summer she has been sitting up all day and all night and she forgets what's important to me"
That sentence says something about a single child, not 'the kids today'. I am unable to conclude from the sentence that the kid is spoiled.

Re:There's another problem...

[geekoid]

Yes, wanting to eat and speak to their parents is such a selfish act, the little brat~

Discovering the Internet

[moore.dustin]

All that is happening is people are discovering the internet and exploring it at different periods of their lives. Most people, when they first get connected, end up in a chat room and/or some IM program within the first few days of using it. Just like when many of us discovered it, we were amazed and used the same sort of things these people are using in their early internet life. Games, porn, chat rooms and IMing are often the extent that people use the internet for on a regular basis. They are comfortable with the technology and seem content with what they have found, at least for a bit.

As the years go by and you expand your personal scope of/for the internet, you ditch all the things you did when you first got on and really get down to business finally. Call it internet puberty if you wish... these people are just exploring things just like we all did at one point. Honestly, I think it is funny to see friends of mine who just finally get online and start talking about chat rooms or some flash game they found. It takes me back to the days when all the internet was there for was to entertain me. Now I am connected to the/a network nearly all the time, I make my living from it and if it went down for more than 6 hours, I might get the shakes. :)

Re:I'm 33 years old, and still...

[Farmer Tim]

I really didn't need to know about his particular fetish.

And you're sharing this with us because heebie-jeebies shared is heebie-jeebies halved?

A new spin

[GroeFaZ]

This time around, the slogan is "Think of the parents!" ?

Pr0n taught me everything

[Swizec]

Maybe in your sad life porn teaches the wrong things. In my world it's a wealth of ideas and suggestions on what to try next ... so far it's all turned out to be very bloody fun!

Re:Pr0n taught me everything

[WrongMonkey]

Leaning sex from porn can be a really bad idea. There is a world of difference between good porn-sex and good real-sex.
Sex in porn is meant to LOOK good on film. The people participating in porn are ACTING.
Many "moves" that are great IRL are too subtle to show up in porn and many porn "moves" aren't that great IRL. Not that most /.ers ever experience the difference ;)

Re:Pr0n taught me everything

[buss_error]

Many [porn] "moves" that are great IRL are too subtle to show up in porn and many porn "moves" aren't that great IRL. Not that most /.ers ever experience the difference ;)

.
Oh, I don't think that all that many /.'ers are married...

Re:Pr0n taught me everything

[pipingguy]

Ewww! Oh, sorry, you're British.

Please!

[mazarin5]

Won't somebody please think of the parents?

Thanks for the reminder ...

[MacTO]

Have make sure my 9 year old son making dinner for the wife and I. Back in a minute.

Re:LOLCOCKS in your ROFLFACE

[tristian_was_here]

Are your children worried about your slashdot trolling?

Because

[Sycraft-fu]

People can, and do, quit MMOs. I quit WoW not long ago. No big reason, no epic struggle, I was just kinda bored of it. I hadn't been playing enough to justify my subscription so I stop the recurring charge. I'll probably go back and play it some time later, or maybe another MMO, I'm just not in the mood for them right now. I didn't "win" I didn't have everything in the game, not even close. I just really don't feel like playing it at this point in time.

So there isn't any magical digital crack in these games that forces you to play. Some people just have the sort of personalities or mental problems or life problems or whatever that they get far too heavily in to it and won't give it up and thus their life suffers. It isn't a flaw with the game, it is a flaw with the individual.

Re:Because

[bug1]

>> So WoW not having an "ending" is hardly an issue -- people can get addicted to anything that offers escapism, and the fact that this mother is addicted to WoW is not a cause to point fingers at WoW.

> People can, and do, quit MMOs. I quit WoW not long ago. No big reason, no epic struggle, I was just kinda bored of it.

The question is, did you quit WoW because you found a more interesting way to escape, or did you no longer need an escape ?

Re:Because

[pthor1231]

Who says he used it as an escape? Is there there no possibility that he just enjoying playing the game?

Re:Because

[Sta7ic]

I've found that the real humor in quitting WoW is in their 'last gasp' message. I decided that school and money came before a silly game, so hit the unsubscribe reason and picked "I need the time for school". They helpfully displayed a little message that went along the lines of, 'You don't have to go! A lot of other people who pick this reason found that they have lots of friends they want to talk to in WoW!'

Irksome that they do it, but yeah, they just don't want to lose any subscribers.

Re:Because

[Anonymous Coward]

So there isn't any magical digital crack in these games that forces you to play...

However, "magical digital crack" is the cause of my porn addiction.

Re:Because

[pthor1231]

The question was asked of the poster, not of the mother in the article. At least read a comment if you can't RTFA.

Re:Because

[Anonymous Coward]

There isn't magical chemical crack in crack either. Just because using cocaine (or its freebase form - crack) is pleasurable, doesn't mean it has some conscious-hijacking compulsive prowess, DEA brainwashing to the contrary aside. Just like with the WoW example, people who become addicted to drugs are those who already suffer from existing psychological problems. If it weren't WoW, crack or heroin, it would be something else that supposedly screwed up their lives.

Re:Because

[petermgreen]

In some games you hear of people literally working shifts doing nothing but sitting there defending something. I don't think WoW is that bad but I still get the impression that if you are at all competitive the way to get ahead is to sink more hours into the game than your competitors.

Re:Because

[Lane.exe]

If the kid's old enough to give an answer like that, he doesn't need his mom to look over his shoulder. While he (she?) may be neglected and want to spend time with his/her mom, I don't think it's quite to the level where Mom needs to be watching him for his own safety.

Re:Because

[hoshino]

Oh please, enough with the melodramatics.

Blizzard just likes to crack jokes, that's all. When you change your account details for example, a message tells you that it is a historical event that will one day be remembered by your descendants or something like that.

I no longer play WoW but I don't think my time spent on the game was a bad experience.

Re:Because

[KGIII]

Two things. It isn't melodrama. It is based on my observations and desires. I will explain if you'd like? I will in a moment. The second point was thank you for elaborating. It doesn't change much but, well, I appreciate that there are other messages similarly based and that it appears to remain "in character." As I said, I've never played the game.

However, I am still not likely to ever play it for a variety of reasons and the quote you gave is a great example of another reason why I won't likely play it. From an experience viewpoint I'm just 34 but I'm able to be retired, for the most part, already. (There is a method to my digression.) I have been all over the globe and did a recent tour of the United States that took enough miles to go around the globe at the equator. So, well, I'm pretty sure I know what I want. I don't know how old you are, nor do I know your life experiences. I know that I have had the chance to witness drunken people who have consumed my beer or enjoyed my skillset (in one form or another) and have gone to great lengths to convince me to stay. There have been sober people too but I concern myself just with the drunk ones for now, they are the worst. When I want to go, I want to go. I don't want someone to convince me to stay. When I unsubscribe from a newsletter or the likes it is often because I want to change my email to a new "spammy" address. If they have a bunch of gibberish or complain too much then I won't resubscribe to their newsletter with my new address as I would have. See, well, I've been the drunk guy asking the people to stay. I've been the person who has been tugged on and had his clothing stretched as I was asked to stay and then not felt interested in returning nearly as often.

You can call it melodrama if you'd like. You can call it anything you want really. The reality is that they're my dollars and I'm gonna vote with 'em 'cause one normally gets one vote per person but it turns out I can vote with m'dollars. WoW won't get a nickle from me. They probably weren't going to, KOL got thousands from me, 'cause I wasn't that interested to begin with. Now, knowing what you have added, only makes me think they're more greedy than what I'm used to and I'm even less likely to contribute to their coffers. Call it melodrama, call it asinine, call it KGIIIism if you'd like. To me, when I want to leave I want to leave. Don't screw with me when I'm trying to go home and have sex with my wife. (I also get pissed off at software that asks me if I'm sure I want to uninstall and then tries to take me to a page to convince me to keep it or what not.) It isn't, I don't think, melodrama unless you're a zealot for WoW. It is just how I view things and how I prefer things.

Re:Because

[ketilwaa]

Uh... No.
Children can at a very early age see that there is something wrong with their parents' job as parents. The children will still need follow-up, even if they're smart.

Re:Because

[BlueParrot]

Bullshit, there are essentially 3 ways in which drugs cause addiction.

1: First of all many drugs are indeed very pleasant. In fact, some of them, like cocaine, cause such extreme releases of serotonin and dopamine that this effect will on its own make virtually everybody who use it addicted to it relatively quickly. We are hardwired to get somewhat addicted to things that are pleasant (like sex), the problem is that some drugs have so strong effects that this effect goes beyond everything else. It is not about having an addictive personality, because everybody have a tendency to feel some form of desire or need of things pleasant, and drugs like cocaine strikes strongly at this by preventing the reabsorption of signal substances in the brain, resulting in a massive spike in the levels of the hormones that make us feel well.

2:Many drugs cause pain when you try to stop using them. Nicotine and Alcohol are probably the most well known examples, but Heroin has similar effects. Because the body tries to adjust to the effects of the drug, ceasing to use it can mess you up fairly bad. Smokers tend to get a bad stomach when they stop, alcoholics experience headaches, and heroin abuses can literarely go mad trying to stop using the drug. There are a lot of further symptomes but what they have in common is that ceasing to use the drug creates unpleasant symptomes. These effects have been clearly demonstrated and are not merely psychological. Many drugs affect more parts of the body than just the brain and some of these side effects show up when you quit.

3:Some drugs prevent you from feeling pleasant from other things without the drug. Long time smokers can find it difficult to relax without nicotine as an example. As the body creates extra receptors to compensate for the effect of the drug, more of it is required to trigger the same response ( being one reason why smokers tend to smoke more and more the longer they have been addicted ) and other things that would normally make you feel pleasant may have a dimnished effect unless the drug is pressent simultaneously.

It is true that a number of authorities have inconsistent policies, but mostly this takes the form of having less stringent rules for nicotine and alcohol than for drugs like cannabis. It doesn't mean cocaine or heroin are harmless, and indeed the problem with people not trusting the authorities when it comes to advice on these drugs is one of the reasons why pretending that cannabis is way worse than alcohol or nicotine is retarded. By undermining their creidbility by greatly exagerating the dangers of cannabis, the authorities are causing a lot of people to underestimate the dangers of drugs like heroin. This is a major problem since the latter, unlike cannabis, will almost certainly destroy a person, and a heroin addiction makes nicotine look like a slight temptation in comparison.

Re:Because

[FishAdmin]

So there isn't any magical digital crack in these games that forces you to play.

Ooohhhh, see, THAT's the problem! If you had bought the "Complete WoW Platinum Ruby Gold Edition v3.14159", it actually DID come with Magical Digital Crack. It was a little usb device that you strapped around your arm (after carefully inserting the needle), and whenever you were in-game, it gave you the occasional shot of BlizzardDust(tm). See, you just bought the wrong Edition!

Fight against addiction

[Jzanu]

Lots of people will comment that this is not addiction in any way. What those misguided people are so desperate to do is to claim that their particular hobbies are somehow better than others and can't be addictive. Games, etc. are just as addictive when pursued to the exclusion of necessary activities like parent-child interaction. This can't be denied. Why not move the discussion on to the actual important topics of for instance how to reduce the allowance for addictiveness in games, etc. or how to create tools for people to use to gauge when they are slipping into these things? Harder with things outside of controlled environments, but this is all with damn computers so there is a vast opening for tools to combat it here.

Re:LOLCOCKS in your ROFLFACE

[morgan_greywolf]

Mine are increasingly worried that I'm turning into a Slashbot. I'm not sure why.

Well, anyway, I, for one, welcome our new Slashdot-trolling parental overlords!

In Soviet Russia, children worry about YOU!!!

Children, educate your parents about the Internet

[John Garvin]

<PSA>
The Internet is a great tool. But grownups are often too old to understand its dangers. Children, educate your parents about the Internet. Discuss appropriate and inappropriate online behavior. Set reasonable limits on their Internet time. Most importantly, talk to your parents about the Internet. Communication is the most important thing. You have the power to protect your parents from the dangers of the Internet.
</PSA>

If my girl was older and knew we surfed swinger...

[Anonymous Coward]

...sites, man would we have lots of 'splaining to do. "Concerned" would probably not cover it.

Of course, searching for other women or couples that the husband and I can tag team probably doesn't technically fall into the category of "porn" - but it could easily still fall into the "teaches the wrong things about sex."

*tripple checking that I'm posting anonymously*

easy

[rastoboy29]

Smash Mom's monitor with a hammer. 

I suppose these kids..

[Sloppy]

..will go crying to the government to Do Something, to make up for their lack of parent-raising skills.

Kids, if you don't think you can handle the responsibility, then don't become a child!

Truly Concerned By Dad's Web Habits

[asCii88]

- Parker, Peter II

Former WoW parent

[wreave]

I recently quit WoW after a little less than two years. I amd 35 and have two kids, who are now 14 and almost 3. In 22 months of play, I have (had) two level 70s and about 110 days /played.

Just to put that in perspective, it's about 900 hours in 650 days - about 1:25 a day, every day, seven days a week. Truthfully, that was about my playschedule, too - of those 650 days, I was logged in at least 600 of them... maybe more. My typical morning included 30-60 minutes of playing before work, as that was the only time I could be certain of getting on. Evenings and weekends were spotty with kid duty and "wife agro".

My son played, too, though he never got as far into it as I did. The nice thing was that it gave us something to talk about and do together. The bad thing was that it was almost all we ever talked about or did together.

Ultimately, I quit for several reasons. First and foremost, the game wasn't really fun anymore. It felt like work just to keep up with it. Second, a lot of the people in the game weren't fun to play with. That's part of #1, but it's also a separate item. There's jerks in the world, and maybe more on teh interwebz than elsewhere, but it seemed WoW had a disproportionate share. Third, the time was just too much. You couldn't sit down for a couple of hours and play the game and have fun, or at least I couldn't. So, after losing two jobs during those two years (related or not? you decide), I finally quit.

These last couple of months have been like coming out of a fog. Am I suddenly using an "extra" ten hours a week productively? Not necessarily. Am I no longer wasting time on the computer? Well, there's plenty of ways to waste time besides WoW. However, I can clearly say I'm better for dropping it - a better husband, a better father, a better employee, and better for myself, too.

Is WoW an addiction? Maybe. Did WoW cause my problems? I don't think so - I always saw my WoW as symptomatic of other issues in my life, not causal - but one could certainly draw some strong correlations.

As a parent, though, I'm glad to be out of that "world". I did have some fun, and there are things I miss, but overall the real world beats WoW hands-down.

Is she a house wife?

[Calledor]

Before women were given the opportunity to do something other than spit out kids and sit at home they had absolutely boundless options to keep themselves from going crazy. Sure some of them were completely convinced of the "love my family, I'm a happy homemaker" idea, but most would develop unhealthy obsessions with (I'll start with the benign and work down) cleaning, reading, TV, eating, drinking, and whatever was the most legal version of morphine at the time. Did I mention sex/adultery? Now if your mom goes to work and comes home to play wow instead of spend time with you, just go ahead and assume you're an unloved wretch of a child. Also, tell the bitch to get you an account and a computer then pwn her ass in the Arenas.

Re:Am I the only one...

[32771]

No, and I'm delighted to find out that it was a normal Swedish newspaper.

Scandinavia just has some sense of humor which is great. Aftenposten had some pretty funny articles in the past too.

Here is a second hand example:

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1706617.html?menu=

and another

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/business/article709784.ece

Untrue

[geekoid]

There are plenty of studies that show an exposure to 'hard core' pornography at a young age has ill effects latter in life.

heh, pownography.

Re:LOLCOCKS in your ROFLFACE

[RLiegh]

Nope. That's one of the advantages of "empty nest syndrome" ;-)

Gambling "gaming" poker machines

[spandex_panda]

I would just like to say that, although video games are addictive and can lead to the loss of some other aspects of enjoyment in life, video games are very mild compared to other forms of addiction.

I worked at a casino in Tasmania where i live, and they have a monopoly on 'gaming' machines in the state. Gaming is their word for poker machines which are the ultimate form of money making addiction machines. They have all the best psychologists working on these machines so they tweak peoples rewards centers just right and the money of the poorest portion of our community is focused into the pockets of one very wealthy family.

So if there is someone playing games too much, who cares at least they aren't stealing money to fund it like all those gambling addicts and to some extent hard drug addicts.

Re:LOLCOCKS in your ROFLFACE

[Hojima]

Mother plays WoW and father plays with himself Am I the only one that sees a correlation in the two? Seems to me that they should be playing a bit more "GTFO mommy and daddy are wrestling".

I have had customer experiences like that

[Kahless2k]

When I read this a situation that I ran into in January came to mind.

A couple of our regular customers come in to upgrade both of their machines (each parent had one - neither of the two low-end by any means). They priced out about 1500 dollars worth of parts and openly debated about maxing their (only) credit card out on the parts..

Normally, this wouldn't bother me - not any of my business how they pay, so long as they do.

Then, however, after deciding to go ahead and buy the parts - they start going on about how the husband was laid off in December and still hadn't found work - AND THAT THEY HADNT BEEN ABLE TO AFFORD ANYTHING FOR THEIR KIDS FOR CHRISTMAS less than two weeks before.

They're reason: If they dont keep up with WoW they may get kicked out of their Guild!

It may be none of my business, but I'm a parent myself and this just sickens me. I finally ended up having sudden 'stock shortages' and found a way to talk them out of the parts, but still...

Re:I have had customer experiences like that

[rhendershot]

they start going on about how the husband was laid off in December and still hadn't found work

another scenario is they actually had several credit cards and the husband wasn't laid off. They thought a sob-story would get them a discount on the parts. After they realized your handling of parts sourcing and general business practices sucked, they went down the road and found a more "reliable" vendor and are now sitting happily in an internet cafe.

Oh, and the kids? Yeah, they were made-up too.

It makes no sense whatsoever for them to have shared that information with you aside from the hope of financial gain. What, you think it was a plea for you to throw in something for the kids' Christmas gifting?!

I do imagine your competitor (who isn't part of the Nanny State) is quite appreciative of the end-of-the-year bonus though. That's probably a good thing. The competent should survive after-all....

Re:I have had customer experiences like that

[Kahless2k]

Actually, first of all - the kids were present. Second - if you read my post, they were regulars and did speak with us on that level often.

Dont go on like that unless you read the post your going on about.

NO FKNG WAY! YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO????

[indi0144]

Thats it! I'll never try WoW, I was thinking in giving it a try but when a game tries so desperately to get on to your life you sure know It can be really addictive. Is this just by the monthly fee? Theres is no other way of playing? Set your own server? On a PIII machine like good old Quake2? Guess I'll never quit on Q2. --

More on topic, I agree that kids get concerned by parents staring at a monitor, even my daughter gets mad at me when I start to play or I'm working, She tries to get my attention and she's just 1yo, Sure they know or they can associate the fact that you're "face to face" = giving attention to something that is not even a tall-speaking-hugging-something-daddy, on the most basic sense as for a 1yo girl.

If you have kids, and you can't just quit on gaming... at least bring them to the clan :) Make them part of it and teach them that it's just a game and that you like to play too, as she. Kids need to understand that their parents need time for themselves otherwise you're just raising basement dwellers.

Re:NO FKNG WAY! YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO????

[GeckoX]

Problem is, too many people try to take that time during the typically quite limited amount of time you actually have available in any given day to interact with your children.

Coming home after work, eating dinner, then setting the kid in front of the TV while you go and game for a while...not good. Not good at all. There is no reason for it, and no excuse for it. Spend that time with your child. Play with them, interact with them. Trust me, it's WAY more satisfying and you get so much more out of it than you could from any game (or porn or whatever). You've got lots of time after they go to bed for yourself.

Some people don't learn this until it's too late. Some people never learn this. My son is 5 already, never ceases to amaze me how fast that 5 years has gone by. I always always always choose to spend time with him over time for myself, and not once have I even remotely had any sort of regret for that. I know I won't feel regret over it when he's 10, 15 20...either.

Don't get me wrong, kids do need to learn how to take time for themselves. But they will. That's when I usually get chores done, or get meals made etc. I always seem to have ample time in the evenings for myself.

Kids really are the best source of entertainment you could ever hope to find, as long as you're willing to take part.

I quit becuase I was bored

[Sycraft-fu]

WoW was just entertainment to me, like reading books, watching movies, playing (other) video games, etc. I didn't play it to "escape" anything, just to amuse myself. I, like many Americans, have the luxury of having all my more basic needs (per Maslow's hierarchy) met fairly easily and thus have a good deal of time to spend on entertaining myself. For me, it is generally video games, though books as well. TV and movies occasionally, but I don't tend to find them good entertainment for the dollars or for the time.

Now if you want to define anything that's not work as "escape" ok fine, but you'll forgive me if I'm glad I don't like a life like that. I want to enjoy life as much as I can, and entertainment is rather enjoyable.