He's 12 and literally all he wants to do is play Fortnite with his friends. I've set limits, I've tried talking to him about it, but he gets so angry when we make him get off. His grades are fine and he still does his chores but I feel like we're always fighting about this. Anyone else dealing with a kid who's obsessed with gaming? How did you handle it?
The tricky part at 12 is his friends are all on there so cutting him off completely feels like a social punishment to him. Maybe work with him on balance instead. Like gaming is cool but here's what else needs to happen. Might get less pushback if he has a say in it.
Fortnite is tough because it's designed to keep them hooked. My oldest went through the same phase. We had to have some hard conversations about balance but honestly it took months to get him to care about anything else.
This is where I'm headed with my oldest and it scares me. The online friendships are real to them even if they're just video games. But yeah if that's ALL he wants to do that's a problem. How much screen time is he getting daily? That might be the real issue to tackle.
12 is a rough age for this stuff because his friends are all doing it too. If you just shut him down completely he might resent you. Have you tried joining in and playing a round with him? Sometimes just understanding what he loves about it helps.
I feel for you. The gaming thing combined with co-parenting drama made my relationship with my oldest pretty rough for a while. Boundaries are important but so is not making the game the enemy.
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Man this is the tough one. At 12 Fortnite is basically his whole social world with his friends. I'm not saying let him have unlimited access but just shutting it down might push him further away. Maybe negotiate some actual rules together instead of just limits he resents. What does he actually want?