Project Jesse (getting a stubborn teenager to quit WoW)

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jamesthree
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Project Jesse (getting a stubborn teenager to quit WoW)

EDIT; just discovered this thread today in an OLGA forum which is the story of an 'outside the box' solution to encourage an 18 yr old to quit WOW

Hi guys,

As I mentioned last week, things have been going OK for me and Josh, we are closing in on one year WoW-free, but my other best mate Jesse is still addicted and his Mum has said when he turns 18 in a few weeks she will kick him out if he doesn't quit. When we were younger it was Josh, Jesse and James, the three J's, best mates who did everything together. Now it's the two J's, with Jesse a mindless zombie who sleeps through class and spends every spare second gaming.

But despite the number of times he has neglected us because he has to raid, Josh and I have decided it is our number one priority to get him to quit. Our first step was to plead with his Mum to give us more time. That failed, she is as stubborn as him and should probably be renamed "Mrs My Case". I mean, everything you talk to her about becomes an opportunity for her to rabbit on about how much she knows and then she always ends up say "but in my case .... blah blah blah". For instance Josh's Mum and my Mum are bad parents because their sons were addicted to WoW... but in her case it was a learning experience that made her better equipped to advise other parents on how to raise kids. When I suggested she start eating dinner at the table instead of shoving a reheated pizza in front of her son (who took it straight to the computer), she was saying "oh yes James, I always advise families on the importance of sharing meals... but in my case I am too busy saving peoples lives."

*sigh* she is just so vain and self-absorbed and stubborn, we couldn't get through to her.

So we have about three weeks to get him to quit.

First day was a failure. We went over there to hang out, telling him we wouldn't try stop him raid. Instead we put on a video that I bought over, it is a sort of weird Chinese film with these cute girls doing karate against some ancient Chinese god. No way is pornographic but it is pretty hilarious, they take their clothes off when fighting bandits and stuff. I thought Jesse (who has never even kissed a girl) might be interested, but he just ignored it.

Next day was pretty good, we researched his toon, found his guild, found out whet time they raided (4.30 pm ST). Josh and I took our laptops over there and at 4.35pm when Jesse was joining the raid group, we waited until he was comfortable in his room. Then click-click we opened our laptops, started downloading patch updates for Windows, using Jesse's internets WiFi. Now, as any WoW player knows, while you can play on a slow connection, healing in a raid is impossible. By the time the tank needs a heal and his health bar gets to your computer, he is dead. It just won't work.

5 minutes later we hear Jesse yell into his mike "I'm (bleep)'ing lagging", he storms into the lounge room where we are and asks what we are doing. "Nothing" we reply innocently. Then he rings up his ISP and complains, well tries to, he is put on hold, i heard him yell into his WoW microphone "wait, talking to Telstra". A minute or two later he comes, his face like fury "I've lost my raid slot" he complains. We ask if he wants to hang out with us at the park, he says no, actually he wasn't feeling well and he went to bed.

So he slept for a few hours instead of gaming. That's a small victory but still pretty good. On saturday his guild raids at 11, 2 and 5. So we rang him up each time hoping to keep him busy, just after our raid started. It didn't work, his just said "Got to go" and hung up. Josh and I are going to go over again this evening and clog up his internet to stop him raiding.

We will see how that goes. I will keep you all posted.

James

jamesthree
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Oh man. First, Sunday night

Oh man. First, Sunday night was really positive. Josh and I went over there and when Jesse started raiding we started downloading on our laptops, we heard him swear in his bedroom. In the end he bought his laptop into the lounge and said "i'll just farm felcloth" and hung out with us while gaming on his laptop. That might sound like a small thing, but normally he locks himself in his room and tells anyone who knocks to (bleep) off. Then I was talking to someone at school about this, a sort of genius computer guy who said "why don't you just get his Mum to move to an ISP that throttles?" Then he explained that some cheap ISPs offer a 3 gig limit, and once you pass that limit your connection stays really slow. I was so excited by this because Jesse has TiVo and one movie download each month would throttle his connection. I was so excited, this has got to be the greatest anti-enabler ever! My heart was pounding I had a big smile on my face all day then Monday night I told Jesse's Mum. It didn't go as I expected.. she rolled her eyes! She told me it wasn't about that at all, it was her house and she had the right to dictate the terms her son lived under and if he doesn't like it he can leave. So basically she wants to be right, and seen to be right. Why is she being like this? I agree Jesse should quit, but since being strict doesn't work, why is she trying it over and over again? I just don't get it. On the positive side, Mum and Dad have promised to think about taking Jesse in if his Mum throws him out. But really I'm just stunned by Jesse's Mum, she won't un-enable him at all. It's her terms or no terms. *sigh* James

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Hi Jamesthree. I am not a

Hi Jamesthree. I am not a parent, but I can see Jesse's Mom's point of view. While your concern for your friend is admirable, remember that one human being cannot make another change. The human must want to change for himself/herself. This especially comes into play with dealing with addictions. Good luck in your quest.

The question is....will you be able/courageous/adult enough to sacrifice that which merely pleases you...for that which will truly fulfill you? That is the question of personal growth.
~~~Dem518
~~~wow-free since 8/22/09

jamesthree
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Thanks Real Me, it's a good

Thanks Real Me, it's a good point, I am at times losing sight of the fact that Jesse has to change and that everything else is secondary to that. My frustration with his Mum is that she is sticking to the idea that her way is the only way and she isn't willing to look at the enabling factors that might help. For instance - having a cleaner clean Jesse's room - that is enabling. - having the cleaner wash his school uniforms - that is enabing - having their meals delivered to be reheated and eaten in front of a computer - that is enabling - paying for a blistering fast internet connection - that is enabling - having a cupboard full of junk food and fridge full of cola - that is enabling etc etc. I don't understand, she is starting to get annoyed at me when I tell her ideas to un-enable. I told my dad that she is doing this because cannot bear admitting she is wrong. He told me that is a bit arrogant of me, and suggested that maybe she has chosen a very destructive way to cope with her own traumatic childhood. A lot of people do this, people from alcoholic parents will drink, people from bad marriages will often advise others to leave their partners, victims of sexual abuse will become promiscuous, etc etc etc. There's a whole spectrum of things that people do to cope with trauma, not by facing their pain, but trying to convince themselves that their situation is normal. He said maybe her own mother dealt in absolutes and that is why Jesse's Mum is doing what she is doing. I don't know, it just makes my heart sink, it's like trying to get an alcoholic to quit while giving him and all-you-can-drink pass at the local pub. Thanks again for reply though TRM. James

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It is really not looking

It is really not looking good for my mate. We tried a fair few anti-enabling techniques this week, the one that worked best involved stealing his empty cola bottles. Every non-gamer is reading this right now saying "huh"? But every WoW addict, I'm sure, knows the importance of an empty cola bottle to maintaining your addiction. Like clockwork, my exhausted best mate finishes school, on the bus on the way home drinks a litre of cola. By the time he gets home, all that sugar and caffeine has hit the spot and he is awake enough to raid. He tells Josh and me that we should watch because they are going to down some boss in Ulduar and I will see what all the fuss is about. In a moment of inspiration, Josh swipes the empty cola bottle from his desk and walks off. I stare at the pixels on his laptop and say quite honestly that I feel ill and can't watch. Jesse says give me my bottle back, Josh says why do you need it, there is nothing left. Jesse's denial forces him to grumble "ok", but he knows, I know and Josh knows that in half an hours time he will need to pee like you won't believe. And there's no bottle to pee in, Sure enough, half an hour later Jesse is pleading with his guild master for a 5 minute break. Sure enough, the GM is ignoring him, and that selfish fellow addict boots Jesse from the raid while he is doing what normal people do and emptying his bladder into a toilet bowl. Jesse is furious, shuts down the computer and yells. Then he switches back on and pleads to be given his raid slot back. Then he switches off his PC again and sits with us in the lounge room and glares at us, daring us to speak. He has a WoW free afternoon. I suggest to his Mum she try our latest anti-enabling technique, her eyes cloud over and she rolls her eyes. Then I ask her the last time she told her son that she loves him. She yells at me and says I am no longer welcome at her house. Fine, if she really is going to boot Jesse out next week I won't have a reason to go there anywy. But it doesn't look good. James

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It happened. She kicked him

It happened. She kicked him out. Jesse is lying on the bed in our spare room crying and crying and crying. I went in there and suggested he give up WoW for now, at least until he sorts himself out. He just hugged his laptop and said he couldn't because his guild was the only thing that made him feel good about himself. I've never seen anything like it. How could Jesse be such a pig headed idiot and choose WoW over his family. How could his Mum have so much false pride and vanity not try other things to get him to quit? My Mum is in there now talking to him. I feel so unhappy about the poor guy's situation, James

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OK update. The first thing I

OK update. The first thing I said to Mum after she came out of the spare room was "he has to quit WoW if he stays here, right". Mum replied "no". I was like "huh?" We argued then Mum said "look James, he chose Warcraft over his own house, why wouldn't he do the same with someone else' house?" She has a point. Then I said "but he has to quit", she winked at me, said "I know" then back to work. I love and trust my Mum but what she did with me won't work with him. He's a muscly surly guy who is not above telling an adult to bleep off when it suits him. I'm really not sure what she's doing. Does she think our "no computers in the lounge room" and "food must be eaten at the table"rules are enough? As part of the deal for staying he has to go for a drive with Dad tomorrow... does she seriously think a day in the country will change him? Hmm. Time will tell. I'm hopeful and apprehensive at the same time. James

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James, I agree with you on

James, I agree with you on this one! Our son's friends parents are friends of ours. It went without saying that whatever rules we put in place in our home applied to our son in theirs, too. When he flew out of here in a rage because we wouldn't allow him to game he always ended up at one or another of their houses. They would call me to let me know he was there and then make sure I knew that there would be no gaming. Your friend sounds a lot like my son. He was a football lineman and heavyweight wrestler, 5'10" and 265 pounds. There was no telling him what to do without risking a physical confrontation. It's time for your friend to live on the streets for a while, if that's what it takes for him to realize that he is NOT able to fend for himself. The payback for relying on others will have to be following their rules. I am a bit confused, though. Here in the USA parents are responsible for their kids until they have reached 18. Even if we had wanted to send our son packing, it would have been illegal. However, we also had the ability to force him into treatment and a game-free environment without his consent.

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Hi WoWParent, thanks for the

Hi WoWParent, thanks for the feedback. In answer to your question, Jesse is 18 as of last week. He is a bit older than me, he missed a year of school I think because his parents separated briefly after he got glandular fever or something (he doesn't talk about it). I really don't know kicking him out was right or wrong, I don't pretend to be even close to forming an opinion on that. I m worried about Mum though because while she helps so many people daily, dealing with a muscly angry hulk like Jesse might be more than she can handle. We will see. I am happy and proud to say that rounds one and two went to my parents though. Today started in the scariest fashion. I was woken up with dad yelling at the top of his voice that the house was on fire and we had to get out. There was smoke everywhere, then I ran down stairs and he said no no out the back, it's the kitchen. So I got out the back, quivering in fear, absolutely terrified that Jesse had tried to burn the house down, only to see... 1.Jesse standing there looking like a ghost (he'd been asleep half an hour) 2. My little brother laughing his head off 3. My Mum standing there with a stop watch, talking about how pleased she was we got out of the house in under a minute. Jesse was glaring me and said "Dude, when the BLEEP did you start having fire drills" Mum was still chattering away, I just mumbled "can't remember". Jesse glared at me again then said "I'm going back to bed", "Oh no, wait for the smoke to clear." said Mum. "Not negotiable" Jesse replies and storms off. (that's Jesse-speak for I'm doing what I want) Mum telegraphed that one, because the door was locked. She explained to to him that it was illegal to let a guest into a smoke filled house. Jesse didn't believe her but apart from beating my dad up and taking the key what could he do? So he sat there while dad cooked breakfast on the barbeque (which was how they made the smoke), Finally he had a sip of this Greek or Turkish coffee that Mum brewed. Well, one sip of that and sleeping is out of the question... eventually we were allowed back in to get ready for school. Jesse was too hyper from the coffee to sleep so he got dressed and we went to school. Then this afternoon I found out where dad was taking Jesse. It was so pathetic to see the guy sitting in the car with a $3000 laptop playing Wow while dad drove off, but you will never believe where they went. They drove for 2 hours to Ballarat to visit... Jesse's Guild Master! Can you believe it? Mum talked to the GM over vent last night and he agreed Jesse could visit. Well I think Mum sweet talked him which is a bit gross but from what I gather he didn't need much persuading to get a visit from a female. (even though Dad took him instead, hehe) So Jesse found out a very big difference between myth and reality today. Myth: Jesse's GM is a tall, noble, athletic and elegant druid elf who issues commands decisively to the greater good. Reality: Jesse's GM is a hyper-morbidly obese university drop out who lives on stale pizza and uses newspaper to wipe his butt because he can't afford normal stuff. Jesse came back seriously rattled, talking about how much Jeff (the GM druids real name) smells. He rolled a horde character and is in the spare room staring at his PC, not playing. I'm not going to kid myself that today will make him quit, but today Mum and Dad did more than Josh, me, our home room teacher and student counselor did in 6 months. Incredible. Anyway, that's the situation so far, I still worry Jesse will get violent but I am more hopeful than ever. James

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I'm a big believer in

I'm a big believer in ATHFAR, James. Wait and see.

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All i can say is i am glad

All i can say is i am glad i never picked up WoW. Never even touched it, thank god.... I am addicted enough to other games, imagine what wouldve happened... scary... seriously WoW "bleeped" up your friend... Good job though, i must congratulate your parents, they must really have a good heart to take soo much interest in such a failure of a kid like that. I hope you guys end up making him wake up to reality. Good job, keep us updated its a good lesson for anyone in what is a true friendship.

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Your parents sound like

Your parents sound like amazing people James.

"Small service is true service while it lasts.  Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one

The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,

Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth

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Thanks Gamersmom, I am

Thanks Gamersmom, I am finding new admiration for my parents from this. I do worry they are being a bit idealistic though. Mum is of the view if God's love shines into someones heart they will get better. Dad doesn't even think computer game addiction is real, and that Jesse is acting out a ritualised behaviour of some sort (not really sure what he was talking about to be honest). Don't get me wrong, taking him to meet his GM was an act of genius. I'd never have thought of it in a million years, Mum thought of it in 5 minutes. The thing is, Jesse is angry at his parents, angry at his teachers and the world in general. If the "heroin addict" comparison is right, Mum and Dad tricking/guiding him to getting up early and eat meals with us is eventually going to cause him to snap and do something really bad. At the moment they are finding it easy as, to get him to eat with us On the first night Mum bought a fondue set from where she volunteers, said no one had bought it a month after it was donated and it was such a shame not to try it out. Jesse got to the table and saw the small plates and fiddly small bowls and yelled that he didn't have time and had work to do. Mum smiled sweetly back at him and said there was no need to yell, if he wanted something else he could help himself to anything in the kitchen. Jesse went in, looked in the pantry then the fridge and realised that unless he wanted to eat a jar of marmalade and raw veges, he had to eat dinner with us. This isn't a new thing Mum devised, she never has pre-prepared food in the house. Ever. There is sliced bread in the freezer for lunches, but thats it. But it does tie in with what I said about Jesse's mum enabling him by giving him pre-cooked meals. Jesse has thrown a few tantrums this last week, but at the end of it he doesn't really have a choice but to sit and eat with us. He spends his time after breakfast gaming, Mum lays out sandwich stuff for us to make our own lunches, but he never does. So when he gets home from school he is starving hungry. He has some fruit but needs a substantial meal that night, and there is either something tasty on the table that he can't carry into his room, or a pile of ingredients in the kitchen for him to use. His fuzzy brain chooses the easy option and he has to spend 40 odd minutes with us at the table. Not sure what ATHFAR means but we will see, I agree. Jesse is proving a tough nut to crack, that's for sure. My folks have cut his gaming time in half, but he still games on his laptop through lunch, takes toilet breaks to check auctions and still plays for hours at home. Not sure what the next week will bring but I'm hopeful. James

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All Things Happen For A Reaso

All Things Happen For A Reason

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Papperz Le Pab wrote: Also
Papperz Le Pab wrote:

Also I want constructive replies that use facts and logical reasons and not just "you bleeping can't tell me what to do".

The troll wants constructive replies... this from the person who gave us the charming (fictional) tale about living in his own filth for five years. Please don't feed this individual. He has been banned.

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
____________________________________

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I've been trolled and I

I've been trolled and I didn't get to reply? Aww... Anyway. I have my own abbreviation, Xandtar. JIADULI. Jesse is a devious ungrateful little idiot. Well, i don't mean to be flippant but he is. OK credit where it's due, when he moved in he was clocking 75 hours a week roughly, and could barely form a sentence he was such a zombie. Mum and Dad no longer need to "guide" him up in the morning or "guide" him to eat with us, he even sits with us and watches TV or plays chess against my dad in some sort of effort to be part of the family. But... He's still playing about 25 hours a week, which is still way too much but the way he does it is really sneaky. What he did was move his horde character to a Californian Server which raids at 3am Melbourne time. So he's quite happy to obey all of Mum's rules, eats with us, does the dishes on his days, cleans his shirts.... you name it. And why? Because he goes to bed at 9pm so he can get up when there is no one to un-enable him. How did he figure this all out? This is a guy who was such a zombie that I had to put him on the school bus but he's "smart' enough to find a raiding guild that will help him play WoW in secret. Unreal. Oh, and he looked my Mum in the eye and told her he was grateful she let him moderate his game time. Cheeky little idiot. Mum and Dad found out what he was doing on Wednesday, hopefully they will think of something brilliant to save my buddy. James

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Let us know what they come

Let us know what they come up with. Your mom and dad are smart people.

"Small service is true service while it lasts.  Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one

The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,

Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth

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Oh poor Jesse, I'm starting

Oh poor Jesse, I'm starting to feel sorry for him. Not much but.. On Saturday lunch Mum started talking about a regular at the charity shop where she volunteers who is an alcoholic in denial, how he left his wife because she wouldn't support his attempts to moderate. He thinks he's succeeded, he comes into the shop reeking of booze, slurring like anything claiming he hasn't had a drink in days. They send him off with a bag full of tinned beans... it's really sad, they had to wash the labels off so he couldn't sell the tins of beans for beer money. She talked about stuff like that. Then she says to Jesse "but you really have moderated, well done". Jesse has this big smile as Mum gets him to promise again only to play in his bedroom, Jesse promises. Promises again. She wanted to make sure he was OK with that part of the deal. then she says "oh, by the way, Charles (my Dad) is doing some electrical work in your room, there's no power so you'll have to play with your laptop's battery power for a while. But that's OK because you're only a moderate player these days aren't you?" The look on Jesse's face was hilarious. He just nodded. I don't think he could speak. Give Jesse credit, he's trying to moderate. I think he'll fail, but failing to moderate is a HUGE step in recovery. I found him asleep on the couch downstairs this morning, hands wrapped around his laptop, waiting for it to charge. Wow. James ps all my dad did was flick the fuse switch outside, the "electrical work" was a joke obviously.

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I like your parents, James.

I like your parents, James.

"Small service is true service while it lasts.  Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one

The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,

Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth

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<3 this post I needed a

< 3 this post I needed a smile today :)

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James, I have to say, you

:jawdrop: James, I have to say, you have some wonderful parents. It sounds like they're handling the situation beautifully. To get someone to drop 50 hours of playing time is quite an achievement.

"Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win." -Jonothan Kozol

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Thanks guys, I'll pass on

Thanks guys, I'll pass on your kind words, I think my parents need them. Last week Jesse's parents came over and they weren't in the slightest bit grateful to us for helping out. Jesse's Dad mumbled "thanks for taking him in" as he left. Jesse's Mum... well, I'm not going to waste space by talking what a horrible person she is, but lets just say she is a walking example of the saying that it is easier to look at others than look at yourself. She spent the whole time when she was over justifying her decision to kick Jesse out then started giving Mum tips on "laying down the law". Can you believe it? Anyway, there was a very bittersweet moment when Jesse's Mum said "where is he? Upstairs gaming no doubt", Mum said "no, down at the nets with James". Jesse's Mum scoffed then a few minutes later Jesse and I walked in covered in dirt and carrying a soccer ball. That was very positive but then it got a bit sour, it makes me quite sad to remember, lets just say my mate was crying uncontrollably after his parents stopped shouting at him and left. As to Jesse's gaming...well, the "electrical work" scam only worked for a few days. Jesse somehow found the money to buy an extension cord and threaded it out his window and down stairs to the kitchen window. He was really sneaky too, he'd thread it down when he started gaming at 3am, then go downstairs and unplug it at about 6am. Mum and Dad countered that by deciding that our house should be carbon-neutral for the mid-year break, so everything except the fridge was off. It was a bit weird, But we had awesome barbeques every night for dinner. It didn't get him to quit, but lopped yet another huge chunk off his gaming time. We turned the houses power back on last Friday and Jesse hasn't raided for 3 days. He goes to bed at night making a point of leaving his laptop downstairs, as if to say "look, I'm not gaming". Sadly though, he still logs in for about 15 minutes a time in the morning, I asked him what he is doing, he said he is having a break from raiding and just playing the auction house to make money. Hmm. I think he should quit completely, but it's really hard when he only logs on a little bit. I'll work on that, I think. School is back now so it's probably up to me. So Jesse is moving in the right direction, but the situation with his parents reminded me years ago of a friend who'd come over and eat and eat and eat then one day Mum gave him a bag of biscuits that she made, to take home. This resulted in my friends Mum turning up at our doorstep screaming and raging that she was quite capable of feeding her son, blah blah blah. It was pretty horrible, I guess some people don't want God's (or anyone's) love. James

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Well, they did it. My

Well, they did it. My parents got Jesse to quit completely. Not once did they yell at him, lecture him or force him to do something he didn't want to, it was pure genius all the way. In 4 months he has gone from a zombie-like thug whose standard response to any query about his gaming was to fold his massive arms, glare and through gritted teeth growl "what are you going to BLEEPing do about it" to... well he was never Mr Personality but he is game free and getting back to normal. Last week he said good bye to Azeroth, there was no big announcement he just asked me to help him erase WoW for good from his laptop then change his password to something and not tell him. I was trying not to cry, I was so happy. I haven't posted for a while because before he quit he did relapse badly, Mum and Dad got him down to about 5 hours a week, but then for some bizarre reason he reactivated his alliance toon and started playing again. I felt like someone had transported me to the bottom of the sea when I found out, it was so scary. As I've said before I don't think WoW-addicts can be compared to heroin addicts, the facts don't back that up. But there is definitely some sort of devil inside him that means he can never moderate. It was as if the last 4 months living with us had never happened, he glared at me and told me to BLEEP off while he was playing. Luckily Mum was in the next room, she guided me away and said loudly "it's OK he's a moderate player these days", then whispered "trust me" in my ear. Then there was some more brilliance from my parents, they got him back to a few hours a week, then finally we had a mini-holiday for me to have a study break. Mum, as usual, didn't force Jesse to come, she told him he was welcome but if he stayed at home he'd have to cook for himself. She asked him while she was preparing the marinades, which smelt incredible, and said she'd help him out by grating some carrot and slicing up some other veges for him to cook. Given the choice of bbqs for a week or raw veges he chose the obvious and came with us to a cabin park near Hallam. And what's special about this park? it's one of the few places in Victoria with no 3G coverage. No internet=no WoW. Simple really :) But a week without WoW was the last nudge he needed to decide to quit. So it's gone. Jesse's life isn't all easy, he'll need to repeat his HSC and his parents are not making reconciliation with them easy, but at least he'll be Wow-sober. I'll wind this up with one of the funnier ways my parents dealt with his relapse. In previous posts, I've pretty much covered how they operate, but three fridays ago it was hilarious. In the evening Mum chatted to a sleep-deprived Jesse telling him she was sorry she woke him up early all week as a boy needs his sleep. She said she would let him sleep in the next morning, there was a man coming to fix the window shutter in his room, he didn't speak English but Charles (my dad) would explain to him first not to wake Jesse up. Then the next morning we were sitting down eating breakfast and we heard shouting coming from Jesse's bedroom in German and Jesse yelling "I don't speak German, For BLEEPs sake", this went on for 5 minutes then Jesse charged down stairs, asked Mum what he was saying, she said "no idea", wait for Charles to get back with the papers and he will translate. Dad returns from the shop with the newspaper and says "oh he just wanted you to tell him if he was making too much noise". (Dad's friend speaks perfectly good English, obviously it was a joke) That was very funny. Almost as funny as the fire drill or when our highly attractive neighbour "accidentally" changed for the pool in his room or... oh I could go on. Part of me wanted to see more tricks to get Jesse to quit, but getting my mate back is 100 million times more important. *whew* James

BigH501
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Joined: 12/15/2006 - 10:31am
Your parents are truly

Your parents are truly inspired people at thinking out of the proverbial box ! 8) . I too enjoyed the stories of how your parents "worked with" your friend and will miss them, but I am very glad to hear the result.

" ... don't question it just go" "... where the body goes the mind will follow"
.
Borrowed from "Desire to Stop"

jamesthree
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Joined: 02/10/2009 - 6:57pm
Thanks BigH, it's been a

Thanks BigH, it's been a learning journey. Sometimes they'd just do clever parenting, eg. mum would go into his bedroom at 7am and start with a conversation like "don't get me wrong Jesse, I love my boys but sometimes I wish I had a son like you" then ramble on about how great he was while he lay there groaning and wanting to sleep. Other mornings dad would take a breakfast tray in, plonk it on his bed and say loudly "talk about service" and leave quickly so Jesse would have to get up or get soaked in coffee and cornflakes from the breakfast on the bed.

But yeah, some of the stuff was just from nowhere, it was incredible.

So... Jesse's been one month WoW-sober. Like me a year ago he is finding that real life can hurt but it's real and worth it. His parents have split up for the third and probably final time, which is really sad. But encouragingly the first thing his dad did was bring over a key to his new apartment and give it to Jesse saying he could come over any time. His dad also thanked my parents for saving his boy. Jesse's Mum is a permanent resident in lala land these days, I'm not going to talk about her.

We had a positive moment last week at school, where some dimwit gamer started taunting Jesse about Cataclysm and how the new expansion pack will make 85 the level cap and how Jesse's gear will be useless (blah blah). Jesse's reply was something like "you really need a girlfriend, don't you...". Funny.

Take care guys.

James

May Light
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Joined: 07/23/2013 - 4:02am
What an awesome story!

What a huge difference a good friend like James and his wonderful parents can do! You James and your parents are truly amazing, wonderful people. God Bless you all! Thank you for bringing this post to our attention.

I totally agree  with James's moms view of "if God's love shines into someones heart they will get better"...

"The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past. You can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches." "The first step toward change is acceptance." "Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change. That's all you have to do." "Change is not something you do, it's something you allow."- Will Garcia

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