# Is there a reliable way for me to restrict my kid from playing Warcraft or Diablo on his PC? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 2, 2010, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935 "2010-03-02T00:11:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/61 "2010-03-03T20:07:18Z")
> [@astro](#): > > He lives with his mother not me, and she is not willing to do anything re monitoring this. All I can do is tweak his PC. Why not? Does she not think this is a problem, does she not want to confront him, do you and she have a disagreement about parenting style, does she feel her computer skills aren’t up to the job, what? Even if this isn’t an addiction (IMO, gaming addiction is real, not everybody who plays any video game has it, I am not qualified to diagnose it in anybody, much less somebody I’ve never met), you’ll have to get him on board with quitting or cutting down the time he spends playing video games. If you don’t, he’ll find a way around whatever restriction you try to put on it, and he’ll resent you. Even if you did succeed in getting a technological fix for this problem, that doesn’t mean he’s automatically going to spend the time he used to spend playing video games doing homework or other things you want him to do. He could just find another way to goof off. ---
**Author:** ![tacoloco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tacoloco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tacoloco)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/62 "2010-03-03T21:25:44Z")
I’m wondering if OP and the Mom are even on the same page regarding the kid’s game playing. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/63 "2010-03-03T21:53:21Z")
> [@tacoloco](#): > > I’m wondering if OP and the Mom are even on the same page regarding the kid’s game playing. I’m wondering that, too. My parents would certainly have complained about the amount of time I spent playing video games in high school. But I managed to keep quite decent grades (I had a 3.6something GPA when I graduated). I played video games instead of going out at night, but I’m an introvert, and I’d rather play video games at home than go out. Could I have done even better in school and taken more challenging classes? Probably. Would I have done that if I hadn’t been allowed to play video games? Almost certainly not. My parents eventually realized, after hearing about some friends of mine getting pregnant, that there were worse things than having a kid who plays video games after school and who doesn’t dress or do her hair the way they would have liked. Our relationship got a whole lot better after they realized that I could have been a lot worse (and I realized they could have been a lot worse as parents, too). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/64 "2010-03-04T01:05:33Z")
Download a virus onto his computer. Or make a high level character on the same server as him, then follow him around and kill him. ---
**Author:** ![caymus28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@caymus28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caymus28)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/65 "2010-03-04T02:34:54Z")
Log in to his account and sell all of his stuff. Or give it away. It might discourage him… ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/66 "2010-03-04T02:53:55Z")
> [@caymus28](#): > > Log in to his account and sell all of his stuff. Or give it away. It might discourage him… My God… the Horror… the horror… That’s just going TOO FAR! ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/67 "2010-03-04T02:56:36Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Why not? Does she not think this is a problem, does she not want to confront him, do you and she have a disagreement about parenting style, does she feel her computer skills aren’t up to the job, what? > > Even if this isn’t an addiction (IMO, gaming addiction is real, not everybody who plays any video game has it, I am not qualified to diagnose it in anybody, much less somebody I’ve never met), you’ll have to get him on board with quitting or cutting down the time he spends playing video games. If you don’t, he’ll find a way around whatever restriction you try to put on it, and he’ll resent you. > > Even if you did succeed in getting a technological fix for this problem, that doesn’t mean he’s automatically going to spend the time he used to spend playing video games doing homework or other things you want him to do. He could just find another way to goof off. He’s in his third semester of community college (and on academic probation). He’s 6’5" and 19 years old. and way too big for her to fight or physically coerce, and he will throw a furious tantrum if forced off the PC in mid game so she ignores him. She is utterly non-proactive regarding anything to do with with my son’s or daughter’s academics and has been that way since they were in grade school. He stays up till 5 in the morning playing and skips many of his classes they next day. We’ve had innumerable family conferences where I’ve laid out the problem, and he acknowledges he has a serious problem, but the instant my car hits the curb leaving her house he’s back at it. In looking at the responses here it seems the real solution is to simply let him fail. I’m tired of beating my head against the wall.This has been going on for years. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2010, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935/68 "2010-03-04T08:16:39Z")
Wow, that’s a tough situation for them and you. Good luck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-reliable-way-for-me-to-restrict-my-kid-from-playing-warcraft-or-diablo-on-his-pc/530935.md?page=3)