Matt...please excuse me for hijacking your thread
Jim...
I'm not concerned about it affecting him adversely in terms of violence or whatever. I'm more concerned about the amount of time he spends on it. Its more like an unconscious habit that he uses to kill time. Unless he is focused on something more entertaining (like playing ball or dirt biking or working out or hunting), he jumps online and will play for hours on end. Also seems to be something he turns to when he wants to avoid something he doesn't enjoy (like studying...lol). His grades haven't suffered per se, but they aren't stellar either.
It may be that his generation has grown up in worlds where every waking moment has been planned by parents, teachers, coaches, etc and he doesn't know how to budget time on their own.
I'm concerned about him taking it to college and missing out on a lot of the social contacts since he has this whole online cadre of acquaintenances. OTOH he is starting Ole Miss in the fall and given the quality of Coeds there, I'm probably worrying for naught.......at least about video games
