Earlier today I appeared on ITV’s This Morning Programme. Apart from the fact that it was a pleasure to meet Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby it was also a chance to talk about how relieved and happy I am that my son has turned such a corner in dealing with his computer game compulsion. He is genuinely happy at school and has knuckled down to his GCSEs with a view to studying Maths, Geography and History at A Level. With me in the studio was Dr Richard Graham a consultant adolescent psychiatrist who has just opened a unit for technology addiction at the Capio Nightingale Hospital. Before we went on air he asked me what had worked for my son. I told him that in the end - after a lot of heart-ache, micro-management and therapy - it was simple; my son simply rebuilt his own confidence. His school, Hampton Court House, gave him the right structure to develop some self-esteem and he came to the conclusion that Real Life was worth a try after all. Which just goes to show no matter how compelling a virtual game is, it cannot match the Real Thing.

Tags: www.hamptoncourthouse.co.uk, www.itv.com, www.nightingalehospital.co.uk

Wednesday, 7 April 2010 at 18:20