My daughter was a creative genius, and then we bought her an iPhone

It is really not sufficient evidence for the metaphor, though.

The point may be that it is akin to "drugs" but not all drugs are like heroin and what he is describing is nothing like heroin cravings and withdrawal.

Why not go with something that invokes less emotions in the reader like "caffeine" or "nicotine"?

Because the itch to check on a notification or scroll through the news feed is surely closer to the itch for a cigarette or your vaporizer than... heroin. That's a big jump there just to describe "compulsive desire".

Tldr. I didn't read the article. My kids are fine, I think you're wrong. Why is this the top comment?

I may be misjudging the author, but this awfully reminds me of my childhood and makes me angry for this child.

Everything I did had to be approved. They were always on my back, watching and controlling everything.

If I wanted to do something they did not approve, they were angry or mocked me. They forced me on activities I hated because THEY liked it. Never aknowledging my wishes or needs.

Never had privacy because they always had to check everything I was doing. Even closing my door made them angry. God save me if I dared to actually lock it, hell would loose on me.

When I asked for help, they never really bothered, they even laughed at me and made me feel like I should be ashamed to ask a question.

I lived under ridiculously strict, completely non-logical and arbitrary rules in everything in my life. Even daring to ask an explanation made them angry because I was defying their authority.

Want to get this nice book you like? Too bad, you don't have money. But mom does not think this book is interesting, so we'll get this other one instead. What, you already want to buy something else? We already bough you a book last week, you should be grateful.

They moved in the countryside because they are completely antisocial.

What, you want to visit a friend? I'll have to drive you, you are so annoying. We'll do this another time.

What, you want to go to disneyland? And a shopping center? Do you even know how much it costs and how many people are there?

What, you don't want to spend every sunday with us visiting completely uninteresting places with us? What's wrong with you, why don't you never get out of the house?!

You got punished again at school? [hell looses on me] I was sure your friends were not very frequentable, stop stop meeting them. Seriously, why didn't the teachers see that? Parents and teachers are so incompetent nowadays. Fortunately you have parents giving you a good education.

Computers were the only place where I could escape from this hell. I could have my own virtual world and they could not control it. I could subscribe to a PhpBB forum and talk with actual human beings about things I actually liked. I could choose any video game, movie and music and get it on Emule without asking permission.

This had and still have devastating consequences on my well-being.

You should be listening to what your child wants and teach her how to make her own smart choices. You should give her freedom, love and care, not arbitrary limits without even un explanation.

If I did not have my computer that my parents did not understood, if they had the power and knowledge to control and choose what I am allowed to do with it, I probably would have ended-up killing myself or something.

> When my kids home school they will spend a lot of time playing roblox or whatever, but then they'll spend hours playing outdoors, decide to do a cooking project that takes all morning–currently one of mine is getting into "bushcraft" and he'll watch hours of videos about making fires, carving etc. before putting the tips it into practice (safely) during times outdoors, where he spends hours and hours. Then he'll come back, play roblox for an hour, then help clean up and put the younger kids to bed.

Is there any time when he actually studies?

Go outside. Explore the neighborhood. Ride your bike. Read a book. Practice your cello. Tinker in the basement.

I may be old fashioned, but Minecraft strikes me as faux-creative. It's not something you get "better" at. That's just my reaction, having watched it done. It puts you in a state of flow without actually flowing anywhere.