I insulted my sister by calling her ‘iPad kid’ – she’s ruining her son’s life

An Australian woman’s desperate plea for advice about her grandson has gone viral after she shared her observations on the AITA Reddit forum.

She describes how her sister and her husband have a 10-year-old son whom she calls “Jimothy” who she takes care of occasionally on weekends and mornings.

It was about a year ago when she first noticed a subtle and disturbing change in his demeanor.

“The accent got thicker”

“Since about a year ago, we started to notice that Jimothy was starting to develop an American accent and we are Australians.

“Little kids have phases, and so I didn’t want to make it ‘a thing.'” But over the next few months, the accent got thicker and Jimothy got more irritated.

“My husband and I brought this up with my sister, who said Jimothy wasn’t too upset when he was with her. Then he started to lose interest in almost all the activities he used to enjoy.

“Again, this was a concern for me as it got worse every weekend. He complained that he was bored, but when we offered him an exhaustive list of all the things we could do with him, he said no to every single one of them.

She said that earlier this year when he returned to school, his classmates asked him when he had moved to Australia because his American accent was so strong.

“My husband and I were really wondering what was going on.”

It was at his birthday party a few months later that she realized what was really going on.

“He was on an iPad, scrolling some kind of short content that I didn’t recognize. His friends wanted to play with him, and he just didn’t notice they were there. People were giving him gifts and he was acting like was worried about having to turn off the iPad.

“Never before have any of my nieces or nephews reacted like this to me giving them money and delicious sweets.

“I told my sister that something was going on and that Jimothy is obviously not well. She seemed very offended that I was “questioning her parenting choices” as she put it, and she decided that my husband and I should stop babysitting Jimothy.

“He was significantly weaker”

At a more recent family gathering, the wife says Jimothy was completely glued to the iPad.

“He was noticeably thinner, which I suspect was because he was forgetting to eat in favor of iPad time.

“I had to talk to my sister and her husband. I told them what I thought, that a year ago Jimothy was an energetic kid who got along really well with everyone, and now he’s withdrawn and it’s obvious just by looking at him that he’s skipping meals.

“My sister denied any change in Jimothy’s behavior, but her husband admitted that I was right to a point, and Jimothy’s friends had stopped trying to hang out with him because he said no 100 percent of the time. . I told my sister that she was ruining Jimothy’s life by continuing to allow this iPad stuff to happen.

“She started yelling at me and I left the party.”

Hundreds of people commented on the post to advise the OP that no, she is not an a-hole in this situation and clearly only cares about her nephew.

“The boy is definitely addicted to the iPad, which is a big concern,” said one respondent.

“If his parents won’t listen, maybe the OP can bring it up to his teacher/school or someone else who can maybe make the parents see that there is a real concern or get some kind of health agency involved of the children?” €

Another agreed: “The kid is definitely getting worse. I wouldn’t be surprised if he grows up with depression and anxiety when dealing with social interactions at school and work. It’s great that you and your husband are taking care of Jimothy. At the end of the day, you tried to help, so let them handle the future issues that will surely arise in the future.

The iPad can be a coping mechanism

One astute user suggested that while using the iPad is a problem, it may be more of an effect rather than the root cause of his problems.

“If he suffers from anxiety and/or depression, the iPad could be a coping mechanism and sort of ‘self-treating’ the symptoms. It seems like a professional might be able to give them all some healthier advice in navigating normal preadolescent anxiety.

“This is the age when social dynamics really start to change and avoiding everything is not the best way to deal with it, but it may not be the cause. In other words, simply removing the iPad and nothing else can be harmful.â€

Finally, one was convinced that it was not too late to step in and get help.

“Her son needs help, and he needs it now. She made a mistake as a parent, but for now it is still correctable. But it won’t be if she continues to ignore him. She just needs to figure this out before it’s too late.â€