7 year old poops himself every once in awhile. what can i do to get to the potty?

my 7 year old son sometimes poops on the potty. But for the the past two years we've been having trouble getting to use the bathroom, he has been pooping his pants in school as well as home. He knows what he's doing, for example he was playing a video game and i had smelt something and asked to check him, noticed he was starting to poop, so i told him to go to the bathroom and he flipped out and screamed and cried, said he wanted to play a game. after we argued he finally got on the toilet, but hollered and yelled , saying i hate you i hate everyone. what should i do

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Since he is invested in his games, I'd suggest establishing a system whereby he 'earns' his games each day by staying clean the previous day. Hopefully this will help him to stay motivated to use the bathroom.

[LRHsMom]

I would think that at 7 he would have a natural embarassment of doing this, have you talked to his doctor? It seems at that age the type of attention he would get for that sort of thing in school would prevent him from doing that just because he didn't feel like going. I would dig deeper on that one and consult a doctor as to whether its a physical or mental issue. If you have and all is well I think the video game thing is an excellent idea. After all, v games aren't constructive so why not use them as rewards only- kind of like that cookie after dinner? That way it not only limits it but in a way makes it a positive thing.