hard to motivate to do his task

My child is 4 y/o and before he use to love computer (pc) very much and we are much happy about it. but these last few days we have observed that he now fond of playing with other kids and ignore pc anymore. the thing is that we want him to concentrate on playing with his pc than playing outside with other children, because we want him to join a certain pc game contest, in which before we visualize he can do it easily. How can i motivate him concentrate on that and play with all his might.
Thank you for your attention.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

I don't want to sound presumptuous, but you are placing your priorities in the wrong area. You should be grateful that your son is interested in playing and being with his peers - those are normal, healthy interests. If he preferred playing with the computer over being with peers and enjoying their company, it would be a sign for worry. His behavior is not the problem. You would be wise to adjust your priorities and enjoy your son, revel in his normal, age-appropriate inclinations.

[KatieDee]

As a mother of four children, I want to add my comment about children playing computer games.  I cannot, as the doctor pointed out, encourage you enough to reconsider your priorities for you child's activities.  I have a 17 yr. old son who at the age of five was very much involved with Nintendo.  Later on he became involved with computers.  The end result is that my son has poor coping skills when dealing with everyday life and the people around him.  At the age when he should have been learning skills to develop parallel play or friendships, he instead learned how to manipulate electronic equipment and became increasingly aggressive if anyone tried to interfere.  His relationship with the rest of the family suffered.  He did not demonstrate love and care for people because he interacted with his Nintendo/computer which required no love and care.  He could not manage the basic daily living skills - taking a bath, eating a meal, etc. without wanting to rush back to his game.  I recognized the signs of a emotionally developmentally delayed child early, but not early enough.  He required psychological and psychiatric counseling to be able to deal with peers as he got older.  I did restrict his time on game playing, but not enough.  As of today, I have a 17 yr. old who cannot tolerate opposition, can't get his priorities straight and still has poor social skills.  Counseling has helped, but it couldn't take the place of what he should have learned in his early impressionable years - how to be a CHILD and love life.  If I could turn back the clock I would have encouraged him to get outdoors more and allowed NO time with the electronic babysitter.  At your child's tender age of four, he needs to learn about people, about life and how to get along.  That is something that he will never learn from a computer.  It becomes an addiction and like all addictions it messes up your mind and your life.  A 4 yr. old doesn't need that.  You don't need that.

[Harry_Noughtsach_Ph.D]

Dear Lean,

Judging by your broken English and obsession with video games, I can only assume that you are Japanese.  As such, I can understand your frustration with your child choosing a social life over steady interaction with a cold, heartless machine.  If he is to survive in the Japanese culture, he has to learn to be ruthless and hostile, and the early development of those skills is greatly hindered if he likes and plays with other children.  I agree that you must take action *now* to ensure that he does not ruin his chances in the video game and computer industry, because he certainly is not going to get anywhere with his genetically under-endowed penis.

The first thing you should do is develop some sort of restraint system to keep him from leaving the video game.  Hand cuffs or arm shackles are out of the question, because they would restrict his necessary arm and hand movement, and possibly cut off circulation and affect the dexterity of his fingers.  I would recommend getting a small wooden bench or chair and bolting it to the floor in front of the television or computer -- whichever video game platform your son happens to be using.  When you do this, be sure you place the bolts in such a way that they cannot be easily removed by your son.  After the bench is in place, put your son on it, then get a hammer and nails.  Gather the extra material of his pants or shorts, and nail them to the bench so you son cannot get up.  Be careful not to nail through your son's skin -- while he certainly deserves painful punishment for choosing human contact over a video game, a trip to the hospital would only take away from his training, and you wouldn't want that.

Another thing to keep in mind is urination and bowel movements.  You will have to provide your son with a catheter or diaper to take care of this.  Another option would be to cut a hole in the bench and put a removable bucket underneath so he can go whenever he likes, but then you will have to find an alternate way of securing him to the bench, since he would be naked, and have no clothes to nail down.

Now, once you have your son secured, and you are confident he is not going anywhere, you have to break his spirit.  This is very important if he is to be a productive member of the Japanese community.  I would recommend using German brainwashing techniques to convince him that other children are evil and playing with them is bad.  See if you can find a copy of Faces of Death 5, and put the clip of the young boy being hit by a train on a continous loop; while it plays, explain to your son that other children are stupid, and that if he plays with them, he will be hit by a train.  After this, show him The Wizard to get him geared up for video game action.  As an added bonus, that movie may program him to kill Fred Savage upon sight, which will make him a hero to all Americans.

In the meantime, you should purchase a high caliber hand gun and keep it near the entrance to your home.  When other children show up at your door to ask if your son can play, you should brandish your firearm and threaten them until they leave.  It is particularly effective to inform the children that they are sinners and they will burn in hell or that Buddah will sit on them in the afterlife, depending on their religion.  If the same child comes back more than three times, fire a warning shot.  If he comes back again, shoot him.

After this, the video games begin.  Provide your son with some thin gloves to prevent his thumbs from bleeding, and load in the game you want him to play in this contest.  Take turns supervising him with your wife and make sure he plays the game in two ten hour shifts per day.  Use coffee and a ruler (for vigorous spanking) as necessary to keep your son awake and motivated.  Crack, cocaine, methanphetamines, and/or anabolic steroids may be necessary to keep your child awake and alert as the day progresses.   All food and drink should be provided in a liquid form that can eaten through a straw without distracting your child from his video game duties.

When your child has reached the point that he can consistently complete the entire game without being hit or hurt or damaged a single time, then you may scale back his training to two eight hour shifts per day, and use the remaining two hours to further brainwash your child with disturbing videos.  Your goal with this is to convince him that other children are his enemy, and he should channel his hatred for them by defeating them at video games.

In the end, if you follow these directions, you should have developed your impressionable child into a ruthless, bloodthirsty video game warrior who will either win the championship or snap and climb to the top of the Nintendo booth with a bolt-action, high-power carbine assault rifle and take out as many video game patrons as he can before performing seppuku.

I hope this helps, and I wish you good luck in your endeavor.

Sincerely,
  Harry Noughtsach, PhD