I feel like there has got to be something I'm missing here. She sounds sane - calling the cops is a last resort, she's at the end of her rope, etc etc - but why doesn't she just hide the console and force her kid to do something else? Limit his gaming time? Surely these can't be new ideas for her?

You want to help your son? Simple. Throw out the game system. Seriously. I'm sick of parents realizing they aren't depriving children of anything by not giving into having to buy their kids everything. remove the game system from the house for 2 months. Drop it off at a relative or someone you trust. Then introduce your kid to this thing called a book. See if you can find something they would like and sit down and read together. Jebus. This isn't rocket science people. I'm not a parent but even I know the key is to spend time with your kid.

I'm sure that what the article does not mention is that when the mom unplugged the console, the kid got mad and physical to the point the mother had to call the police. A similar incident was related on Dr. Phil.

While I totally agree with limiting the time your child plays a video game, especially if it seems obsessive. Calling the police is insane. The police are here to enforce the law, not to reinforce parental rule. Personally I think the mother should have gotten a ticket for misuse of 911 and the kid should have had the game console away and grounded for not listening to the parent. (And yes, I remember being a kid and I also remember not wanting to stop playing on my NES and SNES).

Whatever happen to the days when Parents didn't have to worry about the police being called and when a kid misbehaves the kid is punished by the PARENTS, not the police. Heck I remember a time if the kids called the police on the parents the cops would ask what they did and then tell the kid his deserved it. I have a major issue with government interfering (by choice or not) with parents raising there children.