Dealing with fictional character addiction in children

Contributed by : Palak Vyas

Addiction/obsession is not something which can be immediately worked upon.

What works best in the cases of addiction is that a similar kind of less harmful or useful thing should be replaced in place of the previous addiction. For example, if a child is addicted to sugar, you can provide him/her with raisins or dates in place of sugar.

When you see your child is obsessed with a fictional character like spider-man or superman, try showing him/her the positive and humanly traits of the character.
Try and incorporate or relate those with your daily incidences.
Give them more humanly touch.
Eventually, you can identify a similar character from your family and relate their human traits with that of the fictional character your child is obsessed with. For example, you can relate your child’s father with Superman, tell them, “The way Superman saves the world and fights evil, your father does the same. He built us this house, he works and earns, takes care of us when we are sick so basically he also protects us”.
Give them the idea that these are imaginary or fictional characters inspired by real-life, science and technology.
It is okay for a child to be attracted to superheroes as long as (s)he is learning something good from them. This is where they enjoy their little innocent world of imagination. Let them feel happy and enjoy their world of superheroes and other characters. Eventually, when they grow up, they will come to know the difference between real and imaginary.
These characters are made in such a way that not only children but young and old everyone is inclined towards them.
All you have to see that their addiction does not come in their way of studies or their growth.
If you feel that because of this (s)he keeps getting distracted, explain to them that there is a time and place for everything. One cannot talk about the same thing all day long. There are several more things to explore so take them for visits at the zoo or a museum to keep them away from the imaginative world for a while.

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