When her son’s school shut down in March 2020, Gail Aboulafia was grateful that her then 12-year-old son Charlie could keep in touch with his friends via the online gaming community. “The whole world seemed to be upside down for him and being able to plug in and chat with his friends while they played seemed like a little bit of normalcy.”
But when the weather started to warm in Michigan, where the family lives, she began to worry. Charlie, who usually loved to be outside with his friends, playing in the family pool or hiking with his family, just wanted to stay home and game.
“He didn’t even seem happy when he gamed,” she shared. “He seemed agitated and started to show signs of anxiety in the few moments we could get him away from his keyboard.”
It was when she woke up in the middle of the night one evening and found her son awake and
