Comments on: A friends daughter is neglecting her children as she is addicted to fruit machines?

By: craina c

craina c — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:12:26 +0000

someone from the family should go get her kids and leave her to drown herself in her own misery. if she wants to see her kids she must get help first.
once social services gets a hold of her kids you won’t see them again. EVER.

By: twinsters

twinsters — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:45:49 +0000

the best thing you could do is phone social service’s they will act on the child’s behalf if she thinks they will take the child it might make Someone help her, you can do it anomalously.

By: Lifes*Peachy

Lifes*Peachy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:52:45 +0000

i think they should refuse to keep giving her money. if they want to help then should just buy things for her children but give the mother no money as its going to be to tempting. the lady in question needs a support group. She needs to realise her responsibilities as a parent and stop this before its too late.

By: concernedjean

concernedjean — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 14:00:46 +0000

1. Call Gam-Anon - a program for family & friends of those addicted to gambling.

2. Cut off giving her money. That is enabling her addiction to continue & will perpetuate the problem.

3. If you and/or her family can, bring food to the house for the children. You may even need to take the children to your own house/s if you fear they are in danger and to give them some stability. But listen to the Gam-Anon people. They will know what to do & how to do it.

4. Good for you for being a concerned & responsible friend to this addict/sick person.

By: runt0125

runt0125 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 16:39:33 +0000

fruit machines are slot machines and you all need to call social services

By: Trevor P

Trevor P — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 15:28:30 +0000

I can’t believe nobody appears to know what a fruit machine is !!!
If she’s neglecting her children, then you need to do something fast, whatever the addiction. Handling it through her family is a good way to tackle it, but they may need some help and professional advice. I would suggest they (or you) contact a support group like gamblers anonymous, to get some advice. Before she can tackle the problem, she needs to realise that she has a problem. Similarly, before the family can tackle the issue they also need to recognise that it is a problem. Getting her to keep a count of how much she is spending may be a good way to start.

By: nicky71

nicky71 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:34:22 +0000

i feel 4 this girl i really do my partner is an arcade attendent and sees this problem every day of the week the best way to deal with the situation is 1st find out where she is playing then speak to the arcade assistant asking where u stand regarding helping her 2nd on site there is a leaflet with numbers on it they r fantastic and vey supportive also ask the arcade if they can limit her spending asshe is not going 2 stop straight away this is a habbit and remember this can not be treated with medication its support will power and strength u could also try giving her a weekly allowance she will sulk scream etc but remember why u r doing it she wil thank u in the end it just takes time. good luck

By: bonkers

bonkers — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 08:16:41 +0000

My advice would be to quit giving her money and give her the phone number to get some help. Here is the number if it will help 1-800-BETS-OFF. The family can also call this number and they will help them to understand what their daughter is going through and give them suggestions on how to help her.

By: emma f

emma f — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:56:12 +0000

First and foremost, If you are even slightly concerned about the children, the first thing you should do is talk to the girls family and voice your concerns, they should not give her any more money, and if they do, they are just as bad as she is by feeding her habit. The second thing you can do, is to get in touch with gamblers anon and seek their advice, if the worst comes to the worst, the children would be much better off in the care of the social services, they would put the children into foster care until the time comes when the mother can look after them for herself.
You are a good friend, do what you think is right, not what other people tell you to do,

By: parsonsel

parsonsel — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:29:18 +0000

I’m assuming a “fruit Machine” is a “one-armed bandit” and that she’s addicted to gambling.

If that’s the case, no way hould her family give her more money to supply her addiction. They can buy clothes/food/etc. for the kids and perhaps pay off her bills directly. But, then again, that’s enabling her addiction.

Get her into gambler’s annonymous.

Perhaps the kids would be better off with someone else. Just because someone is the biological parent, doesn’t mean that they’re what’s best for the kids.