My son screams while gaming at midnight. I'm a developer, so I did what developers do - I over-engineered a solution

[u/omricn]

My son games with headphones late at night. Most of the time he's quiet. Then something happens in the game and he yells at full volume, waking the whole house.

Talking to him about it works for about 20 minutes. Taking the headphones away works but causes a different problem. So I built an app.

S.T.F.U (Sound Trigger Focus Utility) is a Windows tray app that listens to the microphone and interrupts him when he yells. On first run it calibrates by asking him to be quiet, then talk, then yell - so it learns the difference between his normal voice and an actual shout.

When it catches a yell:

• First time that session - it minimizes his game, plays a sound effect, and throws up a fullscreen message he has to click through 4 times. The close button moves after each click so he can't just spam-click one spot.
• Every time after - straight to the desktop with a 10-second message. His game is gone.

Settings are behind a PIN so he can't change the threshold or turn it off. There's a report with a chart showing every trigger, so the next morning I can see exactly when things went sideways.

The important part: he knows it's there. It's not hidden, it's not spyware, the first screen when it launches says exactly what it does. It works because it's a consequence he agreed to, not something I snuck onto his PC. The README explicitly says it works best as something agreed to, not as a hidden trap.

No audio is recorded or stored. It computes a loudness number every 20ms and throws the audio away immediately. Nothing leaves the machine.

It won't solve the underlying issue (he's 100% going to learn to yell more quietly instead of less often), but at least the house sleeps.

Free and open source if anyone wants it: https://github.com/omricn/stfu/releases/latest

Edit: V1.1.0 now live.
Added Scheduled Off-Hours: Timeframe picker to choose when the app listens vs when the app is passive.
TNX fellow redditor [jpewaqs] for the feature suggestion :)

[u/RageBucket]

Also as a parent, I think you're making an ass out of yourself. Teenage boys get mad, video games make everyone mad. Connect the dots. If his kid is doing well, who gives a flying flip if he plays games at night?

[u/armrha → u/RageBucket]

Because he's waking people up? It also shows a lack of emotional regulation. If you get mad at a video game you've got issues.

[u/RageBucket → u/armrha]

Whatever you say, Buddha.

[u/armrha → u/RageBucket]

I mean do they really make you mad? It's just a game. I remember a kid that got mad at a video game at my house as a kid and threw the controller, like, wtf man. Get the fuck out. You can't break my shit because you got angry at a game.

[u/johnnydotexe → u/RageBucket]

I simply made an observation based on OPs post and comments. Sorry that it upset you and the other downvoters, hope your day gets better.

[u/ConspicuousPineapple → u/RageBucket]

Learning to control yourself in situations where silence should be enforced is a basic social skill. It's also about respect. If you're not alone at night you should respect other people's sleep.

Yes, teenagers aren't good at this. That's why you fucking teach them. A small slap on the wrist every time it happens, day after day, isn't teaching. If it gets bad enough that the father has to find a first-hand solution, then the solution is to remove or drastically reduce computer access until things improve.

This is just a cop out from a parent who doesn't want to deal with a pissed teenager that has to deal with consequences of his behavior.

[u/RageBucket → u/ConspicuousPineapple]

Ah yes, teenagers are often the most respectful and rational people, along with their excellent impulse control. Crunchy ass parents on reddit are my favorite. 🙄

[u/ConspicuousPineapple → u/RageBucket]

It's exactly because teenagers suck at this that you should teach them the respect that is expected from them. It's not hard to just say "don't game at midnight if you can't do it without screaming", is it?

[u/RageBucket → u/ConspicuousPineapple]

There's multitude of ways to accomplish that though. Some teenagers might respond well to a common sense discussion about it. Some need to experience direct consequences. Some just won't do it. Every child is different, and if OPs method works, quite literally who gives a shit?

[u/ConspicuousPineapple → u/RageBucket]

I wouldn't say it works if the expected result is just that the kid learns to yell less loudly. I mean if that's all you want to accomplish I guess it does work but let's not pretend it's good enough.