STORY OF FABIAN
14 years old. Passionate Gamer

We bought our StressChecker about six months ago. At first it was my mother who spent the whole time playing with it, and then my father started. It's actually a pretty neat gadget. My friends and I have found a couple of different ways to influence the needle. We've discovered that sitting listening to music helps to reduce your stress level. If I'm playing an awesome game, like Halo or something, my stress level rises quicker than my Xbox Live Gamerscore does. My mother says that that's not really the idea, and that you're supposed to just sit calmly. But we think our way is cool too!

Have I noticed any differences with my parents? Well, they do spend more time at home now, and my dad even helps me with my homework now and again. The other day, when uncle Harry came over for a kickabout, my dad joined in – that was pretty cool. I had no idea that he even knew how to play, but he had a mean shot in that right foot of his! But now you come to mention it, he probably didn't play football before because he was so fat. Now he's lost weight, he looks a lot younger and hipper than he used to. My mother has even started singing again while she's cooking – she used to do that all the time when I was little. And she doesn't immediately start yelling at me any more when I won't get up in the mornings.