Yahoo! News:
A sizable number of young video game players -- fully 8.5 percent -- exhibit signs of addiction to gaming, a new study has found.
These kids aren't just playing a lot. Their gaming interferes with school performance, disrupts interaction with family and friends and poses health problems, the study reveals.
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I wonder how many of these "experts" bemoaning video game addiction spend countless hours on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Get off the damn computer, shut off the TV, and spend some time with your kids! Don't be so wrapped up in your career that your kids grow up without you. You don't have to make every activity "Disneyland-esque". Go outside, run around in the yard, play a board game.....something. The kids will seek refuge where it is the easiest to get away from the day to day tedium. Be a parent.....get involved!
This study (while it is being published in a scientific journal) was done by an organization that exists to combat violence in video games, so take any conclusions with a boulder-sized grain of salt. They've lobbied for laws, gotten in nasty exchanges with game rating organizations, and tried/are trying to get the DSM changed to include "game addiction" as a diagnosis needing treatment.
OK, I am an adult (somewhat by current definition) and find the games addictive.. not as much as blogging but fairly close. My kids have a set amount of time for ANYTHING electronic, and games are still addictive. Hell anything is addictive when fun. I play a mindless game called Left 4 dead online (similar to blogging except less trolls and more zombies).
Trick here is to include outside activities and give a darn what your kids are doing, use it as a babysitter then it can be a problem, use it as fun (like the Wi) and its a game night playing Mario Cart where your kids cannot believe daddy just kicked their butt (kids do not think adults know what video games are).
My daughter learned to read because of Final Fantasy VII...Besides Video games use Beta Brain Waves instead of TV's coma inducing alpha brain waves not to mention hand eye coordination skills and the confidence and focus that completing a game gives you.
YOU ALL NEED TO STUFF YOUR VIDEO GAME HATING BECAUSE IT IS TOTALLY OFF BASE....TEEVEE IS THE ENEMY.
I would agree with you that skills are learned while playing certain games. My son learned to read by playing The Legend of Zelda. We allowed him to play only if he read all the text out loud to us. But what I witness now with my two sons is undeniably addiction. I limit their playing to weekends only and if they misbehave or don't do their homework then they lose it for that weekend. They have major mood swings and withdrawl-like symptoms after the weekend is over. I hate these games now.
throw the damn thing out or go to the zoo
So what! That is their parent's problem, not mine. I really don't care.
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First Posted: 04-20-09 01:45 PM | Updated: 05-21-09 05:12 AM