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Video Game Addiction
The increasingly realistic and exciting nature of electronic games has helped to make them enormously popular with children and youth. 79% of American children now play computer or video games on a regular basis. Children between the ages of seven and 17 play for an average of eight hours a week. Most of the games on the market are appropriate for these young players, and the best of them can bring a lot of benefits. Besides being fun, some of the games provide practice in problem solving and logic as well as strategizing. The growth of electronic games has not been without controversy, however. The subset of games that feature violence, gore, and antisocial behavior has raised concern among parents, educators, child advocates, medical professionals, and policy makers. The implication of games in high profile school shootings has led to congressional hearings, government investigations, and legislative proposals. The intense concern about video and computer games is based on the belief that the ultra violent games are inappropriate for all children and harmful to some. Concern about violent video and computer games is based on the assumption that they contribute to aggression and violence among young players. * Children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with whom they identify. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator. * Video games by their very nature require active participation rather than passive observation. * Repetition increases learning. Video games involve a great deal of repetition. If the games are violent, then the effect is a behavioral rehearsal for violent activity. * Rewards increase learning, and video games are based on a reward system. * Heart rate, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure all increase when playing violent games. * Studies measuring cognitive responses to playing violent video games have shown that violent games increase aggressive thoughts and emotions. Exposure to violent games increases aggressive actions. * Children who play more violent video games are more likely to experience aggressive feelings, thoughts, and actions, and are also less likely to behave in positive, prosocial ways. This appears to be true for both boys and girls, and surprisingly, also for children who are not naturally aggressive. But video and computer games can have the most profound influence on the behavior of children, simply because children retain a lot more information if they learn actively, rather than passively. It's because of this interaction that violent video and computer games have such a powerful impact on children's aggressive behavior. So what can parents do about violent games? The first step is awareness. Simply being mindful of the games children are playing may well be all it takes to encourage parents to lay down rules as to the types of games allowed in their home. Computer and video game addiction When time spent on the computer, playing video games or cruising the Internet reaches a point that it harms a child's or adult's family and social relationships, or disrupts school or work life, that person may be caught in a cycle of addiction. Like other addictions, the computer or video game has replaced friends and family as the source of a person's emotional life. Increasingly, to feel good, the addicted person spends more time playing video games or searching the Internet. Time away from the computer or game causes moodiness or withdrawal. When a person spends up to ten hours a day or more rearranging or sending files, playing games, surfing the net, visiting chat rooms, instant messaging, and reading emails, that easily can reach up to seventy to eighty hours a week on-line with the computer. Major social, school or work disruptions will result. Symptoms of computer or video game addiction: • Most of non-school hours are spent on the computer or playing video games. • Falling asleep in school. • Not keeping up with assignments. • Worsening grades. • Lying about computer or video game use. • Choosing to use the computer or play video games, rather than see friends. • Dropping out of other social groups (clubs or sports). • Irritable when not playing a video game or on the computer. There are even physical symptoms that may point to addiction: • Carpal tunnel syndrome. • Sleep disturbances • Back, neck aches • Headaches • Dry eyes • Failure to eat regularly or neglect personal hygiene For the computer or video game addicted person, a fantasy world on-line or in a game has replaced his or her real world. The virtual reality of the computer or game is more inviting than the every day world of family, school or work. With the increased access to pornography on the Internet and in games, this fantasy world may be highly sexual. The first step to healing is to recognize the symptoms. Help from a professional is often needed. Such dependency could feed other delinquent behaviour such as stealing money to buy new games, truancy, failing to do homework, or simply extreme annoyance when unable to play. Does your child: • play almost every day? • often play for long periods (over 3-4 hours a time)? • play for excitement? • get restless and irritable if they can't play? • sacrifice social and sporting activities? • play instead of doing their homework? • try to cut down their playing but can't? If the answer is "yes" to more than four of these questions, then your child may be playing too much. So what do you do now? • Give children educational rather than violent games. • Encourage video game playing in groups rather than as a solitary activity. • Set time limits on children's playing time. Tell them they can play for a couple of hours after they have done their homework - not before. • Ensure children follow the video game manufacturer's recommendations. For example, they should sit at least two feet from the screen, play in a well-lit room, never have the screen at maximum brightness, and never play when feeling tired. • Finally, if all else fails, take away the games console and give it back on a part-time basis when appropriate. One symptom of over-exposure which parents might pick up on is stiffness in their children's movements. Video and computer games will continue to be an exciting and growing part of children's media diets. With so many good games available for children and youth, it is unfortunate that so much attention has to be paid to games which are inappropriate for all youth and harmful to some. As long as children have easy access to these games, then policy debates will continue. Perhaps those debates will be moot in the near future as both the industry and parents make sure that the children and youth of America are sold games that entertain and benefit them.
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