Children Addicted to Gaming - News Report - Your thoughts?

[Master_Craig]

I was browsing the Internet and reading the news this morning and I came across this video news report, from Australia's own Ten News.

http://tenplay.com.au/news/national/201 ... -to-gaming (there is an ad before the video)

For those who don't or didn't watch it, it's basically a news report claiming that children are becoming "addicted" to gaming and that apparently an addiction to gaming can lead to issues such as depression, anti-social behaviour and even suicide.

Personally, I think that yes, video games can potentially be addictive however I think many other things can be addictive too, whether it's alcohol, drugs, TV shows, hell even physical exercise can be addictive. A lot of things can be "addictive". Basically, I think too much of something can have the potential to be a bad thing.

That being said, I think this article is a bit crap too. To me it screams "We have nothing else to report, let's report something that'll cause fear and distress to parents and their children". I think it shouldn't so much as restricting the child "screen time", but rather I think parents and guardians should be taking note of what their kids are actually playing and why they want to play so much, instead of using games and stuff as a means of baby sitting - I'm pretty sure the latter isn't always the case of course.

I thought it was funny how they showed the girl playing Minecraft in the article, when Minecraft is essentially like Lego, e.g. using one's imagination and creativity plus the tools and environment provided to create almost whatever you like.

When I was in school, I admit I was pretty addicted to video games and I played them a lot. I was one of those troubled kids that would rather stay inside, draw things and play video games, I didn't really like going outside and I didn't really like sport or exercise and thus I became unhealthy and overweight because of it. I've learned my lesson and times, myself included have certainly changed. When I think back on it, one of the reasons I preferred staying inside, playing games etc. is because I could succeed in games, I felt good about "winning" and I had fun, something I didn't do in real life because I had so little friends and was bullied so often for so long.

I apologize if I seem insensitive about this report and the content it discusses, I just think it misses a lot of points and is really just trying to make something look much worse than it really is (video games). What do you all think about this report? What are your thoughts behind it?

For those who are parents here at GameRevolution (which is not me, I'm not a parent) - I'm very interested to hear your thoughts about this video.

 

[Sightless]

I couldn't view the video, possibly because of region? In any case... Same old same old. Where's the study, and did you have more than two participants being judged by more than an angry parent.

The term 'addiction' has to be clearly defined, first of all. If it's not, I'm going to assume they mean it colloquially, which amounts to not much more than "I like this and want to do it a lot." It's just a negatively charged word used to describe a particular behaviour.

Parents who are upset their kids are having too much fun with video games should probably stop making the alternative sitting in a corner while they nap or have drinks with friends. Interact with your kids and make them feel good about doing other things if you're concerned about them getting too attached to video games.

As for the depression thing, could not be more bs. There's little evidence to suggest that playing video games is causal there, and it's more likely that preexisting issues lead to increased video game play, for various reasons that many of us are probably at least somewhat familiar with.

A lot of these reports or articles seem to be written by people who don't really know much about video games. They just lump it into that thing that kids are into, and kids are crazy, and it must be bad. Kids these days, smh.

On a side note, I just made myself really upset by reading the wikipedia page on this, which includes a list of deaths associated with gaming. Oh my god.

 

[Master_Craig]

Pretty much hit the nail right on the head, Sightless. I agree.

They don't really define the term addiction, not very well. They do mention that apparently, studies show that kids' used to spend about an hour and a half online everyday, now it's about two and a half hours... good call though, where do they get this information and how many people participated in their "studies"? They don't say. Furthermore, they say this about kids spending time online and not necessarily playing video games online. Sure, they have some crappy footage of World of Warcraft in the background to try and support their case, but really "being online" can mean anything... chatting to friends online, surfing the Internet such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Considering the rise of social media in the last few years, I'm gonna take a guess and suggest social media may be playing a big part as to why kids are spending more time on the Internet nowadays.

I think that's also a fair point. I think that parents need to find out what games their kids are playing and why they're playing these games so much, if they are. Also, I think you're right again, is that video games are probably not what causes the issues of things such as depression, anti social behaviour etc, there are most likely other things in the kid's life causing those distresses, leading them to play more video games to escape said distresses.

I went through that personally in high school, considering I was bullied constantly for a long duration of my school life and I hated going to school because of it. I played video games as a means of escape and as a mean to feel good about myself, to achieve and win something, without being ridiculed for trying.

I've heard about deaths associated with gaming and... yeah, there's a lot of sad stories and tragedies unfortunately.

 

[WickedLiquid]

I'm not going to deny the addiction of video games. I remember FF8 was my first FF game and I played it until 5am. Then I fell asleep and started it up again when I woke up. But this was during summer vacation and I was very young. Today I'm able to play a couple hours then turn it off because of adult responsibilities. I turned out alright and I was a huge addict during those golden years of the PS1 and N64.

Everyone has a vice whether it's beer or chocolate or chocolate beer... Mmmmmmm chocolate beer. If it's children the responsibility falls on the parents. Make sure your kids do their homework, hell do it with them and help them out. Don't leave everything up to the public schools. Also make sure your kids are getting enough physical activity.

And if they are off from school then let then play their vidya games cause there will be a time where they won't have as much freedom to clock 100 hours into an RPG.

 

[Master_Craig]

Oh for sure. I certainly agree video games have the potential to be addictive. I fell under such addictions like Fallout 3, Skyrim and Twilight Princess. Those were games that I would play for hours and hours.

To be fair with Skyrim, I kinda had no choice at the time as I was essentially ordered to stay home by the doctor for about a week whilst recovering from knee surgery. Best week ever.

I agree with you completely, WickedLiquid. We've all got a vice, whether it's certain foods, drinks, activities or things to watch etc. In saying that though, as adults it's up to us to assume responsibility for our vices. My biggest vice that I can think of is that I'm pretty sure I have an addiction to iced coffee - http://www.parmalat.com.au/index.php?op ... Itemid=108 - it's quite possibly the WORST thing you can drink and put into your body... but it's oh so, so delicious. I try to limit it to just the weekend.

With children in the picture, it's not up to the kids to handle their own vices (okay, it is to a degree I suppose) but it's mostly up to their parents to take the right responsibility to care for them.

Also, I tried to find the said video on YouTube since it looks like people outside of Australia may not be able to watch it... no luck yet sorry.

 

[MattAY]

Yeah, were all addicted, let's not lie . But this isn't news, children have been addicted for years. I played a shitload of video games 11-12 years ago. Sometimes into the early hours of the morning.

But we have our priorities straight. In younger kids they dont have responsibilities as such, so they can dive right in. Essentially it can be down to parenting to say, hey buddy - you've had enough for today, fucking play outside.
Smart gadgets aren't helping either. Kids sneaking them into bed etc and playing after bedtime.

 

[madster111]

If they're talking about the gaming most children do, IE iOS/Android phone/tablet gaming, then they are absolutely correct.
The developers of those free to play games are fucking scum who literally watch how people who develop things like pokies set them up, and proceed to copy it. They are made as addictive as is cheaply possible and then they pay for a bunch of top reviews and some shitty advertisements until it takes off and they start taking in their .99 cents from all over.

Remember, modern 'gaming' is absolutely not the same as the gaming we had. Back in the day we'd have a gameboy and sit down to play pokemon, which would actually help us develop with things like strategy, reading, even math skills all without the possibility of it costing any more money or being designed to be annoying.
The games kids play these days teach 'tap a button until you can't tape it anymore and then spend more money so you can tap it'. A substantial amount of the games on android/iOS are disturbingly easy to compare to slot machines and the like, addictive in that shit way and designed with the sole goal of extracting as much money as they can before the next 'big thing' comes along to do it all again.

Now, if more kids were playing Game Dev Story, i would totally understand considering that is the single most addictive game ever made, to the point where i've started to wonder if it was created as some sort of experiment by DARPA.

 

[C_nate]

The science isn't there to back up my theory, but I believe some people just have addictive personalities, which means they will seek something out, whether it is games, or gambling, or substances, and not be able to moderate their usage of it.

When you boil it down, that is all addiction is, a person who will not or cannot moderate themselves or the thing they enjoy to the point that it becomes a detrimental, if not outright destructive influence in their life.

There were addicts long before there were video games. Finding out how and why addiction occurs is more important than pointing fingers at what new things people are becoming addicted to.

But sadly that kind of news isn't interesting enough to the average reader so the internet is filled with click bait titles and "articles". This isn't new though, the media has been blaming human behaviors on stuff for a long time.

Remember the stories that kids playing D&D meant they were devil worshipers?

Back in the 60's or 70's one guy did one study where he asked criminals if they read comic books. Some said they did so he declared that comic books turned kids into criminals. Which is why you have that comic book authority stamp thing on comics, to let parents know that it is "safe" for their kids.

When I was a kid, it was Tipper Gore with her crusade against naughty lyrics that got CD's with the explicit content tags on them.

And so on and so forth, for ever and ever.....

 

[Sourdeez]

Addiction is known by its consequences.

 

[WickedLiquid]

 

[Optimus-Crime]

i've seen lots of juveniles in my short time working in law enforcement. the only video game the kids play is, surprise surprise, GTA.
Game addiction wouldn't be a bad thing for these kids. Better than getting a capital murder charge killing dope peddlers in alleys for 250 bucks. Inundate your child with Mario. Problem solved. The worst is they'll turn out to have an unhealthy and nerdy Yoshi fetish. Not that big a deal.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Tldr: kids like fun things.


Oh no!

 

[MattAY]

Tldr: kids like fun things.


Oh no!

Hahaha!

 

[Rakon]

http://www.cracked.com/article_18461_5- ... icted.html

I read that a while ago, and I agree with many of the arguments. Video Games are definitely more addictive than most pass times. I'll play 2 games of League of Legends, and know I have to go do something else, but still have an extreme urge to keep playing. Maybe it's because it's so much fun, maybe its something else, but nothing hooks me quite like video games do (not just LoL)

 

[Master_Craig]

That article makes a lot of sense to me. Some of those things (e.g. pull the lever and stuff) happens in so many games.

The first point really reminds me of World of Warcraft and rare drops and stuff.

 

[FrozenBacon]

Gaming addiction is a sign of another mental issue, not the other way around. Video games are a way to escape the world that they do not like as much.

It is like saying drinking alcohol leads to depression. No, most people drink alcohol because they are depressed. This is just another case of blaming a symptom to be the cause.

 

[Master_Craig]

^ Absolutely. Completely agree, FrozenBacon.

I mentioned it before in response to Sightless earlier in this thread, but I played heaps of video games (and I mean A LOT) when I was in high school because it was a means of escape from the world, which I wasn't personally enjoying (I was bullied a lot in high school and didn't really have any friends).

For me personally, I was unhappy and to enjoy myself, escape what I didn't like and whatnot, I would play video games. However, because of my inactive life style, that lead to being unhealthy and overweight. Video games didn't cause that problem for me. I was already distressed, went to games to seek refuge so to speak and that in turn lead to the weight gain, the inactivity.

But yeah, you're right FrozenBacon. It's not video games causing the problem, it's previous problems before that, which lead to the video games, the escape.

 

[Heath_Hindman]

Tldr: kids like fun things.


Oh no!

It doesn't help that parents fucking suck at having kids.

A major factor in this has to be parents just forking over an iPhone for their 2-year-old to mess with every time the kid makes a peep. You give a kid any interactive object that becomes their whole safety net and solace like that? You're damn fucking right they'll get addicted, especially with the way young brains are more easily changed and affected than adult brains.

People are so fucking stupid.

I was against the idea of a procreation license in the past but now I'm for it. And I want to be the decider and shit.

Fuck man, I hate people so hard.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Tldr: kids like fun things.


Oh no!

It doesn't help that parents fucking suck at having kids.

SIR! You are speaking to a parent! Hi-yah!

 

[Master_Craig]

It doesn't help that parents fucking suck at having kids.

A major factor in this has to be parents just forking over an iPhone for their 2-year-old to mess with every time the kid makes a peep. You give a kid any interactive object that becomes their whole safety net and solace like that? You're damn fucking right they'll get addicted, especially with the way young brains are more easily changed and affected than adult brains.

People are so fucking stupid.

I was against the idea of a procreation license in the past but now I'm for it. And I want to be the decider and shit.

Fuck man, I hate people so hard.

I don't have children, I don't really want to say "this is how you should do it" or anything like that, but parents and children really surprise me nowadays.

I find it very confusing how children who are so small and young are given things like iPhones and iPads to play with. I think you're right Heath, they're given to the children as a means to pipe 'em down and keep 'em occupied.

When I was a kid, I remember for my birthday I got this awesome suit case thing that was a "portable art studio". My folks knew I liked art and drawing, so they got me this case. You open up the case and it has all your Goddamn art supplies in it. Coloured pencils, water coloured paints, brushes, crayons, chalk, erasers, sharpeners the lot. It was awesome and I used and abused the crap out of it.

Nowadays (as mentioned before) I hear of kids getting crazy expensive items like iPhones and IPads, iTouches etc. for Christmas/birthdays), I hear a lot of the kids I help coach at judo getting this crazy stuff.

I also agree with madster as well... games of the past, of our generation were old school games on the Gameboy. Look at Tetris, that was essentially a building block game and timed problem solving, to develop problem solving skills, reflexes and reaction time. Pokemon helped with things like strategy, reading and maths. Nowadays, kids play games that are "tap button to win" and "if you want to do things faster, spend your parents money".

It's really sad.