Gaming is big business but it has its downside. People have died from gaming and the world is recognizing that game addiction is serious and spreading fast. Mental health professionals opine that gaming can destroy lives, keep students from focusing on learning, workers from working, and women from their duties. There are instances where gamers have not left home for years.
Games like EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, and others are popularly referred to as heroinware. And symptoms of addiction according to Computer Addiction Services at McLean Hospital are: obsession with the game; inability to stop; neglect of family and work; lying to hide activity; problems with studies and work; health problems, muscular as well as vision related; neglect of personal hygiene; as well as sleep disturbances.
The games provide social interaction to lonely people, gamers gain acknowledgement as well as power denied elsewhere due to their gaming expertise, and the game weaves a spell on the mind-one gets so absorbed by the virtual realities that it is hard to get away.
The addiction is so real that it requires intensive therapy. Treatment programs include: behavioral therapy, anti-depressants, as well as prescription drugs.
Not all agree that gaming is addictive. MIT's Games-to-Teach project manager opines that games sharpen critical thinking, improve social skills, and increase empathy. Many others do agree that games inspire imagination, creativity, and team work.
However, the problem is real and countries world over are taking measures. China has set up a clinic in Beijing for net-frazzled addicts to be treated with sports, acupuncture, and medication. The inmates according to the clinic's director have: depression, nervousness, fear, interaction problems, panic, agitation, shaking and numb hands, as well as sleep disorders. Gaming is a serious problem in Korea --- 1-2% of South Korea's online gamers are addicts. The government is taking steps and requesting game developers to create advisory patches to alert gamers to the impeding dangers.
A hard core gamer is one who is completely absorbed by his online fantasy, he isolates himself from family and friends, lets everyday activities fall by the wayside, spends over 16-20 hours a day playing the game and games at work, at home, and while on the road. Gaming becomes his whole life, a thirst that is never quenched.
Treatment is long and hard and like other addictions the first stage is the most difficult, getting the gamer to acknowledge that he or she has a problem. Addicts find it extremely painful to "kill" the characters of the game and to erase /destroy the software. Most are unable to "keep away" and return to the game addictively. Studies indicate that hard core players are often neurotic, shy, have emotional as well as behavioral issues, and problems in the home environment.
To overcome the addiction, the player must consider and analyze the issues underlying the game-it is the question of power, social standing, respect, and emotions. Children spend at least 13 to 30 hours a week gaming. Most computer games are violent and aggressive and do little to inculcate moral values. Studies indicate that gaming results in aggressiveness and violent responses in children. And, children are less concerned and helpful towards their peers and families. They become socially stunted.
The onus of minimizing the effects and ensuring that children receive a rounded upbringing falls on parents. It is important to introduce character building activities and to censor games, ensuring suitability.
- Study guidelines established by the Entertainment Software Board. They indicate suitability for different age groups. Read the content label which will summarize the game, this will serve as an appropriateness guideline.
- Know your child. If you find any signs of being unsettled withdraw games that cause this change in behavior. Introduce games that titillate the imagination and make use of the mind. Avoid violence and aggression.
- Visit www.1888FreeOnlineGames.com, www.ESRB.com this provides game ratings as well as reviews.
- Rent a game and play it yourself. First hand knowledge will serve you well.
- Communicate with other parents. You will glean the trends, know the popularity.
- Play the games with your child. Know their reactions and learn their responses.
- Establish an open relationship where your child becomes comfortable even talking about what is inappropriate or disturbing. Establish gently what is right and wrong. Bullying does not help.
- Set up the computer and gaming console in a family room. All games will then be out in the open. You will be in a position to judge and monitor.
- Feel free to contact the manufacturer and voice your opinion.
- Study in detail the plus and minus points of computer usage.
- Interact with your child at all levels.
- Be a cautious buyer -question claims of advancing brain development.
- Introduce a variable routine for your child. Outdoor activities interwoven with computer related activities.
- Focus on social and emotional development. The child must be confident, curious, and forthright; display self control; be able to relate linearly, be caring and cooperative, and be communicative.
- Choose games that are fun and have a degree of effective learning.
- Introduce games that require two or more players-this fosters social interaction.
- Playing games should be a privilege not a right. Emphasize that parental approval is a must.
- Use games to maximize your child's interests. If the child is mechanical minded purchase games that encourage this talent.
- Choose games that require decisions and strategies. Games should be more than shoot, blow up, destroy, and kill. Avoid killer machine games.
- Explain why a game is not to be played. Never just take away a game. A child needs to understand why you are against playing certain games.
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