This is why:
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2008-07-01-porn_N.htm
Remember what the legend says Willie Sutton said when they asked him why he robbed banks (even though he most likely never actually said it)........
—
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
Unfortunately, sexual predators and other assorted low-lifes have been using the World Wide Web for many years in its various forms to target children. About 8 years ago, I was hired to help with the final stages of designing Net Nanny 4.0, a product designed to be used by parents concerned about their children's Internet access. Afterwards, I was one of 6 programmers who wrote it to do things like log access, check for certain words being received (e.g., sexual related words) or sent (e.g., personal information), prevent access to certain websites or allow access to only certain ones, control what time(s) the children can be using the Internet, etc. Although the product won quite a few awards and was very popular at the time, it was hardly perfect. For example, although we had talented programmers involved, we could not make the security completely reliable although I think that we did a quite good job. Part of the problem is the general lack of security available in home versions of Windows products. Thus, especially if the parent did not check often enough, there were at least one or two ways for savvy youngsters to bypass the program. I don't know how good the security is on the console machines but, as the article says, "savvy kids can bypass parental controls". From my own experience involved in creating one of these types of programs, I can attest that unless the operating system supports proper security and the parents use it properly, kids will find ways to get past that. Note that these types of programs and systems are not meant to replace the parents' responsibility but rather to assist them in carrying it out. I believe that it is important that children be educated at a quite young age to both not talk to strangers in person, but also through a computer interface. As such, I agree with Gamersmom to the extent that children, especially young children, should not be playing any online games where they interact with other people since there is no real way to be able to tell who these other people really are.
- John O.
[em]Carpe Diem![/em] (Seize the Day!)
Well my IT guys have blocked the link, but I don't think I need to see it. The brainwave reading devices that will be coming out soon, and the potential for disastrous brain development that comes with it, would be more than sufficient reason to keep kids off of games. The presence of predators in the online world today just makes everything worse. It's just so sad, that's all. On so many levels. :|
Leveling in Real Life
Here's the story Bruce: By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY Sexual predators are using gaming consoles such as the Wii, PlayStation and Xbox to meet children online. "Child predators are migrating from traditional methods to alternate media," says Detective Lt. Thomas Kish of the Michigan State Police. "They are going to places where children are." Predators view games that allow kids to access the Internet and text message other players as a "foot in the door," he says. Parents may not realize that gaming consoles have become Internet devices or that savvy kids can bypass parental controls, says Marc Rogers, director of Purdue University's Cyber Forensics Lab. Police who have been doing stings in Internet chat rooms for years now are going undercover to catch predators playing interactive games, ranging from Grand Theft Auto to old-fashioned chess and checkers. They're making arrests. In Utah, a man was charged this year with sexual exploitation of a minor for enticing a 12-year-old boy he met through an online game into having sex, says Lt. Jessica Farnsworth, field commander of the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. She says predators meet kids on a game, "groom them and then try to move off the game." In December, Michigan prosecutors convicted Adam Glenn Schroeder of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and using a computer to commit a crime. He used a game, World of Warcraft, to lure a 12-year-old girl into having sex with him. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Police had found Schroeder on other games. "This guy had been doing it for a while," Kish says. In another case, Kish says, a 10-year-old boy playing the Halo Xbox game got a video message from a man that showed the adult engaged in a sex act. Farnsworth says her office has seized many Xbox machines for investigation and has received training from the maker, Microsoft, on how to extract text messages and other information from them. Microsoft trains police at national conferences, says Tim Cranton, associate general counsel for the company's Worldwide Internet Safety Enforcement program Cranton says the Xbox has password-protected "family settings" that allow parents to turn off Internet access or track content and contacts. PlayStation and Wii also have such controls.
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
Well I will partially agree with you people. I think games are benficial for the strong mental development of children. Games such as XXX puzzle games build up the logic and IQ level of a child. I am against those violent games which are ruining our coming generations.
[color=blue]Link removed. You are not welcome to advertise here. Purchase advertisement space elsewhere. Thank you.[/color]
Hello, while I agree the predator angle is something to be concerned about it isnt the main threat. IMO the bigger issue is children gaming exessvily and this having a n impact on childrens development. - dark
*
Dear Gamersmom,
A good forum title!
Yes, I agree! Sexual predators are a very real danger. But as dark says, there are other issues that can have a serious impact on children. So, whether or not your child has well developed social skills, a lot of friends, does well in school, and is a well behaved child that helps around the house and is a "good kid;" there are still other negative issues that are more insidious and might not be immediately noticeable. Some negative aspects might take years to develop before you are aware of their impact on your child.
Yes, there are other dangers besides sexual predators to be aware of if your child spends a couple of hours or more a day playing video games. Fourteen hours a week or more may have a negative effect on some children. We don't really know how much is safe or how much is harmful, do we?
How does one know? If parents pay close attention to their kids and look for negative changes, perhaps they will see signs of problems while they are still in the early stages. But how can a parent tell about brain development? That is the question!
Here are some of the possible negative affects of excessive video gaming:
1. Damage to vision
2. Development of poor posture - hunched shoulders, "turtle" neck
3. Damage to hand and wrist tendons and joints.
4. Stunted brain development
5. Childhood obesity
6. Social anxiety
7. Attention Deficit Disorder
8. Increased aggressiveness
9. De-sensitization to violence
10. Asberger's Syndrome-like behavior
11. Bipolar or Manic-Depressive-like behavior
12. Obsessive Compulsive behavior
13. Anti-social behavior, reclusiveness
* By the way, the adults on this site have verifed many of these symptoms in themselves.
"A person starts to live when he can live outside himself." Albert Einstein
"You don't get to choose how you are going to die. Or when.
You can only decide how you are going to live. Now." Joan Baez
(response to marias)
I have found that internet games make people stupider. I acknowlege when I played computer games it made me much less coherent later (difficulty in putting sentences together, difficulty in creating and general loss of interest in activities that interested me beforehand), and even aggressive towards nonplayers, and I notice this in other friends who play excessively. I never played the violent games, rather decoration type games. As you see in the news article that brought me to this website http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-10-29/story/online-addiction-no-game-experts-warn
Farmville is NOT a violent game. Whatis your proof that it would "build up the logic and IQ" of a child if it makes us adults stupider? Children need much, much more than games to be intelligence, i.e, communication, learning how to create and fend for oneself in real life, et c. Computer games are very repetitive-- which limits creativity and ushers one into obsessive cumpulsiveness. Further, the core meaning of these non-violent games is based on greed. The people who make these games use the "social" aspect like a whore - in the end, players only become yet more isolated, as we see in the article I just mentioned.
What kind of socialization is it? Sitting alone in your room spending hours in front of this idol, glorifying a stupid game, is not quite the same thing as sitting around, say a campfire and sharing stories with people. It's an illusion. Maybe you meant board games bring up IQ? These news articles are proof that computer games bring DOWN IQ resulting in stupidity& criminals and agressiveness, no matter how non-violent and "cute" they pose to be. So again I challenge you to present your proof for the arguement.
honeycrunchapple, you should ignore what marias wrote. This person is quite likely a spammer who only wrote that post to advertise some online puzzle games, so obviously he or she would say positive things about them. As far as any beneficial mental development effects that children (or adults) get from using a computer, including playing games or solving puzzles, that is still quite uncertain. For example, the large (11,430 participants) study mentioned in the Brain games donaEU(tm)t make you smarter, study finds article states that any gains from the highly touted "brain games" appears to be limited to just the specific tasks being repeated, regardless of how many hours are spent.
As far as potential "benefits" of online video games, such as socialization, I agree with you honeycrunchapple that they are usually not as good as their equivalent in real life instead.
- John O.
[em]Carpe Diem![/em] (Seize the Day!)
Sexual predation of children and "age play" is the dark secret underbelly of second life as i'm sure many of you know. It runs the range from adults actually creating child avatars to access the teen grid, to adults running adult avatars but engaging in age roleplay sexually. There are whispers about it in second life but no one speaks about it openly. The freakiest thing to me in second life was always the child avatars on the adult grid - now let's look at this a moment - that is an adult person who wants to roleplay being a child - sometimes as a member of a family. There are hundreds of shops in second life for purchasing child skins, shapes, clothing toys etc specifically for this group of people that wants to roleplay being a child. Does anyone understand this cause i so do not. It always creeped me out when i saw it.
I'd say this is the reason that sexual predators shouldn't play video games.
It's like saying your children shouldn't go to the playground because it's a place where children congregate and naturally if children are there the pedophiles will follow. How about just disguising your children as adults, I'm sure the pedophiles would lose all interest then.
Apart from this reason..I think children should never play online video games,,,as they get early in contact with Dopamine overloads in their still growing brains...So I d advise to wiat till their 24...at least./ I try to convince my children neber to play.
Sexual predetors I think or more often on facebook , myspace and any other social network......I need to train my daughter at the age of five in Krav Maga...so in case they get assaulted...they have a good chance to make a first strike..also handy at later age. There is one cure but lets not discuss that here...
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
If you know alcohol can be addicting and severely damaging when abused, then would you give alcohol to your child?
If you know online video games can be addicting and severely damaging when abused, then why expose kids to this too?
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
so can tv.. so none of that too? how far does one go? Candy bars are damaging to.. and cheetos...
I am not sure i can, even after my experience.. equate online games.. with Alcohol for minors.
I agree. We wouldn't give cigarettes to minors, or alcohol or barbituates...we know the problems with excessive gaming (physical and mental), why do we allow certain types of online gaming?
I didn't think this was a problem until I got myself addicted. I saw my niece and nephew play WOW, and my grandsons play WOW and it didn't occur to me that there was a problem. Actually none of them had a problem with it and have gone on with their lives; I'M the one with a problem. Good old grandma.
But they were are older teenagers when they started to play. I think giving some games to younger children isn't a good idea.
None of those items were allowed in this family; either my parents wouldn't let me, or my step-son's family has limited all those things, including tv and computer time. Consequently his kids are pretty healthy and very active in school and music.
I totally get the idea of limits.. moderation.. monitoring.. and having the kids involved in healthy activities..
actualy childhood obesity from all of the above is proly the country's (USA) biggest issue for kids health.
I don't have kids, but if I did no way would they be playing with strangers online. No way.
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
not allowing kids to play video games would be like saying no tv, no movies etc.- actually there are some religious cults that don't allow any of that!! lol but I don't think that is the answer in this day and age unless you are prepared to live in closed compound somewhere.
It is more like do your chores, do your homework, engage them in family things or other activities and then alloting some time to play on pc. We can't protect people from their own natures or desires, or from the world of technology. We can only hope to give them the tools to make healthy choices.
Part of a parent's job is to protect their children. Leaving a child unsupervised on the internet is poor parenting. And we all know there are way too many parents who let the tv and video games babysit. In my years of gaming, I've happened across what I believed to be children - who knows if they really were - who were exposed to predators. To think the predators aren't online where kids are is naive.
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
I think we are all talking about different things.. Getting a life.. of course no child should be left unsuperised in most situaions whether it be in the store, in the park, or online.
I think that goes without saying... and some games have age limits. as do alcohol and cigs. It's against the law for me to let my child drink, do drugs, or smoke.
It's up to me to teach them healthy habits and protect them.. i think the question was
"should kids play online games :EVER.,"
I think that is the million dollar question. Should kids eat refined suger.. ever?
Should kids watch tv.. ever?
and i think the word "ever" is the key word.... Most people will never have an addiction to gaming... it's a small percent of the population... so deeming gaming as evil.. hmm..
should parents use common sense and monitor all computer activity of their kids? Yep..
agreed!!!
I mean I hope most kids growing up with computers will "learn" to use them creatively and productively.
Games are games, technology just took it to another level. Choosing how we spend our leisure time will depend on our own likes and dislikes too and the state of our own emotional/spiritual health.
It's against the law for kids to play online games from MIdnight to 6 AM in South Korea.
One in ten addiction rate is not small! That's over 20 million Americans! There are only 1 million addictive gamblers in the US. World-wide, hundreds of millions are "technology addicts".
It will be interesting when Internet Addiction is an official DSM-V disorder, along with alcoholism, in the U.S.
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
Just because something is done by most people; doesn't make it right to give to our kids. Limit tv, yes. But dont let them eat candy, drink soft drinks or play online games too early in life. Candy rots the teeth, so do soft drinks, and playing games, as Mudphud states, really sets up a precedent for later in life that isn't worth testing.
We don't give kids alcohol or cigarettes while they are growing, why would we give them online games to play with when we know it is harmful?
Let them make those choices as adults. But as kids, why not teach them to be great adults and not give them substances that harm their lives. If people, as parents, give their kids things they know to be harmful, they can't expect those kids to grow up into responsible adults.
I guess most are going on the premise that all online gaming is harmful. I think a lot of it can be definitely.
We have to remember that there are two schools of thought on this and not all pc games are MMOs. There are believe it or not some benefits of computer games to kids as well. You must look at both sides of the literature on it to make good choices. Technology is not going to go away and there are many games that are educational, imaginative and brain stimulating in a good way if you read some of the studies. Many teachers use the internet as a tool in classrooms too. It depends on what it is, how it is presented and yes children do need monitoring.
People can become addicted to just about anything I think if they have that predisposition.
I just fear that we are demonizing it way too much because of our own personal experiences.
Just my two cents worth.
I think what we are talking about here is the age of the child, the growth of the early brain, and what kind of online gaming is ok for a child.
And I think we're talking about online gaming for younger children, which could lead to excessive gaming for children at too early an age.
I'm certainly not talking about moderation, casualness, or stopping technology.
If excessive online gaming is harmful at all, no matter what the reverse literature says, we should think twice before giving it to young children.
Adults can make up their own minds. But children can't. Someone has to decide for them.
Ok I'm confused (nothing new lol)
are you talking MMOs or just online games like PBS Kids has or the Disney site? which is what I was talking about.
Also I wasn't meaning any "excessive" online playing for children or anyone for that matter! I guess I wasn't clear.
I am not with a religious cult. I had no one telling me that a TV subscription is against any higher powers law, yet I quit my TV subscription 5 years ago. I think its not natural to watch all evening zapping between countless of channels, all being more extreme in exposure each year. - as the number of channels offering less then nothing - grows.
I do watch TV but in alternate ways. So I now will choose in advance what to watch. I have an antenna for 3 free non commercial channels.
I wont keep my kids from watching TV, gaming. or even drink alcohol( in their late teens), although I will explain them of the dangers of addiction and abuse. The problem when I forbod I become the tyrant and they will do it to cross me.
But Online gaming will be not possible. As cocaine will not be possible. As I will explain them over and over again online games never stop, and they will destroy the brains. Hwne they play it will be off line, And I hope their interest will go to Royal games, like Go and Chess. I will teach them once they are old enough. Now they watch 30 minutes a dayat gae of 3. The health instutate advices 1 hour max, what sometime happen onr ainy sundays.
When I walk the street I see people having toddlers, where the TV is always swithced on, and where I see cartoons..Cartoons are bad for children as they dont learn anything from them, so not only screentime is important, but also what they are shown ( at very young age language skills and playing should be thought, even through TV)
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
btw excessive gaming is harmful to each human being. Only addicted people play excessive ...
When I was a kid I was raised in the time of no limits...At school I learned EVERYTHING. part from the things I should have learned. To be self aware..., and to be myself. The schools like to have us live in our heads...as well as the entertainment industry..We need to teach our children that the entire entertainment industy their goal is not to make our lives better, and that we only must learn to take small portions of what interest us..So maintain full balance in life..Like I now , after 40 years... I need to learn what that means to me.
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
MMORPG = "digital crack"
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
The only game my daughter is allowed to play (with my wife ) is digital memory. The aid here is the cards do not mix up as she has problems putting the cards back at the same place.
this is an example of a good game. She learn to focus. And the game is better to follow for her, untill she can put the cards back on the table at the same plave....They play like 1 or 2 games..about 15 minutes...I think this is pretty harmless:)
but anything that starts with MM ( mass multi) is pure crack for every child...I am not a doctor, but My guts tell me the brains will be changed dramaticly...and may become addicted cause of the gaming and not randomly,,,Its not worth it...just never let them,....Playing RL, outside...is much more fun or do family games...love each other as its meant to be,,
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
not sure.. my husband played an mmo.. he'd play a bit.. then log out.. it was never a problem for him..definately not crack.. or even weed...
for me yes mmo was like heroin. But i have an addictive personality.... I think that's the key..
Crack is illegal... gaming is not. I just don't think there is enough medical evidence to link the two. For addictive personalities lots of substances can be like crack...
For the general population.. I don't really think the comparison is equal.
And what do you mean by 1 in 10 addicted? Please give me your reference...
Encouraging healthy behavior in our kids?.. yes.. giving unlimited access to crap to kids? no.. bad..
Occasional fun sweets and fun games? I let my son.. but moderation and monitoring.. it's not a free for all..
Kate, respectfully, I have given this reference many times to you. It is starting to hurt my feelings you don't trust me. ;)
Pathological Video Game Use Among Youths: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study
http://drdouglas.org/page19.html
RESULTS: The prevalence of pathological gaming was similar to that in other countries (9%). Greater amounts of gaming, lower social competence, and greater impulsivity seemed to act as risk factors for becoming pathological gamers, whereas depression, anxiety, social phobias, and lower school performance seemed to act as outcomes of pathological gaming.
The Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behaviors: International Evidence From Correlational, Longitudinal, and Experimental Studies
http://drdouglas.org/prosocial_ft.html
News Report on Research on video game addiction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRNlnhS7Dvw
Pathological video-game use among youth ages 8 to 18: a national study.Gentile D.Source
Department of Psychology, Iowa State University and National Institute on Media and the Family, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. dgentile@iastate.edu
Erratum inPsychol Sci. 2009 Jun;20(6):785. Abstract
Researchers have studied whether some youth are "addicted" to video games, but previous studies have been based on regional convenience samples. Using a national sample, this study gathered information about video-gaming habits and parental involvement in gaming, to determine the percentage of youth who meet clinical-style criteria for pathological gaming. A Harris poll surveyed a randomly selected sample of 1,178 American youth ages 8 to 18. About 8% of video-game players in this sample exhibited pathological patterns of play. Several indicators documented convergent and divergent validity of the results: Pathological gamers spent twice as much time playing as nonpathological gamers and received poorer grades in school; pathological gaming also showed comorbidity with attention problems. Pathological status significantly predicted poorer school performance even after controlling for sex, age, and weekly amount of video-game play. These results confirm that pathological gaming can be measured reliably, that the construct demonstrates validity, and that it is not simply isomorphic with a high amount of play.
The data is there... we either believe... or do not believe.
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
Also, one more thing. It is illegal in South Korea to play video games between 12 Midnight to 6 AM. Why would one country do that? Make something so "benign" an illegal activity... like minors using alcohol?
**Warning Gaming Images** - posting entire article.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/04/23/south-korea-gaming-curfew-passes-committee-unanimously/
South Korea gaming curfew passes committee unanimously
South Korea's national assembly will soon vote on a curfew law preventing children under 15 from playing online games from midnight until 6AM. Chosunilbo reports the National Assembly's legislation and judiciary committee voted unanimously to pass the bill this Wednesday. The law would not affect offline and console games. The government began making moves to enact a video game curfew last year. The program also included tests of a "slowdown" policy that would reduce the internet speed of underage users logged into a policed game for an extended time. Government regulation isn't fun, but it could be worse for young South Korean gamers ... they could be Vietnamese adults.
http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/16/2564160/sony-korea-psn-underage-curfewSony triggers PSN curfew for South Korean underage players
South Korea has gone to great lengths to stem the growing rate of gaming addiction within its youth population. Last year, Seoul announced a "nighttime shutdown" policy against popular RPG titles, which booted underage players from the time-intensive games when the clock struck midnight. Bandwidth throttling was also instituted as a tactic against those who connected for lengthy periods of time.
Now it is turning to console manufacturers for assistance with cutting off online play to those under sixteen in the late evening hours (specifically between midnight and 6AM). It seems a daunting task for Sony and Microsoft to tackle. Both PlayStation Network and Xbox Live make registering a new user account a relatively quick process -- one which currently lacks any means of foolproof age verification.
For its part, Sony Computer Entertainment of Korea has announced its intentions to fully comply. Beginning November 18th, it will deny underage gamers access to PSN during the restricted hours and says it will somehow prevent those same individuals from creating new network accounts. The company notes that this policy applies solely to the PlayStation 3, suggesting that it may have a different plan for the upcoming PlayStation Vita.
The Xbox camp seems more likely to opt for the all-or-nothing approach. Microsoft of Korea is reportedly favoring the idea of taking Xbox Live offline at midnight for the entire country, restoring service at 6 the following morning. Every day. It should have a decent amount of time to decide; Gamasutra reports consoles may receive a two-year grace period before they're required to participate in the Shutdown Law.
While these measures may seem rather extreme, there's a small part of us that wouldn't mind seeing the US get similar treatment. Judging by the profanity and racial slurs we hear hurled around on Xbox Live and PSN with reckless abandon, some people could clearly use a mandatory time out. (We're just kidding about that last part, friends.)
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
I think the situation may be even more problematic. I fear that when children start playing a lot when not mature yet, avoiding problems or not learned any hobby or pasttime or social games, the nerves get damaged by the use of games...and become pathalogic gamers whilst perhaps they would never become when start to play 10 years later.
also Never trust your government. Laws change from country to country. Weed is legal here, somewhat - as police has no time to arrest them anyway. Cocaine is available to everyone.I dont know any one ever been arrested. But games are available to everyone, yet the affect of games is exactly the same as cocaine ( I dont realy know but I trust its true) And Alcohol, without getting drunk. Sigarretes are legal, but they will kill you. And should be classified as drugs.
the problem is the government is incostistent....as the game industry is growing...having a lot to say and politicians have no clue what its all about.
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
Wow, didn't realize this post was active again. I did not mean to discount the dangers of addiction in the original post, just to point out that there are other dangers in online games. Those of you who have spent time in WoW and SL know that the environment in those games is toxic for young children. I assume the same is true for many other online games. If I had a child under the age of 18 right now, I would not allow them to play anything that involved online interactions with strangers, not even Disney stuff. Especially not Disney stuff. As I said at the beginning of this thread, remember what Willie Sutton didn't actually say........that's where the money is.
"Small service is true service while it lasts. Of humblest friends, bright creature! scorn not one
The daisy, by the shadow that it casts,
Protects the lingering dewdrop from the sun." -------William Wordsworth
Gamersmom is a medical doctor and I am too. So that's TWO DOCTORS who recommend that kids do not play!
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
amen to that. Both ethical and medical reasons (danger from perverts, danger to brains) not to be gaming online. But most pervs are now on facebook lately...and although Facebook is not allowed to open accounts for minors without explicit parental consent...they do it anyway. without this permission.So the Ethics problem is far wider then the gaming...but yes its a valid reason too.
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
A little off topic, and I have no research to back this opinion up, but I think most any human given the right circumstances - frame of mind, level of stress, etc. - is susceptible to addiction. I'm not buying that only a small percentage of people predisposed by physical chemistry can become addicts. Good coping skills learned in and practiced from childhood are likely to lead to a balanced lifestyle that's far less likely to succumb. Just my two cents.
Acceptance. When I am disturbed, it is because a person, place, thing, or situation is unacceptable to me. I find no serenity until I accept my life as being exactly the way it is meant to be. Nothing happens in God’s world by mistake. Acknowledge the problem, but live the solution!
8 percent of gamers.. which ok.. i understand. I was trying to understand if you were referring to 8 percent of the overall population.. And i would agree that overall, 8 percent of our overall population will be at risk for many types of addiction.. food, tv, porn.. lots of potential vices...
But does that mean that gaming in and of itself is the problem?
I still question that.. I think that 8 percent of the population has some kind of risk based on their overall make up mentally, physiologically...
Because again, not everyone gets addicted or has adverse problems when it comes to pleasurable experiences..
I am thinking that pathological anything has roots that have little to do with the actual vice...
a study i would like to see.. is an study of brain scans of kids.. at age 6 and 16.. and see which kids have had issues with addiction... wondering if their brains at 6 can predict their vulnerability...
I am not sure if a study could predict but it would be good. There is so much that is not yet known about the human brain. They can see things like depression and many other things which might indicate a danger though. But I am no expert on it.
Medical doctors aside here, I think everyone is speaking a bit passionately and understandably so. I still feel that computer games will have a place in our world and it's good to be aware of the dangers without totally dismissing all of them or putting all in same category.
Mudphud, I agree there has to be limits and I know Koreans have had had a huge problem with gaming. Interesting how societies have a sickness in them that comes out in this form of online addictions. We are not exempt over here.
Eve I'm glad you brought up that thing about a game that deals with memory. Those are the kinds of positive I was meaning.
I was not promoting MMPORGS!!!!
The government should never interfere with anything, as they only talk for the voting opinion. Parents are responsible for their kids. And when they game a lot then the question is not only what they do on the net, but also what they do not do with their lives. Like I missed a lot since I was 15. thet alcohol and and tabooc are legal, as well as games, and drugs are not , is what we all believe what is right. The items legal are ad damaging for the 8% defined above, as drugs..so the law makes no sense.
And then...people must learn what damages them ...not depend how great the government ...they know nothing...politicians are scum: all of them
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
I agree Eve.
I also feel that this new phenonmenon of addiction to online stuff is an indication of something else deeper going on in our societies too. I don't blame just the games or gaming companies. That is just my own thought.
And thats interesting Eve, because even though drugs are freely available in your country, I think the Netherlands no? Drug use among teens is twice as high in the USA... So the availability does not exactly make users more likely to use/abuse it...
8-9% is very high as the research shows 85% of kids play video games!!!
That's 7-8% of the entire population.
Andrew P. Doan, MPH, MD, PhD
My Gaming Addiction Videos on YouTube: YouTube.com/@DrAndrewDoan
*The views expressed are of the author's and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the U.S. Navy, DHA or Department of Defense.
That news must be from FOX news. USA scores 3 times as bad according wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country
The problem is not decreminalisation, but eduction. When young people learn drugs are bad...and explained why ...its less. I think in the USA ethnic problems ( latin american immigrants) may increase the USA domestic use dramaticly on cannabis
Same for games..forbidding it, put it in the criminal cicuit wouldnt matter although the one willing to win your vote will tell you different, but it doesnt matter..its all about what we tell our kids, and their chances in society what truly matters. knowledge is power. understand what drugs do in our body should mke everyone scared. Learning the alternatives make them happier too
pre- diagnosed with Autism.
Thank you, BOTH of you. It can't be said often enough.
Why wait until someone somewhere says, ok it's very bad for children, let's make some laws about it. Why not be proactive and do the best for kids now! let them make decisions when adults and have the brainpower to research what they do and can make an informed choice.
Just because kids are now allowed to do anything they want to, we can't come back later and complain "well they dress like tarts, there is no respect, they are responsible, etc. etc." Whose fault is it? the parents.
I'm afraid that video games are given to children (like TV in the past was) as a "baby sitter" so the parents needn't get involved.
At one time we had our 3 year old grandson to raise, and we worried then about too much tv. Both of us worked and it was hard taking care of a 3 year old when neither one of us had a child at home in years.
We solved the problem by allowing him a video tape (in this case Where the Wild Things Are) that he loved to watch while eating his breakfast, so I could shower. I dropped him off at his sitter's on the way to work. His grandpa picked him up after work.
After a full day of work we spent doing things with him. He helped fix the dinner; set the table (with lots of help with me or grandpa), and then we played until bathtime. We didn't just sit him down in front of something so we could go off and do adult things.
Anyway, with two medical doctors here advising, that's enough from me.
Anyway..gonna bow out of this discussion.. the origional thread asked a question I believe.. should kids play online games.. ever..
and it's morphed into "parents who let their kids play an online game are letting a game babysit them"
That doesn't represent me as a parent.. but i'd agree that no kid should play mmorpg that allow chatting with strangers.. Most kids online games.. don't.
That's what I thought too. and it went a bit over the top. lol
Brain science, that's a still relatively new field isn't it?
But I'm willing to bet there is nothing genetically that could determine if a person will become an addict.
We all adapt to our environment.
When a person is around second hand smoke, they can develop a nicotine addiction.
I wonder how many gaming addicts had a Television (or secondhand smoke eqivalent) in their house while growing up.
That's my theory anyways.