Video Game Addiction - A Nightmare For Parents

In a recent survey that was conducted, it was discovered that what parents fear the most is not that their children will get addicted to drinking alcohol or watching pornographic videos.

Their greatest fear is that their children will get obsessed with playing video games.

You may be surprised at first, but when you think about it the results actually makes sense.

Just take a look at the gaming consoles available today. You have the PlayStation 3, the Xbox360, and the Nintendo Wii – and that doesn’t count all of the older generations of these three consoles.

Plus, there are also handheld gaming devices such as the PSP and the Nintendo DS. And don’t forget the PC which the use more for playing games – especially massively multiplayer role playing games (MMORPGs) – rather than doing their schoolwork.

The reason why the gaming industry just keeps on growing is because the support for these games is still at an all time high.

The industry continues to earn huge profits even during times of economic crisis. But that’s another story altogether.

Give a child any gaming console and you’ll see a huge difference within minutes.

Instead of the child playing with her toys or interacting with her friends, she will be stuck playing with her new gaming device for hours on end. Pretty soon, she’ll be spending almost the entire day with her eyes glued to the television screen or handheld device and her fingers pounding on buttons.

And this isn’t only applicable for little children. The effect it has on teenagers and young adults is even worse. Addiction to gaming can be the reason why they skip classes. They would rather level up their character in their favorite online game rather than listen to a boring Mathematics or Chemistry lecture.

Without parents being aware, their children could be spending their days playing video games in an internet café instead of going to school.

Take the Philippines (since I live in this country), for example:

Children here are so notorious for playing games such as Counterstrike, Defense Of The Ancients (DOTA), Ragnarok, Heroes of Newerth (HON) and so many other games in internet cafes that the government enacted laws banning students from using internet café computers during school hours.

Without control – from the students themselves or from outside sources – students who used to get grades of B+ or A will start getting Ds or even Fs.

It’s no wonder that parents have this automatic aversion to video games.

But are these games really that bad? Who is really to blame for the irresponsible actions of the youth these days?

It seems as if the finger-pointing will never end.