In The Star newspaper, 15th April 2015, Daisy Goodwin wrote an article called “teen terrors of the internet”. She feels that parents should become more aware and involved in their teenager’s online activities, as she is concerned about online gaming addiction and how it effects teenagers. She states that parents need to take action in order to prevent the children from becoming aggressive, and antisocial, as a result of this “addiction”. Digital devices, computer games and social media have been found to be addictive.Children can become addicted to online gaming and the internet, become angry and lash out at their parents when they try to wean them off the games or warm them of the dangers involved. These dangers can also be applicable to adults, however, they seem to effect teenagers more. Teenage boys often get more involved than girls in online gaming, and can easily become addicted, ( e.g. DOTA 2). Some games can be played with people all over the world, and the teenager can become completely absorbed in these types of games. Such games can build up a person’s confidence, as teenagers have a sense of becoming more powerful as a results of their skills at the keyboard. For some teenagers these online games can become their entire social life. Many people feel that there are negative implications and consequences that may results due to excessive online gaming, one such outcome could be depriving children of successful social lives and social interaction, (e.g. not looking people in the eye when communicating with them).
There have been many studies carried out, investigating the social and psychological implications of online gaming. In one study carried out by Seay in 2006, there are certain assumptions that were made about the positive and negative effects of online gaming. In this specific study, the researcher investigated which factors contribute to gaming addiction and cause problems in their real lives. Another aspect that was investigated was if online gaming leads to social isolation and if involvement in online gaming leads to depression. Results indicated that it depended if the person involved could manage his time efficiently in terms of amount of playing, i.e. self-regulation of the person, (as this can result in them avoiding the negative outcomes such as depression). It was also found in this study that there is no causal relationship between online gaming and depression. If online gaming is used responsibly, it can be a healthy recreational activity and provide many with social entertainment. Results therefore found that there was no indication that online gaming is primarily negative. The effect of online gaming thus depends on many factors, such as the attitude of the player or how much time is spent playing, etc.
In another study by Zamani, in 2009, he looked at the effect of addiction to computer games on the physical and mental health of male and female students. He found that there was a direct relationship between physical health, anxiety and depression with computer game addiction. He also felt that in terms of psychological implications, computer games may have a negative effect in terms of mental health of adolescents, and can result in anxiety, depression and isolation. However it must be mentioned that this is largely dependent on other factors such as the values that they have been brought up with, general health of the player, etc. There is no definative evidence that computer games cause social isolation. In addition certain games can be more constructive then others.
How to help:
There are various suggestions to parents as to how to stop their child becoming addicted to their phones or online gaming.
- it is impossible to get rid of them completely especially in today’s modern life. Even if parents try to deprive their children of playing these games, they will play at their friends’ houses
- it is advised that parents have appropriate guidelines, disciplinary techniques and strategies regarding how to limits their usage of the computer, and to deal with online gaming, thereby encouraging appropriate social skills
- the children/teenagers need adequate supervision, as online gaming addiction can interfere with the educational performance of the child
- parents need to check their own usage of phones, and other digital appliances, so the teenager can have a good role model
- some parents practice a “digital bedtime”, e.g. devices turned off by a certain time in the evening
- other parents recommend a “digital diet”, which limits their children to use the computer for school work, and slowly reintroduce limited access to games
- provide alternative activities for the child/teenager such as board games, meals together or outings
References:
-“Teen Terrors of the Internet”, by Daisy Goodwin, The Star Newspaper, page 12, 15th April 2015
–http://www.pool.cream.org/gamer/seay_dissertaion, pdf
–http://www.acedemia.edu/…/ an investigation_into_the _effects_of_online_gaming
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