Comments on: Some Kids Are “Pathologically” Addicted to Video Games, Study Finds

By: Jessica 13

Jessica 13 — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:49:34 +0000

i agree parent
kids should have a life not lots of them
but as long as they get at least some exersize besides with their thumbs
they should be aloud to play every other day or so ,
i am 13 and i am all for gaming but there is goin over the top.

im nt sayin u are thgth so be cool!

By: Video Parent

Video Parent — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 00:08:31 +0000

I solved this problem for my kids with a very simple strategy, I got a Time’s Up timer from productblizzard.com. It’s a basic mechanical device that locks the cord into a little timer that you set once a week with the kid’s allotment of time for the week. When they use up their time during the week they have to wait until the beginning of the following week again. If they behave they get more time, if they don’t behave then you can dock time out. It warns you when there’s 5 minutes left. Works like a charm and under $30. Just my two cents.

By: Mark D

Mark D — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:14:21 +0000

Great comments on this article… Most of them I enjoyed more than the article itself.

Ok, next do a study where you take video games away from these “kids” and see how soon they are “addicted” to something else like violence, smoking, alcohol or drugs. I seriously doubt it’s the medium, it’s much more likely to be the personality type that is the root of the problem here.

“They were more than twice as likely to have been diagnosed with …. They were also more likely to have been involved in physical fights recently…. ”
How about turning that logic around. These people ARE this way and will find an addiction to have. It’s been in-vouge to blame new media types time and again. Sell the video games, cell phones give you cancer, TV makes you a zombie, bash your radio for playing rock&roll, burn these books. History repeats itself.

I think I’ll write an article claiming that lung cancer causes a smoking habit.

By: Erasmussimo

Erasmussimo — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 03:10:22 +0000

There’s nothing devious about my comments; I’m quite upfront about the point that there’s a lot of unnecessary defensiveness. If you see some sort of hidden agenda or secret message buried in my comments, why not just ask me about it to clarify the matter?

But this paragraph strikes me as, well, pretty convoluted:

“Pretending that the article does not allude to the suggestion that anyone who plays computer games may possibly be pathologically addicted doesn’t make that aspect simply go away. Ignoring context is an underhanded strategy.”

This is pretty convoluted language; the first sentence nests seven verb forms, two explicit negatives, and one implicit negative. Let’s be straight here: the headline says “Some kids are pathologically addicted to video games”. You are stretching that straightforward statement with a variety of possibilities and insinuations. Why? There’s no need to play verbal games here. If you have something to say, just say it. Moreover, I am not ignoring the context, and I am not engaging in some sneaky strategy to deceive readers.

Unfortunately, I’m off on a lecture trip tomorrow, so I won’t be able to respond for a few days, but I hope that you’ll come back with a clear and direct statement of your meaning.

By: Grant H

Grant H — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:14:14 +0000

“Erasmussimo Says:
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:56 pm
I’d like to offer an observation that the defense of video games seems quite strident.”

An insidious entry to battle. Not bad… I little clumsy, but sinister indeed.

Pretending that the article does not allude to the suggestion that anyone who plays computer games may possibly be pathologically addicted doesn’t make that aspect simply go away. Ignoring context is an underhanded strategy.

Your views and beliefs are worthy of respect and consideration as they are, there’s no need to use such devious psychological flanking to impress them on others.

By: Erasmussimo

Erasmussimo — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:30:03 +0000

Yes, he likes video games. That’s good. But why must he condemn those who don’t like video games?

By: andrew

andrew — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:16:05 +0000

He probably likes video games Erasumussimo, that’s not too hard to grasp, is it?

By: Erasmussimo

Erasmussimo — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:35:55 +0000

CoryC, why are you so defensive about this? Would you be so abusive towards a person who criticized a movie they didn’t like?

By: CoryC

CoryC — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:38:58 +0000

It’s a proven fact that video games are far more interactive than movies and especially tv. What do doctor’s tell alzhiemer’s patients to do to delay the dementia? Play video games because they require stimulation that tv doesn’t give you. Take away the escapism and you’ll see alot more disgruntled people getting angry with each other. Make boardgames for the PC and maybe yer kids will play with them more… Or better yet, why not find out what game the kids like to play and MULTIPLAY with them! You just might be the cool relative for knowing how to play Mario Kart or outshoot them on Call of Duty or something like that. Better idea- keep yer ideas to yerself and leave a very successful medium of entertainment alone.

By: Erasmussimo

Erasmussimo — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:56:28 +0000

I’d like to offer an observation that the defense of video games seems quite strident. There’s certainly an element of “Thou dost protest too much” in these responses. There is absolutely no question that people have concerns about kids playing video games. I do not believe that video games cause kids to be more violent, and I further believe that kids will overdo anything and everything they try their hands at. At the same time, the widespread discomfort that many people feel that video games are somehow tawdry cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. There is a negative perception about video games out there; denying it will not make it go away.

I further suspect that when psychologists get around to doing brain activity studies on people playing video games, they will find remarkable similarities with the behavior of the brain under the influence of some drugs. Specifically, I would expect to see significant reduction of some cortical functions.

By: Grant H

Grant H — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:21:14 +0000

Sorry ’bout the double post.
I clicked the “Submit..” by mistake, but I hit the browser’s “Stop” button, so I thought it hadn’t gone through.

By: Grant H

Grant H — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:18:48 +0000

I must admit, I really enjoy flying at the end of a hard day in MS Flight Simulator. I’m quite good at short range IFR and VFR flights with all the default prop planes. I like flying down the Seto Naikai from Osaka to Oita or Fukuoka with the time set to late afternoon in February. Oita has quite a challenging airport to land at.
Also, I occasionally like loading up Gran Turismo 2 and driving fast in cars I would like to own. I like the car encyclopaedia aspect of it, where you can read up about all the different car models and the history of their developments. And (yes, I’m starting a sentence with ‘and’) then sampling the goods by blasting around a track in a car connoisseur sort of way.
I find games like these a great way to get your mind off things for a little while, you know, I pretend I have a life of owning my own plane or a garage of 30 interesting cars for a hour. Then I get to return to my real like with all its problems and complications, but I get to enjoy the really great stuff again with the general stress quietened and the remaining quiet thought “that was fun!”.

By: Grant H

Grant H — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:06:56 +0000

I must admit, I really enjoy flying at the end of a hard day in MS Flight Simulator. I’m quite good at medium range IFR and VFR flights with all the default prop planes. I like flying down the Seto Naikai from Osaka to Oita of Fukuoka with the time set to late afternoon in February. Oita has quite a challenging airport to land at.
Also, I occasionally like loading up Gran Turismo 2 and driving fast in cars I would like to own. I like the car Encyclopaedia aspect of it, where you can read up about all the different car models the history of their developments. And (yes, I’m starting a sentence with ‘and’) then blasting around a track in a sampling car connoisseur

By: Jessica 13

Jessica 13 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:10:34 +0000

sos ma key board is messed up!
so the word are bodged!

By: Jessica 13

Jessica 13 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:07:39 +0000

oh and by the way im not a pc geek! and most of my friends dont know i have a gaming addiction so hushhhhhhhhhhhhh! lol