Game addiction on the rise, but 'stable' genes should prevent violent outbursts
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Apr 4th 2007 at 2:15PM }
When combined, a pair of new studies (conveniently stacked on GamePolitics.com) suggests that game addiction is a rising concern among American youth, but, if we also trust Aussie researchers, violent side effects are not. According to a new Harris poll, 8.5% of the US's youngsters are now clinically addicted to games, and as many as 23% have felt the jonesing itch for a fix. Thankfully, Australia's Swinburne University of Technology has published findings which indicate that violent games ('cause let's face it, violent games are the only kind American tweens get lifted on) don't increase the likelihood of a "stable" child becoming more aggressive.The Swinburne study seems to define "stable" as non-hyper. So, considering that about 7% of children are currently diagnosed with ADHD, presumably about 0.6% of America's young people (percentage of ADHD-diagnosed kids addicted to games) pose a potential threat to society. A small percentage no doubt, but with a reported 73.5 million children in the US in 2005, we could be living among something like 450,000 latent killer gamers -- hit the panic button!
[Disclosure: blogger's math skills have not been evaluated since December 1999; some calculations may be inaccurate. Call for panic still very real!]
Read - Poll Indicates Game Addiction on the Rise Among Youth
Read - Study Says Stable Kids Unaffected by Game Violence
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
sheppy @ Apr 4th 2007 2:19PM
I say burn all the villages to prevent the spread of the disease.
Eville1 @ Apr 4th 2007 2:37PM
File "Games don't make stable people unstable" under "Ya Rly."
They need a study for this? People have been stating this since time began! (Or at least the start of the violent video game bruhaha)
ShortFuse @ Apr 4th 2007 2:22PM
I, for one, welcome our new ADHD, video game playing overloads.
Matt B @ Apr 4th 2007 2:24PM
LMAO at the pic.
I"m wondering how anyone with ADD can be addicted to anything non-chemical. It is an oxymoron.
Intentless @ Apr 4th 2007 2:28PM
ADD is just parents excuse to not be parents.... Being in control of ones body and focusing on things is something that can be taught through training... If your parents don't ever expect you to behave and you are spoiled then your more inclined to be "distracted by shiny objects". Its called self control. But this is the result of the boob tube babysitter...
Intentless @ Apr 4th 2007 2:32PM
In most cases....
sheppy @ Apr 4th 2007 2:36PM
I wonder if this picture is indicative of a new Hanson album....
Roger @ Apr 4th 2007 3:20PM
wow! what a great and intence study. I SO DIDN'T KNOW THIS!!!!!!! ive always agreed with jack and thought videogames were satan's brainwashing tool!
sarcasim is a wonderful thing
Todd @ Apr 4th 2007 3:17PM
In response to the pic used for this post...
"Brains... brains..."
hvnlysoldr @ Apr 4th 2007 3:49PM
If sarcasm's root means to cut deeply, does that mean sarcasm is sarcastic or ironic? Also artificial sweeteners like aspartame can be poisonous and cause ADD and other such maladies.
wackychan @ Apr 4th 2007 4:22PM
ADD didnt exist back when parents used to beat their kids.....
Neils Clark @ Apr 9th 2007 4:48PM
There are two reasons to be critical of the 8.5% of gamers number
First, the questions being asked come from Pathological gambling. There's been this long-standing tradition of copying and pasting those criteria, started by Kimberly Young of netaddiction.com - after creating criteria for "internet addiction," other therapists criticized her as having all of the originality of a "trash romance writer."
Sure, gambling and gaming share some similarities. You don't even want to know how many spawns I've camped at the local indian casino. Still, they're not exactly the same. There's a behavioral component in all addiction. Yeah, it releases chemicals and all that. No, it's not exactly the same as rolling the dice.
This study added onto Young's criteria, and as a researcher I appreciate that. What I'd appreciate more is a fundamental re-thinking of how we understand this. Games aren't the same as drugs like meth or heroin. They also aren't the same as smoking a stogie while you cheat at cards. Games are a form of expression... that keeps some people glued to their computers for whole days.
The violence issue is kind of similar, but kind of not. Even if games are shown to cause hugely damaging violent urges, how can we separate this from TV watching, or reading violent passages in the bible? If the study is right, they're all potentially harmful in the wrong hands, but all forms of creative expression.
Panic button, go!