Occasionally we gamers find ourselves in the position of having to defend our hobby against unknowing pundits and so-called 'experts'. This is one of those times, although given the source, I really have to take pause and contemplate whether this person really deserves our attention. Much like the sensationalist claims postulated by the now-disbarred Florida Attorney, Jack Thompson, gaming has once again been taken to task for addling the minds of our precious snowflakes and transforming them into guilt-free hoodlums and malcontents.

The county-wide UK tabloid Lancashire Evening Post published an article on Monday entitled 'Gaming Addiction Grips Youngsters'. It is a sensationalist piece, disguised as journalism, and will no doubt fill your grandmother with creeping dread and enough clothesline-conversation to keep both her and her next-door neighbor busy for weeks.

The article begins:

"The Evening Post has discovered that a growing number of young people in the county are seeking professional help after becoming hooked on the fantasy world of console games. Young addicts are skipping meals, playing truant from school and are even stealing money from their parents to buy the latest games. And one expert today warned two hours of playing games produces the same high as taking a line of cocaine."

It all goes south pretty quickly, citing one 15 year old 'Jack' as the textbook example of gaming's destructive powers:

"Jack, who lives in Garstang, said: 'Playing on my games console was all I wanted to do and it was the first thing I thought of as soon as I woke up. I would play for hours on end without even realising. It was like it was a demon that had got inside my brain and I just couldn’t stop. If my parents tried to stop me playing, I would just flip. I lost touch with my mates, started doing badly at school and became an angry and aggressive person that wasn’t the real me.' "

This article has it all: truancy, theft against parents, demonic references and experts referencing class A narcotics. Later on in the piece it adds physical and mental problems, obesity, dehydration and suicidal tendencies into the mix. Just in case theft, demons and coke didn't paint a sinister enough picture.

Although you might be surprised that a real newspaper, staffed by real journalists, still feels that this kind of shock-piece is worth the time and effort to print, the fact that this is a Lancashire Evening Post article makes it somewhat less surprising. Being a Lancashire Lad myself, I'm all-too aware of this newspaper's aging staff, not to mention their apparent will to showcase any news item that paints all the local kids as thugs their readers should be worried about.

But wait one moment, if you thought for a second that the referenced 'expert' based his cocaine-high analogy on scientific evidence, guess again:

"Steve Pope, a counsellor and therapist who lives in Garstang, says he is seeing increasing numbers of youngsters suffering from game addiction. He said: 'A lot of young people get themselves into a situation where they use video games as an escape from the world and they get hooked on the release of adrenaline it gives.'

'Spending two hours on a game station is equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces.'

'It is the fastest growing addiction in the country and this is affecting young people mentally, as well as leading to physical problems such as obesity. It gives parents peace and quiet, but it becomes a concern when it is all the child wants to do. I saw one 14-year-old Preston boy who played on games for 24 hours non stop and had not eaten and was showing signs of dehydration. When his parents tried to take his console away, he became aggressive and threatened to jump out of a window.' "

Reading that someone actually said, "'game station" always makes me smile. Anyway, the piece actually gets more ridiculous from this point on, citing that the crazy high of videogame-use prior to a soccer match is actually handicapping soccer players' ability to play the game.

Anti-gaming articles like this are fairly commonplace, but a piece as wholly incorrect and uninformed as this takes some beating. Though the so-called 'figures obtained by addiction experts' are never sourced or explained in any provable way, the article's author made sure to include enough negative traits to shock and awe the readership into believing that it is all true, which it most definitely and categorically not.

In my mind, it always comes down to the quality of the parenting, and I'll give you an example. Again on the subject of 'Jack', the article states:

"One 15-year-old Lancashire boy today admitted that computer addiction took over his life and told how he discarded his friends, neglected his school studies and survived on junk food as he embarked on marathon gaming sessions of up to 48 hours."

So, rather than address the despicably low-quality of parenting required to allow such an activity, it's all the games' fault? Don't get me wrong, I believe games engage us in fantasy in ways no other media can. It is powerful magic and can be over-indulged upon. Nor am I saying that this article is completely baseless. No doubt videogames have led to behavioral problems in children, but nowhere remotely close to the levels implied by the article.

If an individual is susceptible to addictive tendencies, gaming can become an addictive trait. Not because it is Satan's latest brainwashing tool after heavy metal, but because gaming is fun, and the last time I checked, kids like fun. A lot. As for these experts and therapists in the employ of the Lancashire County Council who bemoan that fact that kids stay indoors and play games, my message to them would be to stop building roundabouts and low-income housing over the top of parks, forests and playgrounds. Kids will put the controller down when you give them a reason, I guarantee it.

Source: Game Politics