By: Eleanor Liang

Gamers are at risk of hallucinations and gaming disorders due to playing too many video games. Considering these risks, should the government limit the number of hours kids can play video games every day? Should parents control their child’s video game time limit? Or should young people be able to make their own decisions?

“Around 73% of American kids age 2-17 played video games in 2019, a 6% increase over 2018. Video games accounted for 17% of kids’ entertainment time and 11% of their entertainment spending.” remarked britannica.com.

The global video game industry was worth $159.3 billion in 2020, a 9.3% increase from 2019.”

So what should we do?

“Diehard gamers are at risk of a disorder that causes them to hallucinate images or sounds from the games they play in real life, research shows,” Kids News reports.

China announced this summer that children and teenagers can now play only three hours of video games a week. Kids under 18 aren’t allowed to play video games on school days, and they’re limited to one hour a day on weekends and holiday evenings. Should the US do the same?

“Chinese government officials— and many parents—have long worried about the potential downsides of playing video games,” the New York Times stated. So should the government be allowed to limit the hours kids play video games?

This proposal was opposed by most video game users and fans. However, some psychologists and parents agree that either the government or the parents need to limit the hours kids play video games.

“Children turn to screens because they say they have no alternative activities or entertainment—this is where they hang out with friends and go to school—all while the technology platforms profit by seducing loyalty through tactics like rewards of virtual money or limited edition perks for keeping up daily streaks of use,” the New York Times explained.

“This has been a gift to them — we’ve given them a captive audience: our children,” said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior, and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. The cost will be borne by families, Dr. Christakis said, because increased online use is associated with anxiety, depression, obesity, and aggression — it’s “addiction to the medium itself.”

Psychiatrist Kavita Seth said the problems begin when gamers are playing to the point where they are unable to stop themselves and become furious if people try to take away or limit their video gaming time.

“They prioritize it over sleep, over having meals, going to school, completing school homework, completing social activities,” Dr. Seth said.

“ Teenagers that play video games for hours on end have reported seeing “health bars” above people’s heads and hearing narration when they go about their daily lives,” Kids News remarked.

James Reichert, a video game user, argued with his father about restricting his access to his phone (he plays video games on his phone ) .

”MY PHONE IS MY LIFE!!!” James shrieked.

“That was the tipping point. His whole life?” said Mr. Reichert, a technical administrator in the local sheriff’s office. “I’m not losing my son to this.”

The only reason fourteen-year-old James likes his phone so much is because, due to Covid-19 and distance learning, he didn’t have many chances to meet new friends. Instead, he hangs out online with his old friends.

“The only way to talk to them, besides going to their house, is through my Xbox,” he said. “We play on there every night.”

He said the games felt so compelling, particularly when they offered achievement incentives. “If you play a lot and do well, you can try to max out your rank — that takes up quite a bit of time,” he said. “But sometimes we just play for fun.”

Many similar arguments happened like this across different households.

Others wanted the community to cooperate. They said that all factors should combine.

“All parties should work together,” an anonymous parent debated.

Hovering Healthbars?

“When I really was a hardcore player in WoW (World of Warcraft), when I got my adrenaline pumping, I started seeing health bars above people’s heads,” a gamer said.

Another gamer, Daniel Owens, described his experience with insomnia when playing Portal 2.

“It was to the point that it interrupted my sleeping patterns,” he said. “It felt as if my body went to sleep but my mind was still working. It seems to happen in games with frequent sidekick interaction or a narrator.

“I remember specifically on another occasion, after Super Mario Sunshine came out, that I could not sleep for a full night for nearly a week after playing it. That was the worst.

“I’ve never had anything bleed into my waking life, though, but I could see that possibly happening to a person that plays video games more frequently.”

“So I take it away and they do what? A puzzle? Learn to sew? Knit? I don’t know what the expectations are,” Paraskevi Briasouli told the New York Times, “a corporate writer who is raising four children — ages 8, 6, 3 and 1 — with her husband in a two-bedroom Manhattan apartment. Device time has replaced sports on weekday afternoons and soared 70 percent on weekends, she said.”

Sources: https://www.kidsnews.com.au/health/gamers-at-risk-of-gaming-disorder-and-hallucinations-research-shows/news-story/ac19e87b01e8debb7519a620e5cc2fe6