Are video games addictive?

April 27, 2009

It seems that every time people find something enjoyable, researchers come forward with reasons why it is bad for them. I for one am certainly habituated and, who am I kidding here, probably addicted to coffee. I love the stuff and breathe a sigh of relief and victory every time a researcher FAILS to prove that coffee is bad for you.

I always have my eyes open for the enjoyment police so a recent article in the Chicago Tribune got my hackles up. Entitled, “Video-game addiction a real problem, study finds” the article reports that researchers have determined that 8.5% of youths (they always refer to them as youths in these studies) are addicted to video games.

Here is a quote from the article:

Symptoms[of gaming addiction] included spending increasing amounts of time and money on video games to feel the same level of excitement; irritability or restlessness when play is scaled back; skipping chores or homework to play; and lying about the length of playing time.

I have taken the same sentence and substituted reading for gaming. Here is how it reads now:

Symptoms [of reading addiction] included spending increasing amounts of time and money on reading books to feel the same level of excitement; irritability or restlessness when reading is scaled back; skipping chores or homework to read; and lying about the length of reading time.

Now, I don’t know about you but based upon that, I am a total reading addict. The only difference between reading a book and playing a video game is that older people see reading books as good and playing video games as bad.

When novels first made their appearance as popular reading in the 19^th century, parents were extremely upset that their children were staying in their rooms reading and not playing with their friends. Even more, parents were concerned that “youth” was getting bad ideas from books.

Well we know how that all turned out. I suspect that before too long, the sign of being a literate and intelligent person will be a strong love and respect for video games.

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on April 27, 2009 | Comments (3)

May 1, 2009

In response to: Are video games addictive?
J.P. Dyson commented:

The comparison to the novel revolution is an important perspective to add to this discussion, Richard. Every entertainment revolution prompts social worries, and you're right to remember the historical comparisons. For instance, Cathy Davidson in her marvelous work on this subject, "

April 29, 2009

In response to: Are video games addictive?
Scott Traylor commented:

I find the use of the word "video games" can be substituted with just about anything to describe someone else's experience/preference/addition to other items, be it other forms of media, tangible goods, food, you name it.

April 28, 2009

In response to: Are video games addictive?
Nate Scheidler commented:

Chuckle. Personally, I think that extremism in any form is bad. It sheds a bad light on the things the extremist enjoys.