Gaming
Yes, video games are fun and some provide a way of keeping in touch with friends, which was useful during the pandemic. This section is about what can go wrong, like children coming into contact with predators and when gaming becomes an addiction.
Gaming revenue
Tech News World reported that gaming revenue worldwide in 2021, by device, according to Statista was:
Mobile - US$90.7 billion in 2021
Console - US$49.2 billion in 2021
PC - US$35.9 billion in 2020
Addiction
‘Fortnite’ Gaming Addict, 9, Sent To Rehab
Newsweek 2018: Parents “have sent their daughter to a rehabilitation clinic for ‘gaming addiction,’ an illness that was only classified this year as a condition by the World Health Organization (WHO).”
This study found by Koepp et al (1998) found that video games increase dopamine in the brain as much as sex does (i.e. by approx. 100%). You’ll need to pay for access to read in full.
“Drawing on her experience as a clinical psychologist, Bryon, who is a Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Edge Hill University, cites several cases from her own practice of (male) youngsters who would rather store bottles of their own urine under their tables and continue gaming than leave their computer.
‘I've worked with kids who will urinate in a bottle in their room, rather than leave the screen,’ she writes.
Elaborating on the dangers of World of Warcraft, Byron also mentions kids who will wake up in the middle of the night to compete in international games.”
No, this won’t happen to all kids, but any of them can get hooked, regardless of home life circumstances.
Gaming disorder
The World Health Organisation has recognised ‘gaming disorder’ as follows:
“Gaming disorder is defined in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as a pattern of gaming behavior (‘digital-gaming’ or ‘video-gaming’) characterized by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences.”
Game transfer phenomena
Read chapter 1 of Dr Kardaras’ book Glow Kids to find out about Game Transfer Phenomena, also known as the Tetris Effect, studies on the effect of gaming on verbal intelligence, the term “electronic cocaine” as coined by Dr Peter Whybrow, plus an alarming paragraph on how gaming companies rig up electrodes onto a test user to see what their level of arousal is while playing a new game. If it’s not high enough, they’ll tweak the game until it is.
Gaming and violence
Here's a 2018 article from The Daily Mail
“Video games really DO make children violent: Teenagers who play Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Manhunt are more likely to get into fights at school
Researchers analysed 17,000 youngsters aged nine to 19 over seven-year period
Data was collected from 24 studies across Canada, Germany, Japan and the USA
Found correlation between game culture consumption and adverse behaviour
Previous, it was claimed such games caused reckless driving and binge drinking”
However, the same piece states that the author of the study, Jay Hull of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire “also mooted the possibility that games could be a symptom of inherent aggression - rather than a cause.”
Adding that, “If your kids are playing these games, either these games are having a warping effect on right and wrong or they have a warped sense of right or wrong and that’s why they are attracted to these games. Either way you should be concerned about it.”
Here is the original study This metaanalysis* of the relationship between violent video game play and physical aggression over time concluded: “that playing violent video games is associated with greater levels of overt physical aggression over time, after accounting for prior aggression. These findings support the general claim that violent video game play is associated with increases in physical aggression over time.”
*A meta-analysis is a study that looks at a range of previous studies on the same subject.
Predators
Children and parents: media use and attitudes report by Ofcom 2022
More than a third of 8-17s who gamed online played with people they didn’t know (36%); overall, 16% of 8-17s chatted to people they didn’t know, via the messaging/ chat functions in games.
Online gaming: More than seven in ten parents (72%) of UK children aged 3-17 who played games said they had concerns about their child’s gaming.
MUST READ
How Predators Could Be Playing Online Games with Your Child
And it’s not just sexual predators who use multiplayer online games to groom children, but those looking to extort or politically radicalise them too. A predatory adult can find out a lot about a child just from paying attention to when they play (location and degree of parental influence or leniency) and their voice (geographical region and approximate age).
Gaming and the brain
Internet addiction harms brain like cocaine
“In the IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder)-diagnosed teenagers, the scientists, led by Dr Hao Lei from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found evidence of disruption to "white matter" nerve fibres connecting vital parts of the brain involved in emotions, decision making, and self-control.
Previous studies have shown abnormal white matter structure in the brains of people who have had alcohol, cocaine and cannabis among other drugs.
The scientists suspect the damage is caused by disrupted myelin (see below), the fatty insulating sheath that helps nerves work.
Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, consultant psychiatrist at Imperial College London, said the research was "groundbreaking.’”
However a word of caution. Is the disrupted myelin a result of screen over use, or the diminished time spent doing other things that kids used to do? Seems like more studies are needed here.
Why is myelin important?
The process of myelination starts in a foetus before birth and carries on till the age of 50 or so. It allows nerve impulses to travel faster, enabling our brains to do more. According to Wikipedia, “During infancy, myelination progresses rapidly, with increasing numbers of axons acquiring myelin sheaths.
This corresponds with the development of cognitive and motor skills, including language comprehension, speech acquisition, crawling and walking. Myelination continues through adolescence and early adulthood and although largely complete at this time, myelin sheaths can be added in grey matter regions such as the cerebral cortex, throughout life.”
This study has a less negative, if not entirely clear conclusion:
“First, noncognitive-based video gaming can be used in all age categories as a means to improve the brain. However, effects on children remain unclear. Second, noncognitive-based video gaming affects both structural and functional aspects of the brain. Third, video gaming effects were observed after a minimum of 16 h of training. Fourth, some methodology criteria must be improved for better methodological quality.”
“Feeling increasingly anxious and lost, Liv Siddall found herself retreating to the comfort and security of video games – often playing for hours at a time. Here, she reveals how she finally escaped back to reality.”
Gaming platforms & extremist activity
According to this piece in Tortoise, 2022:
"Research published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue last year found that several major gaming platforms play host to extremist activity.
Jacob Davey, head of research and policy at the Institute.. told us 'The problem is the co-opting and adapting of incredibly viral youth internet culture (and) the illustion that this is a fringe part of the internet. It's not fringe. It's a big part of how people conduct themselves online.'"
Finally...
Some interesting reading about VR games and pain reduction
Using a VR game has been proven to reduce pain
“We contend that VR is a uniquely attention-capturing medium capable of maximizing the amount of attention drawn away from the 'real world', allowing patients to tolerate painful procedures. These preliminary results suggest that immersive VR merits more attention as a potentially viable form of treatment for acute pain.”
So what happens when this potent form of pain control is given to children who aren't in pain?