Video Game Addiction: Awareness and Prevention

I know that you, like all parents, want to please your children. Who is adverse to seeing a happy boy or girl erupting in laughter because you bought the perfect gift: a television or computer video game? Tremendous advertising has acquainted young people with the vast variety of games available starting from primary level to college.

It is no mistake that your child becomes addicted to video games. The company that manufactures games of this sort has psychologists and psychiatrists on payroll who study each game to make sure that there is an addictive component built in. It is only in recent years that the public found out that cigarette companies did the same thing, they added ingredients to tobacco that ensured addiction.

They showed us pictures of Bing Crosby and Perry Como, giants at the time, in the entertainment industry, who told us to, " Light up and relax with a smoke". The U.S. Army gave away cartons of cigarettes along with paychecks during the second World War. Is it any wonder that men and women of that generation became addicted to smoking. ( I guess I was one of the lucky ones; when I tried to light up, I choked and gagged.) No addiction took root in my system, Thank God.

Many of us remember Skittle Ball, a game I first encountered on the boardwalk during summer vacations at the shore. There were huge stuffed animals and dolls banked across the back wall enticing you to bring home a big prize. It was an easy game, once you adjusted your wrist for throwing the balls. We were outside in the fresh air, it probably cost a quarter...why it was Americana at the beach. After that came Pac Man Nintendo and Atari. We bought Atari for our children and they played it daily after school. After a few weeks, we asked them how they felt about the games. My second son Michael, said, "They make my head hurt." That did it! We packed up all the wires and pieces ( getting them back in the box was next to impossible) and shipped them back to Texaco the next day....