Entries Tagged 'game consoles' ↓

4% of adult Australians play the pokies each week
$6 billion spent on pokies each year

The growing trend in ‘redemption games’ that are now filling children’s games arcades are setting them on the rocky road to gambling.

They are called ‘redemption games’ because young people play for tickets or prizes, including cameras and TVs. They use electronic claws to grasp at a pile of goodies, spin a wheel, or use a button to line up blocks and win.

Many of the games now even mimic poker machines and the increasing popularity of computer games and gaming consoles at home has further fuelled their popularity.

Many arcades are strategically placed in clubs near the pokies where their parents are playing. So while mum and dad are gambling away at the big poker machines (it accounts for almost two thirds of the $19 billion dollars Australians “spend” on gambling each year), the kids are learning how to gamble at the games arcade.

The Productivity Commission’s report into gambling which was published in June highlights the significant social cost of gambling, estimated to be at least $4.7 billion. More than 75% of Australians with gambling problems spend most of their money on poker machines. A survey conducted by the Victorian government found that 6,000 pokie playing Victorians admitted that their gambling had led them to do something against the law.

The Productivity Commission’s report confirmed the view that ”minors should not … be exposed to gambling areas within venues”.

The report also acknowledged that “there is strong evidence that gambling can have adverse health, emotional and financial impacts on many more people than those categorised as ‘problem gamblers’. As is the case in policies addressing harm from alcohol consumption, policy also needs to address these wider impacts”.

Independent Senator, Mr Nick Xenophon thinks these games should be reclassified as gaming machines. He said the federal government should bring in new laws; ”legislation needs to change because these machines are a training ground for pokies. It puts kids at risk.”

”While mum and dad are playing pokies inside, the kids are getting trained on redemption [arcade] games just a few metres away. The connection is insidious and it is totally cynical,” he said.

Activist and founder of PokieAct.org Paul Bendat said all children’s games should be banned from pokies venues. ”I stand for children not being in pokies venues at all because gambling is an adult form of harmful entertainment,” he said.

Mr Bendat believes that there is an Australia wide assault on our children, they are being lured into pokie pubs and exposed to gambling on the poker machines.

One person commented that “I would never let my children near pokies as I’ve seen what they can do families. After many years of seeing my husband’s nieces and nephews around pokies, they now also think nothing of sinking a few hundred (dollars) when we go out for lunch at a club”.

These sentiments are echoed by Charles Livingstone, an electronic gaming expert at Monash University, who feels that the arcade games both indoctrinate kids into gambling while making them feel it is a normal part of life, and  lure them with their parents into the pokie venues.

Dr Livingstone said Australia had ”one of the world’s most liberal gambling regulatory regimes”, which had led to a significant increase in the number of pubs and gaming venues offering children’s activities in recent years. A University of Adelaide study released last year surveyed more than 2,500 teenagers and found pathological gamblers were significantly more likely to play video and arcade games.

David Curry, a spokesman for Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group,  said “we operate family venues with a variety of entertainment opportunities for children included within that,”  he seemed unable to appreciate that games had the potential to teach children to gamble, or encourage them to gamble as they grew older.

It seems the government has a dilemma on its hands. The problem is that the Productivity Commission’s recommendations are trying to reduce the harm associated with gambling, while preserving its benefits.

This seems to be a contradiction of terms. How can something which has proven to be both addictive and harmful to the individual have any ‘benefits’? perhaps the government is referring to financial ‘benefits’ which the clubs no doubt enjoy or the revenue collected by the government which is certainly a benefit the government would not like to forego.

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

Source: pokieact – make pokie places kid free.  Productivity Commission’s report into gambling.

• 10% of computer users are addicted to games
• Computer game addictions lead to mental health issues

More and more teenagers are immersing themselves in a virtual world. Leaving reality behind them they are becoming increasingly  addicted to computer games.

This has led to some medical facilities offering full time treatment to young people who show signs of the condition known as “pathological internet use”.

One such facility is Sydney’s Rivendell Adolescent Unit at Concord where computer game addiction expert and psychiatrist, Dr Philip Tam said “It’s not just computer addiction – there are other problems. There are issues of depression, of social anxiety, family problems”.

“The computer is almost like an escape. That’s why you might call it the Facebook Generation.”  For them “going on Facebook is far more fun often than sitting with your own family.”

“Most kids with these problems don’t come anywhere near a psychiatrist – they just run into problems at school,” Dr Tam said. “This is likely to continue to grow inexorably and in ways we cannot yet imagine”.

“These are tricky and complex cases and the people themselves often don’t see it as a problem. Its families and the teachers who see the problem.”

Dr Philip Tam said: “They can’t stop playing. The longest I’ve had is a teenage schoolboy playing 37 hours non-stop with only toilet breaks”.

Research shows that the use of computers at an early age actually encourages a short attention span, which leads to problems later on in the classroom and when dealing with real life face to face situations.

Many young people of this generation seem ill equipped and unwilling to attempt new skills and experiences in the world of reality. They do not have the essential skills of ‘resilience’ needed to overcome and solve situations that arise in everyday face to face life.

Clinical Psychologist, author of “From Surviving to Thriving” and Generation Next speaker, Andrew Fuller describes resilience as “the happy knack of being able to bungy jump through the pitfalls of life – to rise above adversity and obstacles. It is the strongest antidote we know of for self-harm, depression and drug abuse and it’s built on our sense of belonging. ”

Mr Fuller suggests 10 ways to help develop resilience in young people:

1. Promote belonging
2. Have some mooch (unstructured time at home together) time
3. Rediscover some family rituals
4. Encourage Spontaneity and curiosity
5. Love kids for their differences
6. Parents take control and responsibility
7. Be consistent
8. Teach them the skills of self-esteem
9. Know how to argue and resolve disputes fairly
10. Parents should be predictable

It’s not just teenager boys who are suffering from computer addiction. Teenage girls are also at risk. Many girls are becoming withdrawn and shy away from face to face interaction. They shut out their families, friends and teachers.

“There are children dying from this . . . 17-year-olds committing suicide – I have been to a funeral,” said the mother of an 18 year old girl.

“They become isolated and then depressed, suffer from a lack of motivation, don’t socialise or get a job. It’s not just boys. Girls are sitting in front of the computer all night playing these games against others.”

This comes at a time when leading UK expert Dr Aric Sigman has found that exposing children to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) before the age of 9 years old  can actually be detrimental to their development by “subverting the development of children’s cognitive skills”.

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha. 
Source: Daily Telegraph

Recently there has been a renewed cry for video and computer game addictions to be recognised by the greater community. More and more material is coming to light that confirms obsessive and addictive behaviour is increasing among people, especially young people, who engage in computer games for long periods of time.

In Australia, Professor Vladan Starcevic of Sydney University, a gaming obsession expert, has called for the establishment of a treatment resource in Australia designed to deal with video game addiction. He said "we have people in this country who do have a problem with that just like with gambling and other addictive behaviours”.

A recent study by Professor Starcevic and the department of Psychological Medicine at Sydney’s Nepean hospital revealed that up to 10% of gamers who took part showed signs of addicted behaviour. His findings were recently published in The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.

Extended time spent playing computer games also cause other problems, such as cyber-bullying, lack of social skills and the inability to interact in a ‘live’ situation. Teenagers can also become withdrawn, depressed, agitated and have difficulty concentrating with poor attention spans. Professor Starcevic has seen an increase in young patients presenting with these obsessive symptoms.

The increase of violent outbursts amongst teenagers in the UK who are addicted to computer games has now seen the opening of a special technology addiction unit by a private hospital in London. The service will help teenagers through either group therapy or in-patient treatment.

These new “screenagers” as they are becoming known spend hours in front of their computer screens playing games. When asked to leave their computers and become involved in face to face interaction with other family members they fly into violent rages.

"I’ve been contacted by parents who see their children going into a rage when they’re told to turn off their computer," Richard Graham, lead consultant at Capio Nightingale Hospital in London. Many begin playing for the social interaction, but Graham said "it gives them a sense of connection so they end up playing all the time."

"Mental health services need to adapt quickly to the changing worlds that young people inhabit, and understand just how seriously their lives can be impaired by unregulated time online, on-screen or in-game," Graham said.

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

A recent review “Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Pro-social Behaviour in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review”, published by the American Psychological Association has used meta-analytic procedures to test the effects of violent video games on:

• Aggressive behaviour
• Aggressive cognition
• Aggressive affect
• Physiological arousal
• Empathy/desensitisation, and
• Pro-social behaviour.

Today more than ever young people are exposed to ever increasing quantities of graphic violence be it on the television, in film or through violent video games. This review has found that “evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and pro-social behaviour”.

The review was extensive and involved “70 independent effects involving over 18,000 participants from multiple countries, ages, and culture types, it yielded strong evidence that playing violence video games is a significant risk factor for bother short-term and long-term increases in physically aggressive behaviour”.

It is interesting to note that aggression in each culture differs greatly according to the nature of the communities which form them, “cultures characterised by collectivistic values, high moral discipline, a high level of egalitarian commitment, low uncertainty avoidance, and which emphasize values that are heavily Confucian showed lower levels of aggression than their counterparts” (Bergeron, N. & Schneider, B. Explaining cross-national differences in peer-directed aggression: A quantitative synthesis. Aggressive Behaviour, 2005, p.116).

The report would seem to suggest that within society as a whole the only inhibiting factors to increased aggressive behaviour are:

• Fear of retaliation
• Negative emotional reactions to images and thoughts of violence
• Moral beliefs opposing violence, and
• Pleasant situational events that put people in a good mood.

The study looked at both short term and long term effects of playing violent video games. It defined ‘short term effects’ as those in which a person plays a video game for a brief time (e.g. 15 mins) before relevant measure are obtained.

‘Long term effects’ are those that occur from repeated exposures over a relatively long period of time such as months or years. They found that long term effects mainly result from relatively permanent changes in beliefs that are brought about by repeated exposure to video game violence.

The report explained that “video games can be exciting, fun, frustrating, exhilarating, and boring. Being the target of potential harm, even in the virtual world of video games, is likely to prime aggressive cognitions and emotions and to increase physiological arousal”.

The main findings were:

• Exposure to violent video games was significantly related to higher levels of aggressive behaviour
• Playing video games over a long period of time increases aggression regardless of cultural restraints
• Video game violence (VGV) affects both the eastern and western cultures regardless
• Children are more susceptible than young adults to the effects of violent video games, and
• Violent video game exposure was positively associated with aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect.

The study concluded that “playing violent video games is a causal risk factor for long term harmful outcomes. This is especially clear for aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition and empathy/desensitisation.”

“It is true that as a player you are ‘not just moving your hand on the joystick but are indeed interacting with the game psychologically and emotionally’. It is not surprising that when the game involves rehearsing aggressive and violent thoughts and actions, such deep game involvement results in antisocial effects on the player.”

Writer Helen Splarn. Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

Source: Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Pro-social Behaviour in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review. 2010 American Psychological Association 0033-2909/10 DOI: 10.1037/a0018251

We are currently in the process of planning the 2010 Generation Next series. Thanks to your feedback we have learned a lot of lessons about how best to run the events and use the limited financial and other resources available to us.

Importantly, in 2010 we would like to explore the possibility of running the events at a school hall rather than in a commercial venue. This will allow us to use our limited funds for more important things such as advertising and supporting the stakeholder groups that work with us.

A group of approximately 20 schools in Canberra, for example, have teamed up to offer both a school hall and help with ticket sales to each of their school communities. We think this is a way for Generation Next’s important information to get to more people in a way that is not only financially viable but also allows local communities to develop a sense of ownership with regard to these important issues.

It will also allow us more versatility in terms of timing and location.

Our calculations show that we need to sell about 800-1000 tickets to make each Generation Next event viable. Therefore we need to find a school hall (or halls) in each city that can accommodate an audience of that size or more in relative comfort.

If you think that your school’s hall may be suitable to a Generation Next event and that your school may be interested in working with us then please do get in touch with us by  emailing me at r.manocha@healthed.com.au or at info@gennextseminars.com.

Your help with this matter is deeply appreciated.

Sincerely,

Dr Ramesh Manocha, MBBS, BSc (Med), PhD,

Founder, Generation Next.

An American study linked computer games to attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when it found people who play computer games for around 40 hours a week are more likely to have difficulty paying attention than people who only play computer games for a couple of hours a week.

The researchers who conducted the study conceded that there more research is necessary as the effects of playing computer games for a moderate amount of time, for example 10 or 20 hours a week, remain unknown.

Study author Dr Robert West explained the real world implications of the study. “[The] real world effect that you might be seeing is that these are individuals who would really have difficulty trying to maintain their attention independently over time,” he said.

“So if they’re engaged in some activity that doesn’t really capture their attention – like maybe a classroom lecture, or studying in a quiet space – they’re going to have difficulty maintaining attention on their own.”

This research contrasts with recent studies which have found a number of benefits to playing computer games, including one study which found people who play the computer game Tetris develop more grey matter in their brains than people who don’t, improving complex planning skills, critical thinking, reasoning and language.

More information on the current study can be found at the Iowa State University Website.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

Professor Susan Greenfield, world renowned neuroscientist from the University of Oxford, discussed the impact that computer games can have on the brain in an interview on Lateline on the ABC last week. She concluded that video games change the game player’s mind, both in good and bad ways.

Professor Greenfield described our brains as being plastic, in the sense that everything we do will change them, including playing computer games. Current research shows that playing computer games can cause the brain to change such that it develops an addiction.

While she conceded that computer games may help children develop skills to do well in specific areas, such the skills to do well on an IQ test, she highlighted that the skills they teach are quite limited, and emphasised that excessive time spent playing computer games may limit the development of other skills with much more real world relevance such as interpersonal skills.

Professor Greenfield hypothesised that excessive computer game playing can limit the development of the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain used in ‘executive function’ skills such as self control skills. She acknowledged however that few studies have been carried out to explore the negative changes computer games can cause, and surmised that much more research is necessary before definite conclusions can be drawn.

Read the full transcript at www.abc.net.au.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

An English psychologist has announced plans to start treating video game addicts within the fantasy worlds of the games they play.

Richard Graham of the Tavistock Clinic, London, believes many addicted gamers do not realise they have a problem, and would benefit the most from someone who understands the game.

The game World of Warcraft has been labelled the most addictive game on the market for its goal-based online game play, and with 8.5% of adolescents potentially computer game addicts, the innovative project could be just what’s needed.

The psychologist plans to target addicts who don’t understand how much time they are spending in the game. “It is this group who would benefit from someone… who can non-judgementally point out how much time they are spending in the game, and therein how much time they are not doing something that helps them acquire skills, knowledge or friends in the external world,” he said.

Graham however highlighted that video games are not the only addiction facing young people. “I think it’s possible for people to be addicted to anything, not just video games,” he said. “Whether video games are a cause or an effect, I’m not sure.”

Graham’s plans come after a US retreat for computer addicts opened last month, treating patients in a similar way to drug and alcohol addicts.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha.

For most people, playing video games is a harmless hobby. For some people however, video games can become an obsession, leading to a number of addictive tendencies including the preference to play games rather then engaging in regular activities. Unfortunately there is a lack of reliable studies examining video game addiction and so little is known about the condition, and the scientific community have failed to even reach an agreement as to where to draw the line between playing video games and being addicted to video games.

The International Gaming Research Unit of the United Kingdom recently completed a survey of 7,000 video game players and found that around 10% showed signs of addiction. These results were supported by a study at the Media Research Laboratory in the United States of America who concluded that 8.5% of adolescents could be categorised as addicted to computer games. Further studies in China and Spain generally agree with these figures.

It is stressed however that the majority of people who play games do not go on to develop problems, and parents should not panic if their child regularly plays computer games. Parents are advised to keep an eye on their children, and if video games have a significant impact upon their children’s lives, such as if playing games causes their children to miss school or have major relationship problems, they should seek assistance.

The transcript of a radio show discussing game and internet addiction can be found at www.abc.net.au.

Writer Tristan Boyd, Editor Ramesh Manocha.

While there is increasingly more awareness of the problems resulting from cyberbullying, an often overlooked component of the whole cybersafety issue is internet and online video game addiction. More and more Australian families are being confronted with this very real and, according to all reports, growing problem. Robert (not his real name) sat in a chair, scowling at me across my consulting room. He had just turned 17 and had been told by his parents that he had no choice but to see me. He looked exhausted, pale and tired with dark circles under his eyes and a very bad skin. A week earlier, his parents had come to see me, anxious and desperate as they recounted how their son spent up to four and a half hours a night glued to his computer screen playing interactive computer games and chatting online.

Every time they pleaded with him to go for a walk, visit the extended family, do some homework or have a meal with them, he would become hysterical. A flood of tears, screaming fits of uncontrollable rage, almost invariably accompanied by threats to harm himself – all of which would continue unabated until his parents recanted, beating a hasty retreat, terrified that he might carry out his threats. They had been arguing amongst themselves as to how best address this and each attempt to deal with the issue had resulted in failure. Having taken a detailed history, it was clear to me that Robert was in serious trouble. At the age of 17, he had not tackled any of the key developmental tasks of adolescence. His parents reported that he had few friends outside of cyberspace; he played no sport and had no other leisure interests. He did no exercise, ate in front of his computer and snacked constantly while online and unsurprisingly he was extremely overweight. His attendance at school was sporadic and he often refused to get up in the morning as he would stay online until the early hours of the morning and while doing none of his assigned homework.

He confided in me that while playing these games he experienced a sense of well-being or euphoria and felt unable to stop the activity, and said the more he played the more time he craved. He acknowledged neglecting family and friends, losing track of time while online and sacrificing sleep to spend time online but he claimed he was now part of a virtual community who shared common goals and each day set off on digital quests in a fantasy world peppered with magic, sorcery, and dragons galore. He explained how with each quest, his player’s character evolves and changes as he interacts with other players and characters all of which afforded him a sense of meaning, purpose and belonging that he felt his parents could never comprehend. When away from the game, he confessed to feeling empty, depressed and irritable. He freely admitting to lying to family about the time he spent online. Some argue that Robert is a victim of an admittedly controversial condition, known as Internet addiction disorder (IAD). On the 1st of December 2005, in an article in the New York Times, Dr. Kimberly Young, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh called for the American Psychiatric Association to give official recognition to the disorder – an action that would pave the way for insurance companies to reimburse addicts for therapy. Dr Young compares the condition to pathological gambling.

For children and teenagers, there is no doubt that the Internet can be an excellent resource for information, communication and entertainment, but more and more Australian parents are concerned about excessive time online. For Robert and many others like him, internet activity is replacing their real-life experiences and relationships and unless they can bring some balance into their lives they could be compromising their future and both psychological and physical health with such compulsive Internet use. The potent mix of defining and acting out an ideal self in a rich, exciting and magical land creates a peculiar draw for Robert who has poor self esteem, has been bullied at school and is depressed. For him, the game was better than his real life. It was easier for him to succeed in cyberspace, where he could be beautiful, fit, and healthy. The problem was that in real life he saw himself as a loser trapped in the real world, but the game gave Robert an opportunity to feel heroic and free.

World of Warcraft, his current obsession, is one of the most popular MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) games in the world, with more than 10 million active subscriptions. So clearly Robert and his family are not alone. A recent study conducted by Dr Mubarak Ali of Flinders University studied students from 114 government and private schools across a broad socio-economic range and found that a staggering one third of respondents were “…in the process of developing a psychological addiction to the internet, spending on average 13 hours a week online.”  Overseas experts estimate that between 6% and 10% of users have a dependency that can be as destructive as alcoholism and drug addiction.

Our children are early settlers in a remarkable new world, often referred to as Cyberia, a frontier that is as dangerous as it is wonderful. They find it exciting because everything is available and almost anything is possible, but it is dangerous for the same reasons –   it is a frontier without laws, where things are not always as they seem, and people are not always who they say they are. What looks like a bank can turn out to be a robber, what looks like a friend can be a predator and what looks like a game can be a trap. Like many adults charged with the care of the next generation, Robert’s parents feel as though they are shut out, on the other side of the door – neither knowing nor understanding what happens in this world. There needs to be a change in attitude and behaviour in parents and children. Schools and government need to be driving this.

Clearly parents have a major role in encouraging parents to be much more proactive when it comes to young people and the internet. Instead of standing on the dock and waving goodbye as their children head off to Cyberia, it is imperative they begin a dialogue, ask their children to introduce them to the customs and cultures of Cyberia, meet its people and celebrate its contribution to art, literature and science. Discover its history, understand its present and join with the native cyberians to shape its future. While Cyberia is undoubtedly a source of education, entertainment and information, there is growing evidence that its omnipresent offer of escape from reality, affordability, accessibility and opportunity for anonymity can   lure otherwise healthy young people into an addiction. It is up to parents to monitor not just what their sons and daughters do online but also the length of time that they spend in front of a computer screen. Many of these games have parental controls, which parents elect not to use. Banning is not the answer, the better strategy is to give kids access, get informed, set some rules, monitor and supervise. To ignore this responsibility is tantamount to child abuse and can create significant psychological and social problems for years to come.  Don’t believe me? Ask Robert’s parents.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is the Chair of The Alannah and Madeline Foundation‘s National Centre Against Bullying Cybersafety Committee and author of Real Wired Child (2007). Editor Dr Ramesh Manocha. Parts of this article previously published in The Herald Sun.