An article in today's Bangkok Post told the story of a Thai teen who killed a taxi cab driver. The teen claimed to be addicted to the video game Grand Theft Auto.
Frustrated that the three dollars a day his parents gave him for spending money was not enough to support his online gaming habit, he took matters into his own hands. He purchased some knives and called a taxi. When the driver arrived, the teen robbed then slew the driver. The youth then attempted to drive off with the cab. He discovered that the ability to drive a car in a video game does not translate into driving a real car. The police found him a bit later trying to drive the car.
I'm sure that those who believe in the addictive nature of video games will trumpet this tragedy. At its heart though, this is really a case of simple greed. The kid claims that he killed to get the money to play the game. Is that any different than killing because he wanted an iPod or flat screen television? The bottom line is that he wanted more money.
As far as using the game as a model for how he committed the crime, is that any different than imitating something that he saw on television or in a movie? While it is certainly possible that what he saw "inspired" him on how to get the money, absent the movie, he would have certainly considered other just as reprehensible ways. Instead of a cab driver, perhaps he would have robbed a delivery man, or walked in and robbed a store.
I think the entire discussion of video game addiction is a pretty interesting topic. When it comes down to it, I guess I am sceptical of the "addiction" culture. I get it when it comes to drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol which chemically alter your brain. Sexual addiction is even believable, given its primal nature hard wired into our being.
Even in these cases, however, I really loath that we have started to label these as diseases. A disease seems to relieve some of the responsibility and shame associated with the addiction. Don't get me wrong, I think that we should help people to overcome their addiction, but the bottom line is that it is their fault. In almost all cases they willing ingested a substance on which they are now dependent. While I don't think that we need to make them wear a scarlet "A" on their chest, I think that they should be embarrassed. We should not go out of our way to make them feel that they are somehow not fully at fault for their addiction.
When we get into the realm of activities such as gambling and gaming, however, I just have a hard time accepting it as an addiction, let alone a disease. I think these activities can certainly give pleasure, and I can even understand that we might do them compulsively. Someone who plays a video game without even thinking about it.
As some of you know, I have played games my entire life. Until recently, I played the online game World of Warcraft. For a while, I played World of Warcraft quite a bit. I probably played twenty to thirty hours a week. When I wasn't playing, I would often think about the game and the group with whom I was playing.
One of the things I really attempted to do was to make sure that the game didn't negatively impact the rest of my life. I was somewhat successful at that. I think my work sometime suffered when I would daydream about playing as opposed to working. Fortunately I was good enough at what I did that few if any people noticed. Sometimes when I stayed up too late playing, I would be cross with the kids. That is the part that bothered me the most. I knew I was in a bad mood and that I was overacting to whatever small thing the kids did wrong, but it wasn't easy to stop it. Don't get me wrong, its not like I screamed at the top of my lungs or back handed them, but I certainly could have handled some things better.
I quit several times, and except for the last time, came back. It wasn't that I felt some overwhelming compulsion to play, but I did miss playing. The reason that I missed it was that I had many friends that played, and that it was such a huge part of my life. My friends were still playing, so when we got together it would often be the topic of conversation, which kept my interest somewhat fresh. I also had to fill all the time that I had spent playing, preferably with something that I also enjoyed doing. Once I did that, quitting was not bad.
Every once in a while I'll think it might be fun to play a bit, but that's usually while I'm drinking. The problem with it for me is that I am actually a pretty competitive person, and if I play World of Warcraft, I'll want to do it very well. To do it well will just take more time than I really want to devote to it.
I have seen people who have let their video game play have severe negative impacts on their lives. While one might find twenty hours a week a lot, there are certainly those who play forty or sixty hours a week. A guy I played with played seventy plus hours a week for three months to achieve some online goal.
There is a term called Wow Widows to describe the non-gaming spouse of a Warcraft player. The phrase is used in jest, but in some cases the game, or at least one person's devotion to it led to the breakup of the relationship. There are people that I know who have spent so much time playing that they lose their jobs, and even their homes.
People certainly let the game get the best of them. Some people ignore their responsibility because playing the game is more fun, not because they are addicted. Is a guy who plays softball six nights a week and day dreams about it at work addicted to the game? He might play so much that his spouse leaves him, or he might ignore other responsibilities, but is he addicted? What about a woman who goes out clubbing five nights a week with her girlfriends? Is she addicted? There are thousands of behaviors, which if taken to an extreme, can negatively impact ones life.
There is one thing about games that does make it more ripe for abuse than an activity such as softball. Softball leagues have schedules and dance clubs close for the night, while video games are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. You generally play softball and dance with other people, which puts a natural limit on your activity. I can sit down and play the game any time I want. It is a lot easier for one to allow video game play to negatively affect ones life than say softball or dancing.
Still, I think the reason that people play too much or may even have a hard time playing is that the game is fun. Its something that they enjoy doing, and if the consequences of playing the game don't outweigh the fun, they won't stop playing.
For kids, I think the parents need to watch them. Playing some video games is fine, but playing to excess is certainly not good. If video game play is hampering their school work, socialization, or health, then it needs to be curbed or eliminated.
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