I’ve been privileged over the past couple of months to spend some time with skilled and experienced addictions professionals and law enforcement officers here in Ontario. As you may have read and heard here, I have addressed the issue of gaming addiction in front of mixed audiences across southern Ontario from February to May and learned a lot about how people are struggling with their own and their kids’ gaming habits.
I maintain that addictive gaming is a quiet epidemic affecting our families in profound ways – separation and divorce, parent/teen conflict, financial difficulty etc. Recent research out of the Iowa State University suggests that more than 8 percent of kids may be at risk of developing ‘pathological’ gaming habits.
While we can debate the methodologies and the final figure – is it eight percent or six or five – the issue deserves to be taken seriously. When I speak, I say that the best time to set limits is when a new game or console is introduced to the home. But that doesn’t really help parents who are in the midst of a battle for their kids’ lives. How do we help teens who are gaming 12 hours a day and getting aggressive with their families? Do we look to law enforcement for answers? Do we forcibly remove the gaming systems and wait to see what happens?
I want to suggest that we consider harm reduction strategies based on available resources from the gaming industry, community supports and good counselling. While they are controversial among many, harm reduction programs for drug addiction, including safe injection sites and needle exchange programs, are underway in many cities in North America. In the case of gaming, we have a legal process addiction that threatens the safety and well-being of many youth. How should we craft a harm reduction strategy?
First, look at available resources from the gaming industry. Popular gaming consoles such as the Xbox 360 have built-in parental controls which provide the ability to limit access to content deemed harmful or undesirable. In most cases, games can be blocked altogether based on their ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) rating. Windows Vista has more robust parental controls, as does the Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft (WoW). These controls allow parents to ‘micro manage’ hours of each day, further freeing up or restricting times that their teens may play. I would like to see the parental controls in the console systems enhanced to match what WoW and Windows Vista have in place.
Referring to the ESRB system takes on greater urgency when we realize that over twenty percent of children aged 8-11 may own and regularly play games rated for players aged 17 and older. This was a significant finding of Dr. Douglas Gentile’s Iowa State University report, suggesting that parents require a much greater level of education on what is age appropriate content. Consider the ESRB rating ‘M’ for Mature (17+). Given that the rating system is an industry initiative, we have representatives of the artists, coders and marketers clearly telling parents, ‘Do NOT buy this product for your young children.’ We would do well to heed these warnings.
The industry has gone to a great deal of trouble to create some useful resources through the ESRB site. Among them are an email newsletter that updates parents twice monthly on games teens are likely to have on their wish list. I am operating on the experience-based belief that some titles have a much greater appeal and more potentially addictive design elements than others.
For example, squad based combat games such as the Call of Duty series have an experience point system not unlike WoW or other MMO’s. This combined with an intense first-person-shooter (FPS) experience creates an incredible drive to succeed and ‘level up’ in many dedicated gamers. Contrast this to the casual game play of many Nintendo Wii titles such as their sports titles. I spoke with a father of ten children recently who said he never caught his kids up at 3 am playing Nintendo Boxing, but MMO’s such as Runescape were a different story.
Useful industry web sites include:
- GetGameSmart.com – How well do you know your gamer?
- WhatTheyPlay.com – A family guide to video games.
- PlaySavvy.com – Similar to What They Play…
Use of the parental systems and industry resources assumes that we can speak openly with our teens about their gaming habits. Personally I am against two things. First is the forcible removal of the system – the cold turkey approach. Second is the weaning of a hardcore habit with no notice or consultation.
This brings me to my second point. End the silence on gaming addiction. Get your family or social network involved. I do believe that most teens are rational human beings when confronted intelligently with the consequences of their negative lifestyle choices.
Simply put, you are going to sit them down, preferably with the support of extended family and others that the teen respects, and outline your concerns. Then put in place an action plan which includes rigorous compliance to the usage of the parental controls, good grades in school etc.
Failure to abide by this plan will result in suspension of his or her gaming privileges. I would like to add here that professional counselling is essential – my third point. Recognizing that this is a luxury for many in this tough economy, I think it should be a top priority whenever possible. I know that in my life, gaming was the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
I plan to research and write more on topic of harm reduction and gaming in the near future. Thanks for your interest and input. What has been your family’s experience?
Contact me: exgamer@exgamer.net
Tags: Cold Turkey, Harm Reduction, online gaming addiction, Video Game Addiction
Being constructively engaged with the client – in this case the addicted teen – isn't as complicated as I made it sound. As I've already stated, I believe that most teens are very capable of comprehending the gravity of their life crises when confronted in a respectful, serious manner. If I had to attach myself to a clinical perspective, it would likely be that of Compton and Galaway.
(Lots of stuff by them if you do a Google search).
You also may be interested in checking out info on the individual and group therapy program being done at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. I spoke at two seminars recently where the director of the program was the keynote speaker.
Constructive engagement? Having never heard of that method before. I honestly think the best way to try and tackle these issues is to have as many different perspectives come forth and try to gain a better understanding of each view. I have recently met with some individuals in the social work field and it's really interesting to collaborate with differing views on video game/Internet addiction. I think it is important to try and gain a holistic understanding of what each field, and subfields, have to offer. I think we can learn a lot from each other, the differing fields that is, and thus will be able to facilitate a better understanding ourselves of these addictions, and then pass along the knowledge to others, and of course our future clients.
I completely agree with your statement that addiction, any for that matter, cannot be cured overnight. Even trying to manage such an addiction will take awhile. It has essentially become part of that individuals life, and it won't be able to [poof] disappear in an instant. In addition, I agree with your statement about parents needing to be patient. The child and teenager will have emotional outbursts and at first, when the recovery process first begins, these will be intense. As the neurological chemicals in the brain will go through withdrawal, due to the extremely high tolerance levels that the child/teenager has formed from their excessive gaming.
Would you be willing to explain this constructive engagement method/theory to me? I am interested to hear what it entails
.
Cheers!
-Anna
Thanks for that Anna. My professional background is in social work in child welfare and youth criminal justice, so I really do believe that the best course of action in seeking change in teen behaviour is constructive engagement.
Realistically, an addiction to gaming that has taken years to develop cannot be 'cured' overnight. While we're working toward success, be it abstinence or curtailed gaming, I think parents need to be patient with their gamer and understand that this is going to be a painful growth process that will dredge up other complex emotional issues unrelated to video games.
I'm hoping to do some work with a local police force to educate parents on some of these issues in the coming school year, so feedback is much appreciated.
Hello Brad! This is Anna DiNoto. Wow, this article really makes you think about what we need to do, as researchers/clinicians in this field of video game addiction, to facilitate a harm reduction plan that helps individual gamers, couples, parents and their children/teenagers gain control over their addiction.
I think moderation management can be a useful tool to use while trying to reduce the amount of harm a person is inflicting on themselves and those around them. However, this is a very difficult task if the gamer that is addicted is unwilling to commit, and is thus unmotivated. Prochaska et al's Changing for Good, Stages of Change Model, is a really imperative model, in my opinion, to be cognizant of when trying to determine a plan that will ultimately lead to success- it is hoped anyways, the client makes the final decision as whether to change or not…. In addition to this, a vital aspect of using this model is to conduct Motivational Interviewing, to find out exactly what stage the individual that is addicted to game is at.
Such interesting material and extremely challenging work! Great blog post and I look forward to reading more on the topics you present!
-Anna DiNoto
Hi Anna! I appreciate your initiative about your research about game addiction. I guess education about this problem among kids is our best defense. You may also want to check this article: http://www.webarticleworld.com/kicking-the-habit/
Thanks for that Gary…
I'm wrestling with all the phone calls and emails I get from parents: "How do I get my kid off the Xbox?" I'm hoping to have a complete, researched strategy sometime in the near future.
I don't have a family to worry about. But the way I was finnaly able to get myself off of WoW was I set my account up to one of their authenticators, then smashed it with a hammer. Cold turkey but its worked fairly well so far.