Thai Youth Hooked On Computer Games

[george]

One fourth of youths play games everyday: survey

BANGKOK: -- A poll reveals Thursday that about one in every four youths play computer games everyday, even though they knew such habit caused them some problems.

According to the Abac Poll Research Centre, most young players admitted that they wasted their time and money, faced eye problems, and saw declining work or academic performances as a result of their attention to computer games.

The survey was conducted from July 8 to July 25.

It covered 1,441 youths aged between 10 and 24 in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces.

-- The Nation 2007-07-26

[quiksilva]

Hooked? Its not crack cocaine.

How many people watch Thai TV everyday? Television or movie watching is a much more passive pastime. Are they hooked too?

Where is the empirical evidence to support that playing games causes health problems?

As for wasting money, says who? If I was to say collect stamps or play golf, perhaps some would say that was a waste of time and money too.

As for the rest of it, again where is the empirical evidence showing a direct link. In fact surgeons have argued that video game playing does the exact opposite. Independent research has shown that playing games improves reasoning, problem solving skills and eye-hand coordination.

This is just a bunch of academics jumping on the bash gaming band wagon.

Video gaming is to today what Rock and Roll was to the 40's and 50's.

Edited July 26, 2007 by quiksilva

[soundman]

Its the first salvo being fired in a war on "video games". In two months they will banned along with short skirts, fast food, alchohol, ciggarettes, late night entertainment, democracy etc.

Btw. Have a Swedish friend in town with a games cafe. The place has been packed full everyday for the last three years.

Soundman.

[Tywais]

along with short skirts

Let's hope not, though I suspect it would cut down on bike/car/pedestrian accidents.

[kankaroo]

In a bid to curb this evil scourge of computer game addiction which is ruining young lives, I suggest implants. They would be similar to the ones used by heroin addicts that are designed to block the opiate receptors in the brain(see Pete Doherty). These ones would work by giving the addict an electric shock every time he is near a computer running a program such as Ragnarok or Pangya etc.

The more the addict exposes himself to the threat the more volts they receive, until they are picked up by the police (the implant will also have GPS) and sent to a re-education camp for rehabilitation.

What do you think ?

[MrSnrang]

Honestly, what else is there to do?

Study your ass off to get good grades and into an unrewarding job market?

Let them have fun.

[Farma]

I think there a similar thing a couple of years ago where Ragnarock was blamed. Internet café’s were forced to close early and remember seeing police raids on internet café’s that hadn’t closed on time.

[eek]

its not just thais .

A documentary I watched a while back was about gaming addiction and that some clinics are now add this to their list of addiction therapies. Another docu was about the success of WoW (world of warcraft) and how many full time workers who play the game in their free time now can hire someone to pilot their character for the more boring of tasks (money earning etc within the game). The people hired are usually from s.e.asia.

I LOVE games! LOVE EM. But like anything, it IS easy to become addicted, and yes some kids (and adults) can go into addict mode and overplay.

However, there are worse things to be addicted to. Younger kids just need limits set by their parents and older kids/adults need to learn self-discipline.

Its just a matter of common sense.

[jackspratt]

They would be similar to the ones used by heroin addicts that are designed to block the opiate receptors in the brain(see Pete Doherty).

Are you seriously suggesting Pete Doherty has a brain

[basjke]

Am I missing something or didn't they use the word crack down yet?Probably will be for the next article.

Edited July 26, 2007 by basjke

[Rykbanlor]

As with anything it should be up to the parents to try and limit their kid's gameplay rather than blaming the games themselves or the internet cafes.

[dttk0009]

I can say that I play video games frequently. I think most people my age play it at least occasionally. It's part of our generation.

[rak sa_ngop]

Maybe the authorities should take the blocks off the porn web sites and let the kids go back to doing what they liked doing before.

From my condo window I can look into another families' room and can definitely confirm that there is now less porn being watched by the two students who are brothers and more time wasted playing games.

[Wolfie]

Thailand: the Hub of Computer game addiction!

[Ricardo]

As with anything it should be up to the parents to try and limit their kid's gameplay rather than blaming the games themselves or the internet cafes.

On the other hand, I know a mia-noi whose teenage-daughter regularly steals from her, to pay for her on-line-game addiction. The girl recently tried to kill herself. Her academic-performance is way down.

One can't blame the government, for being concerned about cases like this, or trying to do something about them.

[ballzafire]

What's more, they don't include the data from similar studies that have shown that kids who play action games end up becoming safer drivers and have fewer accidents because they've developed quicker reaction times.

Try showing those same results for your average, passive, boob-tube couch potato...

[JBL]

My 17 year old stepson came to visit us in Austrailia last year for a month,all he wanted to do was play online games - the only time hestopped was when we travelled to Sydney and visited family, he was online till 4 or 5am most nights had to curtail it in the end but he was even online till the moment we had to leave for the airport. This is not just a problem in thailand but antisocial problem in many countries

[kankaroo]

I can say that I play video games frequently. I think most people my age play it at least occasionally. It's part of our generation.

Yes I agree. I am 28 and still play the occasional game on my PC. I don't really watch TV coz it is crap ! Most of the games I play are strategy based and a lot of chess etc. I also play driving games which I am very good at :-) and am sure that my reactions are better because of it.

As with anything it should be up to the parents to try and limit their kid's gameplay rather than blaming the games themselves or the internet cafes.

On the other hand, I know a mia-noi whose teenage-daughter regularly steals from her, to pay for her on-line-game addiction. The girl recently tried to kill herself. Her academic-performance is way down.

One can't blame the government, for being concerned about cases like this, or trying to do something about them.

Well I think that on some level, some people will get addicted to something that gives them pleasure. Whether it be chocolate, games, tv, drugs, sex, books etc etc.

I am not a psychologist but I think that certain people (like the girl you mentioned) will be messed up in a certain way anyway, games is just the way that an addiction is manifesting in her at the moment .

[quiksilva]

As with anything it should be up to the parents to try and limit their kid's gameplay rather than blaming the games themselves or the internet cafes.

On the other hand, I know a mia-noi whose teenage-daughter regularly steals from her, to pay for her on-line-game addiction. The girl recently tried to kill herself. Her academic-performance is way down.

One can't blame the government, for being concerned about cases like this, or trying to do something about them.

The government should be more concerned about the lack of proper parenting. One can't help but wonder if these kids also got a lift to school with Dad, Mum and Big brother all at once on the familly scooter.

If computer games were the root cause of these problems, then why isn't a greater percentage of players "hooked" and causing social problems? There should be hordes of problems, after all this industry is bigger than Hollywood, so what are we missing?

The problem is they look at games like drugs. When in fact they are no more addictive than a decent television series. Yeah you get annoyed if you miss an episode, you might even want to go out and buy the whole series just to see it all the way through, but that doesn't mean you are addicted to it, you just like it, a lot. What's wrong with that?

Some people are quite simply more naturally predisposed to mental health issues I suppose but I refuse to call gaming an addiction, I have just given up smoking, now THAT was an addiction. I have also not had internet for a while at home, and cant play World of Warcraft which is possibly one of the most so called 'addictive' games out there played by 7-8 million people but its not like I have missed any nights sleep over it.

The government should concentrate on tackling piracy and developing a genuine market for the sale of original games that they can earn some tax revenue from to fund education. Perhaps if games were priced higher, more kids would try to do well at school and work harder to make more cash.

[soundman]

Some people are quite simply more naturally predisposed to mental health issues I suppose but I refuse to call gaming an addiction, I have just given up smoking, now THAT was an addiction. I have also not had internet for a while at home, and cant play World of Warcraft which is possibly one of the most so called 'addictive' games out there played by 7-8 million people but its not like I have missed any nights sleep over it.

I, for one, don't keep a computer in the house. Too much temptation....

If I added up the months / years I have "wasted" playing video (computer) games & the like & doing something productive (like sleeping ) - the probable difference to my life would be astonishing! I might get a few years of my life back.

Self disciplane (or parental control) is the order of the day. Not government crackdowns & bans.

Soundman.

[mrtoad]

Thailand: the Hub of Computer game addiction!

You need to change it: The Hub of game computerrrrrrrrrr.

[TAWP]

My 17 year old stepson came to visit us in Austrailia last year for a month,all he wanted to do was play online games - the only time hestopped was when we travelled to Sydney and visited family, he was online till 4 or 5am most nights had to curtail it in the end but he was even online till the moment we had to leave for the airport. This is not just a problem in thailand but antisocial problem in many countries

Antisocial problems? Your clearly know nothing about onlinegames, online communitys or teens in general of modern time.

[kankaroo]

Some people are quite simply more naturally predisposed to mental health issues I suppose but I refuse to call gaming an addiction, I have just given up smoking, now THAT was an addiction. I have also not had internet for a while at home, and cant play World of Warcraft which is possibly one of the most so called 'addictive' games out there played by 7-8 million people but its not like I have missed any nights sleep over it.

I, for one, don't keep a computer in the house. Too much temptation....

If I added up the months / years I have "wasted" playing video (computer) games & the like & doing something productive (like sleeping ) - the probable difference to my life would be astonishing! I might get a few years of my life back.

Self disciplane (or parental control) is the order of the day. Not government crackdowns & bans.

Soundman.

So you must spend a lot of time in internet cafe's then ?

[lazeeboy]

Some people are quite simply more naturally predisposed to mental health issues I suppose but I refuse to call gaming an addiction, I have just given up smoking, now THAT was an addiction. I have also not had internet for a while at home, and cant play World of Warcraft which is possibly one of the most so called 'addictive' games out there played by 7-8 million people but its not like I have missed any nights sleep over it.

I, for one, don't keep a computer in the house. Too much temptation....

If I added up the months / years I have "wasted" playing video (computer) games & the like & doing something productive (like sleeping ) - the probable difference to my life would be astonishing! I might get a few years of my life back.

Self disciplane (or parental control) is the order of the day. Not government crackdowns & bans.

Soundman.

So you must spend a lot of time in internet cafe's then ?

better to be hooked on computer games than crack

[soundman]

So you must spend a lot of time in internet cafe's then ?

Office actually - good excuse to stay away from the house.

[realthaideal]

Childhood is an excellent age to waste time and money. Much more so than as an adult. Childhood. Later they can be efficient. I played outside as a kid, but also loved my video games. I think I drive really well and have great reflexes because of it. Everything has positives and negatives. And all the paper route money I blew on games as a kid... awesome. It's fun when you're the best.

[lazeeboy]

One fourth of youths play games everyday: survey

BANGKOK: -- A poll reveals Thursday that about one in every four youths play computer games everyday, even though they knew such habit caused them some problems.

According to the Abac Poll Research Centre, most young players admitted that they wasted their time and money, faced eye problems, and saw declining work or academic performances as a result of their attention to computer games.

The survey was conducted from July 8 to July 25.

It covered 1,441 youths aged between 10 and 24 in Bangkok and its surrounding provinces.

-- The Nation 2007-07-26

and the rest of the worlds youth is'nt................

[JBL]

My 17 year old stepson came to visit us in Austrailia last year for a month,all he wanted to do was play online games - the only time hestopped was when we travelled to Sydney and visited family, he was online till 4 or 5am most nights had to curtail it in the end but he was even online till the moment we had to leave for the airport. This is not just a problem in thailand but antisocial problem in many countries

And here I am quite a few years latter with my stepson completing Uni, with distinction & has had his own biz on the side for about a year - yes online gaming - he is making a bit out of it - enough to warrant a b700k server, paid built and programmed by himself - all of his own motervation = proud step father

Who can't spell

Edited January 6, 2012 by JBL

[Beetlejuice]

It`s not just games, the so-called experts should also add social networking such as facebook into their lists of addictions, plus have a separate category to include adults who also can become as addicted to their computers as much as the kids.

All this stuff is turning people into self-withdrawn recluses that then become so deeply involved with they’re online addictions that they lose the art of social interacting within the real world.

As with drugs, drink and religion, certain computer and online activities where people lose themselves in a world of fantasy, make believe friendships with pretend social activities, is a form of addiction and should be officially recognised as such.

[Heimdallr]

If playing is considered as a waste of time, isn't any other similarly time consuming activity just the same (many alternatives don't develop your cognitive skills like the games do)?