Dealing With Teen Video Game Obsession

While in some of our other

articles we may sound as though we encourage obsession, we share a

concern over teens who tend to shun other interests in life in favor

for gaming activities to the point where they withdraw from society. We

would never encourage this kind of behavior, and that's why we've taken

time to describe some of the signs of game obsession and offer some

advice on how to deal with it.Recognizing the signs of teen game

obsession isn't as easy as one thinks. It always starts off as first,

an interest, and it then starts to grow into an addition. The problem

with identifying the beginning stages of game obsession begins with the

teen. By the time our children are 15 and up, they've learned some

rather impressive debating skills. So when we question their

motivations for repetitive game play, they may rebut our concerns with

logic and even make it a point to question our own flaws as parents.

Since no parent ever really wants to admit a flaw, we can sometimes

cave in and convince ourselves that maybe 4 hours in front of a video

game isn't that bad. After all, we spend that much time at the

computer, on the phone, or transmitting data back and forth between our

Palms, Blackberries, and Cingular cell phones. Be careful not to fall

prey to the logical teen. Video games can be addictive and if the time

spent playing them is not carefully monitored, they'll consume

everything that a teen used to care about. The moment you notice your

teen's grades falling, homework missing, or social life starting to

drop off, nip that game time in the bud. If you wait too late to

restrict game time, you may experience pre-adult temper tantrums that

you aren't prepared to handle correctly (cursing, breaking things,

stealing, running away from home, etc.). At this point, the child is

obsessed and will do anything to get his or her hands on a game

controller.Another sign of obsession is a behavioral change. A child

obsessed with gaming will lose patience with things and with others, be

quick to anger, and react to situations without fully thinking of the

consequences. If you've paid any attention to video and/or computer

games, you'll notice that they require this kind of behavior to win or

to advance to a higher level. It's unfortunate, but a teen obsessed

with this kind of violent gaming is literally being trained to react in

the manner described above. That's why it's pertinent that as an adult,

you restrict access to this kind of entertainment and replace it with

activities that slow thinking (such as art, music, theater, etc.) and

expose your child to other non-violent pleasures (swimming, dance,

skating, etc.).There are a lot of debates circulating around about the

impact that video games have on today's youth and some of it might

warrant paying closer attention to. As a mother or father of a teen,

you will do well with your teen's desire to "get his game on" by

keeping a close eye out for undesirable changes.