Too many video games may sap attention span

I have to take responsibility for the "addiction" aspect of this thread. That is what I was writing about.

I respect every persons view and position on their beliefs. It comes from dialogue that new standards and new understandings are reached between people whose moments are juxtaposed with views of the events which shaped their lives; one where gaming has positive outcomes and one where the outcomes are destructive. That is not meant to upset, hurt or attack anyone.

The boy I'm talking about was a football and soccer player, was a boxer, was a swimmer and was a normal healthy kid. There was no indication that he had an addictive personality and his depression didn't start until he found that he "Coudln't beat the computer game"; that is what he said to me.

His parents were typical middle class both worked 2 kids in school Boy spent most of his allowance on computer games by saving up. It began to show when he was 14. He stopped talking to people, didn't want to do any of the things he had been interested in before then and spent all of his time in his room playing games.

His mother and father I feel should have tried to engage him more in activities outside the home in order to get him to re-engage with life outside of a computer screen. But they didn't see it creeping up, to them it just happened one day. He was found by his grandmother sitting in her spare room crying, really helplessly crying. She asked him what was wrong and he said he didn't have his game console with him he forgot to bring it; that was the first really overt clue that things weren't right.

But he is coming along and it is his journey. He will get through it if he is strong enough and desires life enough to change his but for the moment he is seeking help and benefitting from it.

Rhia

i play video games all the time and i have played them since i was a about 6 , i remember playing the original duck hunter and Zelda game (still have them ), and i don't think it has affected my attention span but that could just be me. the attention span thing just doesn't make sense most of the people i know that play games can play for hours on end without being distracted lol i can honestly say that me and 3 of my friends sat down and played halo 3 13 hours straight just to beet it on legendary and get all the skulls (lol i dont think we ate anything that whole day).

Hey there nsomthin,

This is interesting...you played for 13 hrs straight...so your attention for anything else was altered...this is what the information pachy posted was alluding to. Once the attenion is on a game, nothing else matters and outside playing time, the mind is more thinking about the game than anything else.

Rhia

there wasn't anything else to really focus on we all made sure that we had nothing else planned that day,

and isnt that true for anything? if you focus on one thing A you wont be able to focus on thing B?

Hey nsomthin,

Not really, a mother for instance has to be a mother, cook, cleaner and do several other things at once in order to complete her day and her attention is split this way every day.

In all honesty I think the only time my mind wasn't on several things at once was when I sat down at night after the kids were in bed, to watch the tv. But if one of the kids wanted or needed something, I would leave the tv and tend to them

i guess we are just different people lol when im thinking about something its all i think about

Video games are great, too much of anything is bad.

Parents need to be parents and do their damn jobs instead of letting the xbox do the child raising and babysitting.

Teens all ways had bad attention spans, when you were young I'm sure when you were busy doing w/e you did at the time you probably hardly ever paid attention to anything else lol.

Violence shouldn't be blamed solely on video games and media, there is a whole spectrum of factors you have to conclude.

I've been playing video games for years and never have I hurt someone just because I saw it in a game. Has it made me violent? No, lol I can control my anger and if you don't have a lack of control then you're okay.

I love video games and they can be very mentally stimulating, they teach team work, how to solve puzzles, strategy and also give me something to do when I want to hurt people in real life, they brought me together with people from around the world and have inspired some art of mine as well as interest in abstract ideas and culture, they're not a waste of time, A waste of time is promoting false claims in an attempt to blame a problem on something other than the parent.

Technology is the future, but it doesn't mean it's everything, learn to take control and responsibility of your own lives and children =/

Well the one thing no one has asked (unless I've missed it) is whether I play video games at all and I DO; I choose which games I feel are suitable and now that my boys are all grown up and adults they spend more time at home because they're married and they play video games they choose their own, and they keep them away from my grandsons because they aren't appropriate.

Rhiannon

i didn't mean that you don't play games i meant that the way i focus is different then yours, im sorry if i insulted you i wasn't trying too

Np not al all nsomthin you didn't offend me at all, I was just explaining what I meant...don't stress theres no worries

Video games, like a lot of things, can be good or bad. It depends on how they're used, at what age they're used, why they're used, how often they're used.

I love video games, and I've pulled marathon sessions before- my friends watched me rip through Heavy Rain's storyline and we tried to solve the case together. We've yelled at cheered at each other with 20 other teammates as we've plunged into the depths of World of Warcraft and fought legendary foes. Yeh, we even buckled down and tried storming through the co-op play on Super Mario Brothers. It was a flurry of wiimotes.

However, there's a stigma surrounding video games- they're not all bad or all good. I've played Grand Theft Auto- doesn't mean I would let a child play it, doesn't mean I am a serial killer, etc.

Games are something we can do together. I can't really play sports anymore, but doing something cooperative with my friends gives me at least a bit of sense of teamwork, even if it's just in the virtual world. I was pretty happy when after too many tries my team and I managed to take down a boss on World of Warcraft. Sure, the gold it dropped was fake, but the sense of achievement and the fun we had was real. No, it's not lacing up my skates and hitting the ice, but it does require a certain amount of skill and leadership. I like running a guild with people I know online and IRL friends. You could ultimately say my Warcraft experiences are just as real as PC experiences- I have met people and bonded with people through the game. I know people through their avatars and chat logs, screen names and occasionally voices.

Concentration, coordination, practice- and it was fun. We do stuff in the real world together, and we blow off steam int he virtual world together. As long as we can all tell where virtual and reality meet and end, I think we're all good.

Some people get lost in a book, a film, a tv show... video games let me blow of steam and have fun (in moderation).

*pffft*

Pachy this is a really good thread and you brought a lot of discussion out; it is interesting to read some of the different opinions regarding this topic. I agree that too much of anything is not particularly good for anyone since a wide range of experiences is what brings knowledge and growth, and growth is the goal.

There has to be an "Agree to disagree" at some point though as in all discussions where there are such divided beliefs and ideas.

Just wanted to say thanks for the discussion,

Rhi