Parents, don't let games ruin your kids' life

Summer vacation, although a welcome relief for students, is ironically a worrying time for parents because they are afraid their children could become addicted to video games during the July-August holiday. The extraordinarily long time that students spend on video games is a danger to not only their health but also their quality of life.

In recent years, video games have become one of the most popular forms of entertainment for children and teens worldwide. They have also become a serious form of addiction for many children, a serious worrying factor for not only parents but also health and school authorities. In fact, the World Health Organization recently categorized video game addiction as a mental health disorder.

One of the factors that makes video games attractive to children is that they can be played with very few elements, unlike more traditional games. At the same time, they allow children to escape from the difficulties and demands of the real world.

One could add to these factors the attraction of establishing social connections, the rewards of continued play, and a carefully developed sense of gradual accomplishment based on well-known principles of psychological reinforcement.

Addiction to video games can have serious health effects on children. They can lead to visual and postural problems, poor eating and sleeping habits, social isolation, and anger and aggressive behavior when asked to stop playing, which can be dangerous to others. Children may also lose friends who are non-gamers.

Also, children addicted to video games could become anxious and depressed, leading to social isolation, low self-esteem, poor school attendance and failing school grades.

Although excessive gaming can occur independently of other problems, it can also represent a child's response to other underlying conditions, such as poor communication with their parents or with other children, anxiety and depression.

To limit the negative effects of video games, parents should set some rules, such as limiting the amount of time when children can play video games; prohibiting them from playing until they have completed both schoolwork and homework; making sure the children understand that playing games is not a right they have, but that it is an earned privilege; prohibiting games that parents consider can be dangerous to their children's health; using "Parental Control" settings that are now included in almost all video game devices; keeping consoles out of children's bedrooms where parents can more easily control their use; and prohibiting children from playing or watching games with disturbingly violent themes.

It is the parents' responsibility to limit their children's access to video games and computers, and their recommendations on video games' use should be strictly enforced－because it is the children's health and quality of life that are at stake.

The author is an international public health consultant.