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The Negative Effects of Video GameAddictionDREA CHRISTOPHER

Whether your child plays video games on a portable unit, a television or theInternet, excessive gaming can affect his life. Video game addiction can be asproblematic as gambling and affects players as young as 8 years old, notes KeithBaker, director of Smith and Jones Addiction Consultants, in an article forBrigham Young University’s NewsNet. Be aware of the effects of a video gamecompulsion to keep your child's hobby in check. He shouldn't be getting anymorethan two hours of screen time per day and this includes time playing games,watching television and surfing the Internet, according to HealthyChildren.org.

(Image: Wavebreakmedia Ltd/Wavebreak Media/Getty Images)

A video game addiction can be harmful if your child is unable or unwilling toparticipate in any interests or extracurricular activities other than gaming. TheOn-Line Gamers Anonymous website notes that it may be a sign of an addiction ifyour child is constantly thinking about his next video game session, devising waysto get back to the game, abandoning former hobbies that don’t relate to videogames or declining social events with personal interaction because he's spendingtime discussing video games on the Internet.

If your child spends all of his free time playing video games and skips meals orloses sleep because of excessive game play, a video game addiction cannegatively impact his health. Children who spend more than two hours a day infront of a television or video games in lieu of participating in physical activity maysuffer from childhood obesity. In addition, the University of Texas at Dallas notesthat the addiction can lead to such medical issues as backaches, headaches,eyestrain and carpal tunnel syndrome--pain and numbness that your child mayfeel in his wrists, hands, shoulders and elbows.

Relationships with friends and family members may suffer if your child isspending more time gaming than he is talking to or going out with loved ones.The On-Line Gamers Anonymous website notes that gaming may be negativelyaffecting your child's life if he only wants to talk about video games, lies to coverup the amount of time he spends playing, and argues with you over his excessivegaming.

Video games that feature violent actions and scenarios may lead addicted playersto be desensitized to the violence. Richard Gallagher, director of the NYU ChildStudy Center’s Parenting Institute, states that players who become engrossed infirst-person shooter-style video games, for example, may adopt a detached viewof society or develop aggressive thoughts and tendencies.

Long hours playing video games can negatively affect your child's performance inschool if he's preoccupied with video games. He can fail to work at his optimumlevel because he's exhausted from a late night of video game playing. If your childdevotes more than one or two hours a day to television or video games, he mayhave trouble falling asleep, have problems paying attention and have lower testscores than other children who don’t spend as much time in front of a televisionor video game console.

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