I’m going to preempt tonight’s Fifth Estate on CBC, which is entitled “Top Gun: When a video gaming obsession turns to addiction and tragedy”.
I can only guess, but I’m going to guess this is about that boy who ran away from home because his parents took away his Xbox. We’ve all heard the story, straight-A student becomes Xbox controller-wielding demon-child who runs away when his games are taken away from him.
Please.
Video games had nothing to do with it. I have played video games for over 15 years now and I have managed to simultaneously balance school, extracurricular activities, and a social life while getting my video gaming time in. Despite this being the case for many people, the media still seems to enjoy pointing fingers at everything other possible factor, but the responsibility clearly falls on the shoulders of the parents.
Take care of your kids, pay attention to what they are doing, and nudge them in the right direction if they stray. Is that really so hard?
Grow a back bone and stop pointing fingers, video games are harmless.