Recently, video game addiction has been listed as a behavioral disorder by the World Health Organization (WHO), and that is why it should be prevented by setting limits for this activity and paying close attention to any signal that may put us in alert.
Because playing video games can be an excellent activity that even brings great benefits to children. But we must prevent the hobby from becoming an obsession, following the recommendations made by experts.
What are the symptoms of video game addiction?
The first thing we should be clear about is that do not confuse excessive use of video games, computers and screens, with an addiction problem. In order for us to talk about pathological behavior, it must cause a significant deterioration in the areas of personal, family, social, educational, occupational and other important areas.
The National Strategy on Addictions 2017-2024 presented by the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, stated in its report that 18% of the population of adolescents and young people aged 14 to 18 years use information and communication technologies in an abusive manner. While probably its use will be normalized with age.
To talk about addiction to video games we must look at the behavior changes manifested by the child, as well as in his reaction when, for whatever reason, he cannot play. Almost all addictions share the same symptoms, and according to the Center for the Treatment of Addictions of the Community of Madrid, SINADIC, these would be:
Behavior change: Restlessness, impatience and irritability, especially when the addictive environment cannot be accessed.
Isolation and confinement. Important decline in communication.
Deterioration of the closest relationships.
Disruption of the normal course of life caused by the abusive use of internet and screens (not going to school, work, neglect of daily obligations ...)
Justification of the time used in this regard.
Abandonment of other activities, especially if they were especially rewarding before.
Inability to voluntarily control the use.
Lies-deception to secretly carry out addictive activities.
Change of sleep or eating habits.
In Babies and more A group of researchers is studying whether the use of video games in classrooms could improve student learningHow to prevent an addiction to video games?
The addiction to mobiles, new technologies and videogames is a reality in psychology consultations, and we as parents can and should avoid this situation from occurring, following the recommendations of the experts.
The Friendly Screens and Movistar initiative have launched a decalogue with recommendations for parents when it comes to choose video games and apps for our children, as well as to enjoy them safely:
Find out about the game well before buying or downloading it.
Choose video games that stimulate creativity or encourage reading.
Select party games to play with family or collaborative games and participate!
Pay attention to unexpected expenses in “freemium” video games.
Avoid that the free is the main factor because there may be malware in games of doubtful origin.
Discard games that have an online social component if you are not going to be able to do adequate supervision by an adult.
Ignore free non-contrasted games that require transferring personal data or connecting to social networks.
Try to use a wide screen, including a television and place it in a transit place in the home.
Dedicate time to listen and see how our children react while they play.
Take care of your health and rest putting limits of use and paying attention to their posture or visual conditions. Do not use them before going to bed because they make it difficult to fall asleep.
Apart from these tips, we must not forget to offer our children other leisure alternatives, encourage the practice of physical exercise and social activities that require relating in person.
Parental controls
From Friendly Screens they also remind us of the importance of using parental control tools incorporated in the video consoles themselves (such as Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch ...), to prevent the abusive use of video games.
All of them have options that enable the following:
- What games can you play,
- What kind of audiovisual content can be consulted through these platforms,
- Control the time that each family member can play,
- Allow or not access to the online mode of the games,
- Block access to websites through the service,
- Manage user profile privacy
- Require parental approval for friend requests.
For greater social awareness about the use of video games, PantallasAmigas released the video "Sergio @ SuAmigo: the adventure of a child and its abusive use of the computer and the Internet", which shows the importance of controlling the time that is It happens with video games.
Is our mission supervise our children's game, provide them with tools according to their age and teach them how to make correct and moderate use of technologies, while avoiding using them as an "emotional pacifier".
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