It's been a while since children were used to make videogames sound terrifying, but luckily the State University of Iowa has delivered, with a study making the claim that 8.5% of American children are "pathological gamers." The use of pathological is important, because it makes them sound like serial killers, which is great for whipping idiot parents up into a frenzy.
Although the study only surveyed 1,178 youths, The Washington Post has suggests from the evidence that three million children are now playing videogames by compulsion, helping to make the results sound even more frightening.
"I thought this was parental histrionics - that kids are playing a lot and parents don't understand the motivation, so they label it an addiction," said Douglas Gentile, who conducted the study. "It turns out that I was wrong. For some kids, they play in such a way that it becomes out of balance. And they're damaging other areas of their lives, and it isn't just one area, it's many areas."
Gentile was quick to point out that this doesn't make videogames "bad," but obviously this is going to be more fuel for the anti-game fire, with people unable to realise that it's not videogames causing the problem, but merely providing a symptom. Coming up with terms like "pathological gamer" isn't going to help the situation, though.
Contest:
12:00 PM on 04.20.2009
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...I'm asking for a friend... I swear
SO MUCH LOGIC
Come on guys, don't be knee-jerk about studies like this. The problem isn't video games, it's too much video games. I have a hard time believing that all you gamers don't know some kids out there who seriously need to play a few less hours worth of games.
Still, Gentile may be moderate in his claims but he is part of the Craig Anderson group of "violent content in media = violent behavior" US social scientists. Boo!!
Statistics or not, extrapolating is rarely a good thing. All it does is increase your margin of error.
I would love to see research like this on people who read books. If it turns out 3.5 million people read too much, how many people would give a damn?
Maybe they should put a basic statistics curriculum in high school math. That way people at least Should know better. (I don't live in America so please correct me if they actually Do give this in mandatory classes and the general consumer is more gullible than I thought.)
After reading the Washington Post article, I feel that the study was absolutely fine, admitting that they didn't get all the answers. It's just a matter of time before someone tries to take this info WAAAY out of context.
I'm a hardcore gamer, and I take it seriously, but there is a limit to how long you can sit around being lazy.