It’s not enough to call it a disorder
KAMLOOPS — Depending on who you ask, video games are either good or bad. Or a bit of both, some say, but boundaries are blurry. The World Health Organization is looking into settling that for good by adding a new disorder to the roster. A gaming disorder. Video game organizations and supporters call that excessive and misdirected. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of kids and teenagers who play video games and they seem to function just fine, thank you.
There two approaches: one proposes limited screen time (no screens for babies and toddlers), while the other has experts (an overused term these days) argue kids can play video games to their hearts’ content, and once they had their fill, self-regulation kicks in (right?). Pro-screens (and games especially) advocates invoke the advantages: improved hand-eye coordination, memory, and processing speed. Take it with a grain of salt.
It’s no secret that video games are addictive. After all, they are designed by professionals whose goal is to keep gamers glued to their machines and trying their hardest, again. And again. That often leads to hours spent in front of a screen immersed in a different world. Disengaging from playing is hard and young people turn to desperate measures when forced to do so (violence, or threats, towards self and others for examples.)
While the debate goes on, you’re right to ask: what about the children? Will calling it a disorder solve the problem? Not really. It might provide help to parents who are at their wits ends with a doctor-prescribed reduced screen time. But it might also create opportunity for overmedicating children, should professionals get giddy with the prescriptions. A situation that is not exactly new or preferable.