Children have been found sitting by the front door of random homes, desperately trying to tap into the owner's WiFi connection.
Children addicted to video games ran away from home in the middle of the night to find WiFi when parents turned their internet connection off, says expert::Children have been found sitting by the front door of random homes, desperately trying to tap into the owner’s WiFi connection.
Yeah, this headline (with no other context) is so weird. Either that, or an expert made up a hypothetical situation and someone reported it. Probably written for the clicks.
As someone who is contemplating becoming a parent soon, what’s a good solution to managing screen time? I’m an IT guy so managing their devices will be standardized, but ethically I’m a bit worried about going too far with it. I really want my kids to grow up being creative and a bit bored sometimes so they have to make their own fun, but I also want them to game a bit like when I was a kid. It’s going to take quite a bit of work to restrict access to certain services at certain times of day, plus I’m considering absolutely no social media until they’re in high school but I’m worried that it’ll make them rebel and get desperate
This is interesting. I don’t think any really productive debate is going to come out of this - it’ll be the same one that’s been rehashed a million times - but it’s hard to say “be a parent and control what your children do” when they’re literally running away from home and threatening suicide when the parents try to parent.
I suppose if nothing else, hopefully we get more research and support services for these extreme cases of behavioral addiction.
Yeah, it’s child dependent really. My oldest is pretty sucked into her minecraft and roblox shit but when it comes time to get off, it’s “ok dad.” My youngest on the other hand is a child scorned in the same circumstance. I’m just glad I don’t have worse behavioral issues with them.
We should be telling kids about how simple it is to build an antenna, how there are many types for different situations, and how directional antennas work. Buy them a copy of the ARRL books https://arrl.org/ and you’ll potentially inspire an engineer.
Back when I was a kid I got into building a cantenna and aircrack-ng when my parents shut the internet off every night. Wasn’t addicted to games, just found it interesting and entertaining. Also came in handy in the days of shaped internet when you ran out of GB for the month.
Have video games now been found addictive by professional psychologists — the only people qualified to make that determination? Last I heard, “technology addiction” was a myth promulgated by abusive “boot camp” operators who were practicing unlicensed mental health care (i.e. scams, and dangerous ones at that).
This is hardly groundbreaking stuff - people can be addicted to porn, food, exercise, pretty much anything. Really the primary criteria in calling any addiction a “disorder” is “what negative effects is it having on your life?” Well, “I literally want to kill myself when my parents cut off the wifi” is a pretty negative effect.
Addiction is defined by repeated behavior despite repeated consequences.
My little cousins stole my aunt’s credit card and spent $10k on digital goods. This wasn’t the first time this happened.
There are legitimate concerns about how these services are shaping the minds of children, constantly poking the reward center of their malleable brains and wiring them a specific way to open pathways to addictive behavior. YouTube channels promoting desperate consumerism by featuring kids opening endless “presents” for an hour as an example.
I will admit that as someone who is a bit more tech savvy than the average person this stuff is pretty alarming. I’m planning to become a parent soon and it seems like keeping their usage in check will be an endless game of whack a mole, and that screen/game/content addiction is now the default outcome because they’re all built to be so predatory and addictive by nature.
Yes, I’m aware that the APA has recommended much further study in order to determine whether technology use might be an addiction. Or did you not bother to read the page you linked?
I did bother to read it. Did you? Just because it hasn’t been fully fleshed out to be officially listed with diagnostic criteria and full information for the manual doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been defined or that it doesn’t exist or that the APA does not classify it as a mental disorder.
Do you have some kind of ideological problem with the concept of gaming addiction, specifically, in the universe of all the other behavioral addictions out there? Gamers™ sure do seem to get sensitive any time anyone says anything that could be construed as remotely negative about their hobby - like that some people develop crippling addictions to it as outlined in the topic article.
Gambling addiction - a rather well documented phenomenon over centuries - wasn’t even in the DSM until the fifth edition. Gaming addiction will be in the sixth. See you then.
I guess this makes a good argument for slowing down connections to old dial up modem speeds, but you have to wonder if part of it is an underlying psychological problem (possibly related to our current mishandling of society)
Look, I don’t know anything about these kids, but I wouldn’t trust these “experts” until I learned more.
Kids freaking love games, regardless of other factors. I would have desperately looked for an internet connection as a kid too, and I found ways to sneak away and play video games a lot because my adoptive parents sheltered us. I still loved to read, create things, play sports, and watch TV. “Running away looking for internet” isn’t “video game addiction” in and of itself.
one thing i would be interested in seeing is what kinds of games are causing these problems. I would bet its mostly your mobile gatcha games, at least that kid running away from home must be. A lot of actual psycological research goes into making those games addictive, so no wonder they are addictive. Having actual stats to back it up tho would be nice and could maybe get some restrictions on them passed, especially lootboxes as is somewhat talked about in the article
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Even more horrifyingly, children addicted to books stayed up late, reading under their bed covers using flashlights…
I’m 90% sure that’s why I needed glasses. Probably ruined my eyes trying to read at close range in the dark after I was told to stop and go to sleep.
I’ve fixed with laser eye surgery now though. Hopefully I don’t fall into the same trap with my phone this time!
LOL! Guilty as charged. But I’m better now. I read on my phone under the covers, no flashlight needed. :)
Expert in what? Witnessing things and recounting them?
Yeah, this headline (with no other context) is so weird. Either that, or an expert made up a hypothetical situation and someone reported it. Probably written for the clicks.
Glad someone saw this too 😅
As someone who is contemplating becoming a parent soon, what’s a good solution to managing screen time? I’m an IT guy so managing their devices will be standardized, but ethically I’m a bit worried about going too far with it. I really want my kids to grow up being creative and a bit bored sometimes so they have to make their own fun, but I also want them to game a bit like when I was a kid. It’s going to take quite a bit of work to restrict access to certain services at certain times of day, plus I’m considering absolutely no social media until they’re in high school but I’m worried that it’ll make them rebel and get desperate
This is interesting. I don’t think any really productive debate is going to come out of this - it’ll be the same one that’s been rehashed a million times - but it’s hard to say “be a parent and control what your children do” when they’re literally running away from home and threatening suicide when the parents try to parent.
I suppose if nothing else, hopefully we get more research and support services for these extreme cases of behavioral addiction.
Yeah, it’s child dependent really. My oldest is pretty sucked into her minecraft and roblox shit but when it comes time to get off, it’s “ok dad.” My youngest on the other hand is a child scorned in the same circumstance. I’m just glad I don’t have worse behavioral issues with them.
Just sounds like little Timmy figured out why they’re called mobile games before his parents did.
We should be telling kids about how simple it is to build an antenna, how there are many types for different situations, and how directional antennas work. Buy them a copy of the ARRL books https://arrl.org/ and you’ll potentially inspire an engineer.
'73 de sv1sjp
Back when I was a kid I got into building a cantenna and aircrack-ng when my parents shut the internet off every night. Wasn’t addicted to games, just found it interesting and entertaining. Also came in handy in the days of shaped internet when you ran out of GB for the month.
Have video games now been found addictive by professional psychologists — the only people qualified to make that determination? Last I heard, “technology addiction” was a myth promulgated by abusive “boot camp” operators who were practicing unlicensed mental health care (i.e. scams, and dangerous ones at that).
It’s in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - THE authoritative guide on what is or is not considered a mental disorder, yes.
This is hardly groundbreaking stuff - people can be addicted to porn, food, exercise, pretty much anything. Really the primary criteria in calling any addiction a “disorder” is “what negative effects is it having on your life?” Well, “I literally want to kill myself when my parents cut off the wifi” is a pretty negative effect.
Addiction is defined by repeated behavior despite repeated consequences.
My little cousins stole my aunt’s credit card and spent $10k on digital goods. This wasn’t the first time this happened.
There are legitimate concerns about how these services are shaping the minds of children, constantly poking the reward center of their malleable brains and wiring them a specific way to open pathways to addictive behavior. YouTube channels promoting desperate consumerism by featuring kids opening endless “presents” for an hour as an example.
I will admit that as someone who is a bit more tech savvy than the average person this stuff is pretty alarming. I’m planning to become a parent soon and it seems like keeping their usage in check will be an endless game of whack a mole, and that screen/game/content addiction is now the default outcome because they’re all built to be so predatory and addictive by nature.
Yes, I’m aware that the APA has recommended much further study in order to determine whether technology use might be an addiction. Or did you not bother to read the page you linked?
I did bother to read it. Did you? Just because it hasn’t been fully fleshed out to be officially listed with diagnostic criteria and full information for the manual doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been defined or that it doesn’t exist or that the APA does not classify it as a mental disorder.
Do you have some kind of ideological problem with the concept of gaming addiction, specifically, in the universe of all the other behavioral addictions out there? Gamers™ sure do seem to get sensitive any time anyone says anything that could be construed as remotely negative about their hobby - like that some people develop crippling addictions to it as outlined in the topic article.
The article makes no such claims. It outlines the major positions and recommends further research. Gaming is not an addiction, according to the APA.
Gambling addiction - a rather well documented phenomenon over centuries - wasn’t even in the DSM until the fifth edition. Gaming addiction will be in the sixth. See you then.
I look forward to seeing if you actually are able to predict the future, Nostradamus.
I guess this makes a good argument for slowing down connections to old dial up modem speeds, but you have to wonder if part of it is an underlying psychological problem (possibly related to our current mishandling of society)
Look, I don’t know anything about these kids, but I wouldn’t trust these “experts” until I learned more.
Kids freaking love games, regardless of other factors. I would have desperately looked for an internet connection as a kid too, and I found ways to sneak away and play video games a lot because my adoptive parents sheltered us. I still loved to read, create things, play sports, and watch TV. “Running away looking for internet” isn’t “video game addiction” in and of itself.
This sounds like it was written by a bot
one thing i would be interested in seeing is what kinds of games are causing these problems. I would bet its mostly your mobile gatcha games, at least that kid running away from home must be. A lot of actual psycological research goes into making those games addictive, so no wonder they are addictive. Having actual stats to back it up tho would be nice and could maybe get some restrictions on them passed, especially lootboxes as is somewhat talked about in the article