TODAY’S children are the digital generation.
From instant messaging their friends on smartphones to playing online games
late into the night, 21st Century kids can’t get enough of technology.
But how healthy is youngsters’ dependence on gadgets?
Last week, a study revealed internet addiction causes changes in the brain
like those seen in alcoholics and cocaine addicts.
And new research by The Children’s Society suggests half a million British
children describe themselves as unhappy.
Here, in day two of our series on modern childhood, a clinical
psychologist and government adviser on kids and the digital world tells LEE
PRICE about the effects of unhealthy gaming.
GAMING and technology are not bad things for young people.
The internet offers an amazing opportunity for learning, communicating and
There is a vast array of brilliant strategy and educational games for kids and
However, some children are over-dependent on technology. Why?
To some degree it’s because that is the only place they can be truly free,
given we don’t allow children to have the freedoms we had growing up in the
Seventies and Eighties.
When it comes to internet use and gaming, we have to be very careful about
using the word “addiction” — it’s a very specific syndrome.
However, the number of kids who are using technology to an extreme that could
lead to problems with their daily functioning is increasing because parents
seem to lack the ability to set limits and say “no”.
Technology is ubiquitous, global and operates across time zones.
We know there are young males who play Massively Multiplayer Online
Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), such as World Of Warcraft, and who, if part of
an international guild, will set their alarm and get up at three in the
morning to play.
Sleep is disturbed in order to engage in an overly dominant online life, and
this has an impact on their offline life — going to school, staying awake
I’ve worked with kids who will urinate in a bottle in their room, rather than
leave the screen.
So we need to question why such a child isn’t being supported to enjoy their
gaming and online life but in a way that compliments their life, rather than
getting in the way of actually living it.
There is a digital generation divide, with parents clueless about what their
kids are doing.
If you enable your kids to have their own bedroom/multimedia emporiums, you
have a responsibility to understand what they’re doing. Too many hours in
front of a screen leads to kids engaging in online gaming without any
discussion to understand how to do it safely.
That includes time boundaries around gaming, privacy settings, not giving out
personal details and how to report bullying.
In addition, gaming reduces face-to-face communication with family and friends
and can lead to social withdrawal and isolation.
As adults, we can’t criticise the way kids use technology if we don’t support
them to do it safely.
We wouldn’t open the front door and tell them to cross the road without first
showing them how to do it.
The same principle applies here. If a child is drawn to that behaviour to such
a degree that they start to put it above seeing friends, spending time with
family or their favourite sport, then it becomes unhealthy.
A desire to take their dinner up to their room is also a tell-tale sign.
I’m not anti-gaming — I’m against adults giving kids the opportunity to game
without giving them advice on how to do so healthily and safely.
Ben Price, 12
BEN, of Luton, Beds, says: “I play Call Of Duty (an 18-rated game) on my Xbox
for several hours each night and for most of the weekend. I’m part of an
online clan or team and we communicate through headsets. My parents have put
a timer on my Xbox to stop me playing it too much – but it’s my favourite
“I was even invited to join an American clan, which would pay me $2,000
(£1,300) a month, but my dad stopped me from joining as it would have meant
staying up very late and could disrupt my education. I hope to enter in
professional competitions, though.”
Laura Carroll, 14
LAURA, of west London, says: “I’d be lost without my BlackBerry. I sleep with
the charger by my bed for fear of someone else using it and my phone losing
power. I start texting as I am getting ready for school.
“Even though we should hand them in at school, sometimes I don’t – I can’t
face being parted from it.
“I spend six hours a day on my phone, sending around 300 texts. My parents pay
for the monthly contract, with unlimited texts, but sometimes I go over on
the minutes, which annoys my mum. She threatens to take it off me but I
couldn’t cope without it.”
Joe Whitworth, 15
JOE, from Coulsdon, Surrey, says: “I spend at least three hours a night on
Facebook. It’s addictive and I can’t stop checking what friends have posted
“I talk to my friends, keep up to date with what they are up to and check on
old friends and people I knew at primary school to see what they are doing
“It often affects my homework – I try to rush it so I can get back on Facebook
or pretend not to have any.
“If I couldn’t go online I’d hate it. My mum worries about how much time I
spend on Facebook but she can’t say too much – she loves going on it