GINTA – It’s not enough to call video gaming a disorder
(Image: Pixabay.com)
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.
Daniela Ginta is a mother, scientist, writer and blogger. She can be reached at daniela.ginta@gmail.com, or through her blog at http://www.danielaginta.com.
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