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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNeglecting kids isn't videogame addiction-- it's bad parenting
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 16th 2007 at 4:00PM
The AP is reporting on the story of a couple in Nevada who claim they were so addicted to "the Internet and video games" that they neglected the health and well-being of their two children, a 22-month old girl and an 11-month old boy. I won't go into the details, although you can read them in the article, but it's a horrific story. WoW isn't mentioned-- "the fantasy role-playing Dungeons & Dragons series" is, but does that mean DDO or does the reporter just, as usual, have no idea what they're talking about?At any rate, (also as usual) the report eventually turns to videogame addiction and what a "serious issue" it is. Exactly zero mention is made of the hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of parents who play WoW and other online games right alongside their children, happily and healthily. A few of my guildies are parents and often play with their kids, and our own Robin Torres writes Azeroth Interrupted, a column about doing exactly that and how to handle issues like playing with your kids. You'll also note that almost no attention is paid to the other problems with this couple-- they gained $50,000 in inheritance, and spend it on computer equipment and a plasma screen rather than anything for their two children. This isn't "abuse rooted in videogame addiction"-- it's abuse rooted in bad parenting.
Kayholder over on WoW Ladies says she gets attacked for playing the game with young children at home-- people automatically say that having children around to take care of should automatically exempt you from playing a game like World of Warcraft.
That's just plain wrong. Any game can be played responsibly by anyone of age, World of Warcraft included. Kay even says that she doesn't raid because she doesn't think she has the time (which is fine as well), but one of my guildies who just had yet another kid is actually our main healer. Good parenting and videogames aren't mutually exclusive-- in fact, in some situations, they're better together.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, News items
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Evil Sheep Jul 16th 2007 5:20PM
As a father of 3 young children, I make a conscious choice not to participate in raiding guilds, for the simple reason that I'm not able to devote my full attention to getting geared up and running a raid. I play WoW casually, rarely get involved with PuGs, and am quick to exit the game if something comes up that involves my children. I seldom play when they are awake, and reserve my playtime for their sleeping hours or weekends when they are at the store with their mother or over at Grandma's house.
@8: My recommendation would be to not join PuGs; considering that more adults play MMORPGs than teenagers, there's a good chance that someone in your group will be a parent.
Gogey Jul 16th 2007 5:29PM
Doesn't the whole "IT WAS BECAUSE OF GAMING" excuse get boring after a while? Its used for almost everything. I remember reading about people who committed crimes (attempted murder iirc) and then blamed it on violent games, and Jack Thompson came running in to support them and say what a plague games are on society.
Face it, its not a viable excuse. If you play games so much that you can't separate your real life from the virtual, or just neglect the others around you, then you have a deep-rooted problem, but hey, its not the developers fault.
Anyway, this is just bad parenting. I know a couple that come onto a vent server I've been on for years, and they're both 70 raiders. Guess what? They have 2 children, young ones, like the children in the article. They guild knows about this, and if theres a problem, either one or the both of them just get off and apologize to the guild. If you don't know how to balance your real life obligations with WoW, then you're not cut out to be -insert here- (In this case, parents).
And no, I'm not saying video games aren't addictive. I know they are, but hell, its not like your brain needs the pretty colors to survive.
sikntired Jul 16th 2007 5:30PM
#16 - Maybe my post was too short, and you read between the lines for things that didn't exist, so I'll try to clear things up.
I didn't come on here to say that everyone who plays wow is addicted. Some people CAN quit when they want, but others cannot as some people have addictive personality traits.
I simply asked the question of how many people would actually quit if asked to ; Nowhere in there do I state that everyone who plays wow is an addict.
You say it yourself in your post: "Anyway, plenty of people drink beer, and a subset of those are alcholics. Plenty of people play WoW, and a subset of those are addicted" I completely agree with that.
My purpose for my first post was to give my belief that video games can be addicting, just like drugs or alcohol. There's still alot of denial about that from society.
Also, I do play Wow, and enjoy the game. Thats why I'm posting on the forums.
The Cannabis Connoisseur Jul 16th 2007 5:32PM
Their punishment should be life-imprisonment in a small 8x10 cell with a brand new Alienware computer with D&D preinstalled and NO internet access...muahaha -- payback's a bitch.
James Jul 16th 2007 5:35PM
@24
That's going too easy on them. If you really mean to punish them, give them all that, and make sure they internet access just for DDO. They'll either break out of prison, or they'll dismantle the computer piece by piece and flush it down the prison toilet.
coconut Jul 16th 2007 7:06PM
Well I have a baby and I play wow. I don't party much and I never raid, but I do PVP because I can participate in that whenever I want (ie, when my daughter sleeps).
Anyone who thinks you can't play wow and be a good parent either has no idea about wow, or no idea about what it's like to have kids. (Am I not allowed to have ANY interests other than my daughter? That would make me kind of boring, I reckon).
Sam Jul 16th 2007 9:37PM
I think what scares people more is that gaming is legal, and something like using meth is just as bad, but it's illegal. Addiction is addiction.
However, I do think a lot of it is bashing gaming for the sake of bashing gaming.
sh1v Jul 16th 2007 10:02PM
Who are you guys kidding? Playing WoW is addicting. There is no responsible way of playing. The way WoW is designed makes people want to play more. There is always a way to make your characters better and when there is a way, it will make players want to play more. This goes the same for any MMORPG out there. People who think they can control themself are just bullshiting themselves in thinking i can control my life even while playing wow. Just think about how many hangouts you missed with your friends or how many familly get togethers you missed. I wouldnt be surprised if the avg playtime for WoWer is 28hrs per week.
Varatil Jul 16th 2007 11:42PM
@sh1v, Are you serious? Let's take a look at your argument here. "Because there are improvements attainable for your character, you are all completely and totally addicted." You can get better at sports, therefore you ignore socializing for sports. You can become a better cook, you will kill for that rare south american spice. You can get better at eating, so you will avoid people to stuff your face.
0/10
Niyx Jul 17th 2007 7:19AM
WoW is addictive.
We all know the game has the time-sinks and the nuances that make it a game which consumes your time.
BUT
This article is about two parents who neglected their children to play games, because they were addicted. Now as somebody pointed out, if these two parents were just neglecting their kids because they were crackheads, nobody would care - It would just be another social services case.
Just because these parent's particular vice was video games, doesn't mean that without video games, they would be good parents. If you're the kind of person that can abandon your children like that, under any circumstance, you're clearly not cut out for parenting and your children should be taken away from you...just in case you find out you have a particular penchant for crack, or alcohol, or stamp collecting, or video gaming, or any other activity that one could become too involved in.
Yes WoW is an addictive game, as i said we're all aware of its pitfalls and i'm sure we all know people that play way too often. That being said, i'm sure we all know people that play this game as much as any other video game.
I personally know a couple that play WoW, and have 2 kids. By personally i mean they're my neighbours. They're children are loved, happy, cared for and safe. They get to school on time, they go out with their parents occasionally for bowling/dinner etc and they have a good life. Both parents have full-time jobs....
...yet they still manage to log on every now and then, say hello to their guild, have a few matches in WSG, head to an instance, do some mining and then logoff to cook dinner. I speak to their kids occasionally (as you do with your neighbours) and they dont even mention it. It's just one of mummy and daddy's hobbies. Every now and then they'll sit and watch them or ask them about it, but more often they'll be off doing their own thing, like children do. If they come running, their parents /quit straight away and help them.
Plenty of people are able to take this game in moderation. We shouldn't be demonized against because a small few of them are horribly addicted.
I bet the number of people chronically addicted to video games isn't even 0.1% of the number of people who are chronically addicted to alcohol, yet alcohol is a part of everyday life all over the world, and video gaming is still considered socially bizarre and unhealthy.
Paw Jul 17th 2007 10:43AM
People should be required to pass certain tests before they are allowed to procreate.
"Unemployed cashier". Nice. That has the same sound to it as "Unemployed pizza delivery guy". or "Unemployed chain restaurant host". or "Unemployed community pool life guard". Jobs that are traditionally filled by 16-17 year olds should not be unemployed-able. (No offense to any 16-17 year olds here) The article should have simply called the guy "Unemployed loser".
If this were about parents who locked their kids in a closet for some unknown reason, it would not have broken past the local portion of the 5 o'clock news. Gaming is becoming more prevalent, so there are going to be more stories like this coming out, as reporters go in search for stories.
You know, not only is WoW addictive, but if you play it backwards Satan tells you to do bad things to yourself, and gives you the address for your local crack dealer.