FCC Comissioner: World of Warcraft causes college dropouts
by Mike Schramm 
Dec 11th 2008 at 3:00PM
Oh boy. Deborah Tate is an FCC Commissioner (and will be for another three years at least -- she was appointed for another five year term in 2007), and claimed in a speech about telecom policy and regulation last week that "one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction -- such as World of Warcraft -- which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide."Never mind that World of Warcraft, is a game, not an addiction, and never mind that most of those 11 million people play it and are completely healthy socially and financially, and never mind even that any evidence you'd find that World of Warcraft causes dropouts is anecdotal at best. Can you really blame a game for someone making the choice to leave college? We, as you might have guessed, think not.
And there's more: Tate's Wikipedia page says that not only has she spoken out strongly in favor of DRM, and not only has she taken talking points directly from Clear Channel in trying to work on the Sirus/XM merger (a government official speaking the words of a corporation, that's just what we need), but she has also blamed television for childhood obesity. Nice one. One more reason why we are thrilled to see that we may finally get some folks in the FCC who actually know what they're talking about when it comes to online gaming.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
Kerag Dec 11th 2008 3:03PM
And she has a huge study backing this statement as well
First!!!
king0lag Dec 11th 2008 3:16PM
Upon further investigation, the study was found to have purchased more than 20 copies of WoW, BC, and WotLK and no less than 100 gamecards. When reached for comment, the individual answered with "FCC, Ni hao!"
Tanglebones Dec 11th 2008 3:20PM
Link to study please?
In most cases online gaming does not "cause" college drop outs, however, obsessive/excessive game playing may be caused by the same thing that causes someone to drop out of college (too much stress/pressure? Unable to successfully manage time? Unable to cope with being responsible for one's self as an adult away from family for the first time? I'm making suggestions, not saying that these necessarily are the case in every situation of every college drop out). Because people who play excessively are often doing so to escape difficult real life situations. Playing excessively is a bad way to handle the difficult situation, but the situation causes the drop out, not the game.
She'd be better off saying "irresponsible drinking causes college drop outs"... oh wait... the FCC doesn't control alcohol, so fearmongering about it won't serve her purposes...
Garfunkel Dec 11th 2008 3:56PM
totally agree with a lot of the posts here
the "game" is not the issue - the "individual" is.
period. no question
I found WoW during my 2nd year of my B.Comm(H). I was (and still am) and active member of Canada's oldest Fraternity, i worked 25-30 hours a week, took a full course load EVERY semester, spent countless hours at the poker table, started chasing my future wife........etc etc
Ton's of people have been here and succeeded - maybe its easier for some then others
For me those 4 years were tough as hell, but always incredibly rewarding - I don't remember sleeping that much........
If you can't prioritize and have poor time management you will always fail
@ school, @ work, anywhere
Just a thought, our North American culture seems to be getting lazy no? There is somewhere to place blame for everything, "its not your problem, you have X-condition and we have a new pill to cure you right up!"
when did we lose personal accountability for our actions?
Kakistocracy Dec 11th 2008 3:55PM
Ah, but when people fear, everybody wins, so fear monger away!
huh? Dec 12th 2008 10:28AM
This truly makes me sick.
Just like when you see a sob story in G Chat:
"Hey guys I'm quitting wow, GL."
"Why"
"I'm throwing my life away man!!!"
L2 #$%ing balance work and entertainment. You fail at life.
RanWitScissorz Dec 11th 2008 3:04PM
I failed out of college years ago because I was playing EQ too much. I'm sure some psychologist could find some anectdote for another reason I failed out, but I know it was because I spent too late of nights playing and caused me to sleep through classes. To say games have no affect on your college success, as this article attempts to say, is a little naive.
Fuseitana Dec 11th 2008 3:24PM
Ran you failed because you played EQ all night, I failed because I chased women & drank booze all night. Lets outlaw women and booze.
kittytrainer Dec 11th 2008 3:10PM
well that means you have a problem, not the game.
Mike Schramm Dec 11th 2008 8:04PM
I lost nights of sleep and turned in papers late during college because of Civ III. But I don't blame the game -- it was my decision to mess around with a videogame rather than doing my work on time.
Mitch Dec 11th 2008 3:13PM
And it could be because your parents/teachers never taught you responsibility or how to set an alarm clock.
Waryor Dec 11th 2008 3:14PM
You're blaming a game you chose to play for your past failures? You chose to play, you weren't forced. Your outcome was the result of your actions. Stupid should hurt.
RanWitScissorz Dec 11th 2008 3:17PM
I figured this would get blown out of proportion. My comments did not say I blame the game for my failing out of college, I said playing games contributed to it. Do you honestly feel that games have 0% affect on college success? Games are naturally addictive to certain people and plays to that addictiveness, in turn affecting their RL.
Kevin Dec 11th 2008 3:23PM
The game didn't contribute to you failing. Your inability to correctly prioritize your time and do your work caused you to fail. That WoW is what you incorrectly gave time to does not make it the game's fault.
Games don't fail college, people fail college.
Mindreaver Dec 11th 2008 3:25PM
What kind of fucking failure can't control their game playing?
Seriously, letting a game screw up RL shit is just dumb.
I'd say the same thing to somebody who says they are getting a divorce over a game.
Your own fault, not the game, too bad so sad. Nobody to blame but yourself.
Tailchaser Dec 11th 2008 3:26PM
Well I dropped out of college last year, I played wow alot in college. But I can't blame that on it, The 2 years I was there I saw more people drop out from partying to much and drinking all hours of the night. Same reason I didn't do well, If you want to blame a game or alcohol go ahead but it was still your choice to leave. 20years from now you will be blaming your sucky life on a video game instead of trying to better your self.
saxamaphone Dec 11th 2008 3:39PM
While my friends were all playing WoW in college, I knew enough about myself that I couldn't dare start playing until I graduated. Now that I have graduated, I let myself play WoW.
There used to exist a concept of personal responsibility. It's virtually extinct now, and it's sad. Its absence is also destroying this country.
Hordie Dec 11th 2008 3:42PM
Huh... well, some people can control themselves, some cannot. I, for one, had a 4.0 in my last two semesters of college while playing WoW.
/shrug
Silverlynx35 Dec 11th 2008 3:45PM
1) "I failed out of college years ago because I was playing EQ too much."
2) " My comments did not say I blame the game for my failing out of college, I said playing games contributed to it."
Why would you try to completely change what you said when it's right there above you? You absolutely laid the blame of failing out of college on the games. Not even a good attempt to back-track.
SamLowry Dec 11th 2008 3:56PM
When I was a college freshman 24 years ago I spent a lot of time reading Ringworld, Dune, Asimov's works, etc., and eventually I was warned by an older guy on the floor that a past roommate of his had to drop out because all he ever did was sit around reading SF novels.
Did I curb my reading? Umm, not really, though I doubt it's the reason I got a 0.0 in Calc I since I still spent several hours every week trapped in a cubicle in the math building, trying to solve problems that made absolutely no sense to me. When it became clear that I was getting nowhere even during my second shot at the class I dropped out and got a BA at a more "local" college, and after decades trapped in the service industry I'm quite certain I'd be in the same spot I am right now if I'd just spent all my college money on a trip around the world and a really nice car.
So beware of books, too, and don't forget to laugh at the end of "Cable Guy" when you are beat over the head with the message that sitting on your ass reading a book is so much better than sitting on your ass watching TV!