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Almost 1 in 10 US Children Addicted to Video Games

by Warren Riddle on April 21, 2009 at 04:12 PM

Douglas Gentile, an Iowa State University psychology professor and one of the nation's most highly regarded researchers of media and its effects on children, has spearheaded numerous studies on video games and how they influence child behavior. His most recent study, which observed the gaming tendencies of 1,178 adolescents, contends that 8.5-percent of American youths demonstrate addictive gaming behavior.

Gentile looked for symptoms like becoming irritable when gameplay was cut short, avoiding homework to play, stealing money to buy gaming paraphernalia, and escaping reality and avoiding problems through games. Dang, we may need to start planning some interventions for our "junky" friends. "Drop the controller and put away the 'GTA IV'!"

Although we get tired of endlessly hearing about surveys that denigrate games and their effects, we should note that Gentile has touted the benefits of gaming before, so his opinion should carry some weight as independent and unbiased. Gentile and his father, who is professor emeritus of educational psychology at the University of Buffalo, previously published a report praising the educational benefits of games. According to Iowa State University, the duo suggested that teachers incorporate games and technology into their curricula and classrooms, believing that "video games use the same techniques that really great teachers use." In a separate study of surgeons, Gentile concluded that those who played games were 27-percent faster at performing advanced surgical procedures and made 37-percent fewer errors than non-gamer surgeons.

So, Gentile doesn't necessarily think games are bad. He would just like to see game manufacturers use the significant influence games have over children for good instead of evil -- for creating powerful educational devices. Sounds good to us. Now, how does one go about becoming a Gentile guinea pig? Playing vids in the name of science sounds pretty sweet to us. [From: Joystiq]

Tags: addiction, kids, parenting, top, video game addiction, video game violence, video games, VideoGames

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