The Sunday Times has claimed that teenagers are becoming 'hooked' on video games in a controversial cover story.
The newspaper's Magazine was yesterday adorned by a picture of a 14-year-old gamer playing GTA IV. Across the image, the publication printed:
'GAME BOY... Ben, 14, is playing Grand Theft Auto IV. What is online addiction doing to kids?'
The full, four-page piece confusingly combines more pics of minors playing violent console games, and an article on teenagers that suffer 'addiction' to MMORPGs.
Carrying the headline, 'Logged on and switched off', it claims that 'a generation of screenagers are becoming hooked on a virtual world'.
'Kids start by watching CBeebies,' it adds; 'a few years later, they're playing Call Of Duty'.
I remember when i was a kid i started off with the soft stuff; thomas the tank engine and Super Mario bros. Now i'm twenty four i'm watching House MD and playing GTA IV.
Will someone please stop me growing up and being entertained at the same time.
interesting choice of cover story after the article the other day regarding schools USING GTAIV in a bid to discourage violence.
There are alot of benefits children can gain from playing computer games. The younger children playing COD or GTA is just the same as when your parents let you watch and 18 rated film everyone has done it.
I guess the world would prefer if the teenagers instead of playing video games with their free time, would go outside and get hooked to drugs.
They enjoy playing video-games, get over it, if they're not causing any problems then what is the problem? It's up to the parents to take them off of the game if they need to go to school etc.
As a 17 year old boy I can agree that I play video games unhealthy amounts but I wouldn't say I'm addicted. And my mum said to me once despite the fact that I play games too much she would rather me continure playing games instead of drinking a can of Buckfast between 6 on a park bench in a full, white with stains tracksuit.
Maybe she didn't say that exactly but I struggle to recall as I was too busy playing video games at the time.
...and in other news Sport is popular, and watched by millions on TV.
While I'm actually an adult myself, and without children myself it amazes me how 'old' people constantly want to complain and point out the problem with the young. No doubt much of this is to do with the failings of the complainers. But as always, there is only one place to point the finger at the failings or issues of the young and that's at their family. But I guess it wouldn't work for newspapers to spend time pointing out how the average parent is poor as this is the target audience for such a publication.
I'm not entirely sure what young people are supposed to do to avoid being pointed out as failures. Perhaps if all young people spent their spare time in libraries or doing gardening the old and bored people of the press would find issues with that too. Oh well things will change when the current young gamers, and friends of, grow up and become the politicians and media people of the future. I suspect the future will have as many complaints aimed at them because of their hobby, passtime or just because of the difference in their lives with what we have today. Don't forget whoever becomes that moaning old git to mention how hard we're having now and how lucky the young are in the future!
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