Ideas@TheCentre
Lazy not a disorder
Having battled this year with my teenage son and his Xbox obsession, I used to sympathise with families facing similar problems until I read this recent article in the Daily Telegraph: ‘Distressed families flood psychiatrists over children dangerously addicted to computer games and the internet.’ It seems international mental health experts are considering including ‘video game addiction and internet addiction’ in the next edition of the globally recognised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Labelling excessive computer gaming or internet use as a disorder gives parents a convenient scapegoat for their poor parenting.
A Sydney mother’s 13-year-old son was so addicted to computer games that he attended school only intermittently over the past two years, violently resisted his mother’s attempts to take him away from the screen, punched holes through walls, threw things, and threatened her. The mother blamed his behaviour on what she called ‘the most addictive game’ of the World of Warcraft.
Mental health experts in Australia mistakenly believe that formal recognition of internet addiction will put pressure on governments to make more treatment options available for ‘victims.’ But this will only encourage parents to abrogate their responsibility of setting appropriate boundaries for their children.
Now I am not the strictest parent to my two children; in fact, I would admit to being a lazy parent on occasion. There are times when I am happy for my daughter to spend hours in front of the TV or for my son to be ensconced in his bedroom on his Xbox so I can have some peace and quiet to read a book.
But for all my faults, at least I try to control how much time my children spend on electronic gadgets and in front of screens. Some of the strategies I have employed are putting a code on the TV so that my kids cannot turn it on by themselves, disconnecting the internet connection, and confiscating the mouse/game controller. Recently, my daughter was spending hours on her iPod at night, and as my husband and I needed the internet for work, I conveniently ‘lost’ her iPod charger. After looking for it fruitlessly for a couple of days, she now seems resigned to the fact that she can’t find it and has taken up reading at night instead.
Instead of labelling excessive internet use or gaming a disorder and suggesting government should pay for more treatment facilities, mental health experts should encourage parents to take back some power. Even though our children may grow taller and stronger than us, we can still be smarter.
Sara Hudson is a Research Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.
