Tag: Video game violence

Our drive to “stay connected” often verges on a dangerous obsession. Many of us are unable to regulate our usage of the cyber world, a fact that can bring unforeseen, and sometimes serious, consequences. A participant at one of my cyber recovery groups went into debt because he could not stop buying “currency” for Farmville,… Read more

I am a cyber junkie, or should I say addict?  Certain types of real-time strategy video games—like Age of Empires and Command and Conquer—appealed to me to such an extent that I used to play for several hours and feel that only 20 minutes had elapsed.  I have had 50-hour binges, and used to play… Read more

The E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this past week showed that the trend toward violent video games remains strong. Updated sequels to first-person-shooting staples like Call of Duty and Halo played prominently at the conference. Shooting games sell; it is that simple. Many parent groups see red when they ponder the continuing trend… Read more

Cutting-edge librarian, Maggie Hommel, has created video gaming programs at the Park Ridge Public Library in Illinois.  Hommel embarked on this course of action because she sees “gaming as fulfilling the developmental needs of teenagers through physical movement, social interaction, competition, achievement, and self-definition.” Libraries all around the country, realizing the central place video games… Read more

A recent study showed that the growing sedentary trend among America’s youth can be reversed. The study, published in the July issue of Pediatrics , found that greater amounts of physical activity in young people correlates with decreased amounts of screen time. Researchers surveyed 5,685 households and 7,415 youngsters ages nine to fifteen. One striking… Read more