by driftword

The use of technology may be holding us back. Big time. Communication technology has become such an accepted part of our lives that we no longer need “real” human contact to feel connected. iPod’s, smart phones, online gaming, and the net have become embedded into our daily lives, habits, and culture. In markets world wide, online games are often regarded as a sort of spiritual opium. And in the multiuser gaming world, virtual reality can be viewed as better than reality. It seems that real interpersonal communication is on the decline. If left unchecked, it is likely that real human interaction may be viewed as outmoded and unnecessary…sooner than later.

In 2007 China, demand propelled online-games sales to top 10.57 billion yuan ($1.46 billion), up 61.5 percent, the agency said where internet cafes are all the rage. Internet cafes, known as “net bars” in Chinese, are often crowded rooms filled with rows of computers and the bleeps of online games. China has recently banned children from internet cafes and last year ordered their owners to enforce time restrictions in the wake of several cases involving obsessive players dying of fatigue after marathon game sessions. Attempts to regulate the booming industry have been undermined by a lack of a proper rating system in China and easy access to pirated games online and on street corners.

Now this: Video gamers and online addicts are seeking intervention to help break their addictions at regional US clinics.

Thirteen miles from the Microsoft headquarters in Washington, an internet, texting, and online video game clinic has opened to help users heal from patterns of addiction. The program, entitled reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Program, provides a 45-day intensive-care program for game, internet, and texting addicts.

Similar recovery programs serve as inspiration for this US-based clinic. Amsterdam and China already have clinics that treat addiction for internet and online video games (games such as the ever popular World of Warcraft). World of Warcraft was blamed for an increase in college drop outs by the FCC Commissioner and the college board.

An August 2009 study by the US Center for Disease Control found that gamers had a higher chance of being overweight and suffer mental health problems. A British psychiatrist announced plans to create an addiction team and going “in-game” to treat addiction and gamer ills.

The digital gaming world has much to offer. Problem-based learning, group and peer-to-peer mentoring and social-networks structures such as Second Life show great promise. Unfortunately Pandora’s Xbox lid is unhinged and entertainment gaming may never be eclipsed by less egocentric educational experiences. Perhaps we can be proactive in using educational gaming in the classroom. I know from experience that young children get hooked on gaming just as easily as young adults do. So let’s be ever watchful in our classrooms, offer reality checks by supplying real-world contexts when possible, and—above all—have personal interactions with today’s at-risk gamers in meaningful ways. Our shared realities may depend on it. Catch my drift.

driftword is a pen name. This contributor chooses to remain anonymous.

Tags: China, game clinic, internet cafes, intervention, iPod, isolation, multiuser game world, net bars, online addictions, online addicts, online gaming, peer-to-peer mentoring, problem-based learning, reSTART, technology, virtual reality, World of Warcraft

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009 at 1:10 pm and is filed under 21st Century Teaching & Learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.