MMO: A Minor’s Massive Obsession
Originally written as a composition assignment, 8 April 2008.
Cyberspace must be running in its own time zone. What starts as “just a few more minutes to finish this level” soon becomes an hour. When Olivia and Kurt Bruner kept hearing this from their son while he was playing games, they set out to discover the problem. They concluded that video games are like “the digital drug” (Bruner and Bruner xxi).
Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) games are especially similar to drugs; not in their chemical makeup, but in the way they affect the young brain. MMO may as well stand for a Minor’s Massive Obsession because of the addiction it can become for many minors who find virtual reality more fulfilling than modern reality. In a way gaming also resembles alcohol. It isn’t evil, and actually can be beneficial, but can easily be overdone.
Contents
- Definitions:
- Addictive or Not Addictive… That is the Question
- A Nasty Acronym with a Nasty Side
- Pixels… or People?
- Tossing Schoolwork for the Game?
- Why Work Out when I can be a Digital Athlete in Seconds?
- Am I Ruining Reality for Virtual Reality?
- The Digital Drug?
- Fast Food Fulfillment
- Risky Playtime
The Problem of Addiction:
Why Games are Addictive:
Just Pray No!
This weekend (March 29-30) is the 18th “Just Pray No” world wide weekend of prayer and fasting.
Just Pray NO! Ltd. mainly focuses on drug and alcohol addiction, but I think that praying for those held captive by addiction to video games is also appropriate.
For Christians specifically, it is important not only to avoid addiction, but also to avoid idolatry. Video games can very easily turn into idolatry if we place them about God. No one else can tell you if gaming has become an idol, because it is a matter of the heart, but they can help you realize it for yourself. Be honest with yourself and answer some of these questions. What do you think?
- Have you played games and not done your (school)work?
- Do you spend more time in the digital world or spending quality time with your family?
- How about prayer? Do you spend more time praying or thinking about gaming?
As Christians, we are supposed to pray continually. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Are you praying while playing games? - If you could play games or read your Bible which you you most likely do? What do you spend the most time doing?
- When you talk to friends, do you talk more about God and his word or about digital games?
- Since we as Christians are not to use our freedom such that it causes others to stumble, (1 Corinthians 8:9) we also needs to ask: have your gaming habits ever influenced anyone else to spend too much gaming?
For those who find themselves making an idol out of games and for their families, there is a way out. We have said that there really is no one size fits all solution, which is true, but there is a one size fits all beginning. That beginning is prayer. Everyone who wishes to conquer any addiction needs to start by going their knees. (and then continue praying)
I could conclude with some profound statement, but I really think God said it best:
“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Amen? Now please join us in prayer.
Second Skin – A Documentary About MMORPG Players
An interesting documentary is coming out soon about Massively Multilayer Online Role Playing Games. MMORPGs are some of the most addictive video games available. The film follows the lives of several gamers and promises to reveal the hidden virtual worlds most people know nothing about.
Trailer:
It looks interesting. Once it comes out expect a full review here on the blog. For more info visit SecondSkinfilm.com
The Hidden Dangers of Computer and Video Gaming
Originally Published in the THSC Review
by Thomas Umstattd, Jr.
“Come on, Mom. … Just a few more minutes; I’m almost done with this level.” Parents have all heard it: a child’s pleading to get just a little more time to play. I know. I was that child.
When I lived in a college dorm, my room was across the hall from a gamer, whom I will call “Dominique.”He played the computer game World of Warcraft for sixteen hours or more each day. He stopped going to class and eating at the cafeteria, and he withdrew from anyone outside of the game. He took only brief breaks to pick up fast food to eat while playing. The artificial greatness of gaining Level 70 replaced the adventure of following Christ in his life. How could someone become so consumed by a mere game?
The Problem
Unfortunately, Dominique’s story is not an isolated occurrence. Nearly 2.8 million gamers play for thirty hours a week or more. Some of those gamers play for as many as sixty, or even eighty, hours a week. Oh, and gaming is not just for kids anymore. According to the Entertainment Software Association, gamers are thirty-three-years-old, on average, and sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play digital games.
It gets worse. Imagine those hard-core gamers as parents and spouses.
Read the rest of this entry »
Drop the GameBoy and Grab a Hammer
One of our blog readers sent in an interesting alternative to gaming: carpentry.
Franklin Springs a family media company has put together a DVD on how to create an amazing tree house. In the sneak-peak they mention how the last several generations of men have missed out on the joy of holding a hammer and making something with their own hands. They even mention video gaming as one of the causes.
Many young men turn to gaming because they don’t have a father active in their lives. If you are a dad and want to help your son with his gaming addiction, buy him a power saw and a hammer and teach him how to use it. If you don’t know how, the Measure Twice Cut Once DVD may be just what you need.
For more information you can visit FranklinSprings.com or watch the DVD trailer.
“Pearls” of Wisdom on Gaming
Micheal Pearl, a renowned Christian author who has written extensively on parenting, has a monthly publication entitled No Greater Joy Magazine. In the latest edition, he contains what I consider to be some very insightful thoughts on the whole gaming issue.
This particular article was in response to a letter he received. The letter writer had already been convinced that his sons had created an idol of Playstations. This father’s question was about how to win his sons over to living a life apart from the Playstation nation.
.You may have heard Thomas say: “Its easier to get the game out of your home than it is to get it out of your gamer’s heart.” Mr. Pearl has some advise on how to accomplish both: “‘Never take something away without replacing it with something more interesting and better.’”
“Rather than doing a police raid and confiscating the wicked thing, provide them with a more interesting alternative that will cause them to choose to walk away from the altar of digital deity.”
Some creative examples are listed:
“It may be that they do not find anything as fun as punching buttons and looking at a flashing screen. But I know some things that will get their attention—a day shooting guns, camping, fishing, hunting, fixing up an old pickup truck for them to drive when they get old enough—taking it out to the country on a Saturday and letting them drive just a little on the back roads. A normal ten-year-old will drop a Playstation to sit behind a real wheel and feel the power of the gas pedal. Skateboarding, paintball battles, rappelling down cliffs, making bows and arrows, and throwing knives and tomahawks are just a few of the radical things that will get a kid’s attention. You just need to think outside of your own box.”
As someone who was a ten-year-old at one point, he’s right. For me, it was speech and debate that really got my attention, I found that once you get the hang of it, research and public speaking can create a rush comparable to the one gamers experience. I’m serious. It’s addictive and productive.
Being a former gamer myself, I consider this to be true “Pearls” of wisdom. But don’t just take my word for it, read it for yourself.
Update: New Link for the Article entitled “Playstation” from the December 2007 edition of NGJ.
Catholic Priest Decries the Evils of Video Games
Here are some interesting thoughts from Father Raymond J. de Souza
“Don’t play video games. Don’t own them. And for the sake of all that is good and holy, don’t buy them for your children.
“Video games are like a black hole into which time disappears. Students today often confess to wasting a couple of hours a day on them. Corporate Canada likely loses whole weeks of productive work to those who are playing games at work. Video games have some kind of addictive allure that means any number of hours is not enough. It is always possible to play again — to rise to that “next level” which somehow acquires near-mystical importance. They are the crack cocaine of the electronic world.”
He also says
“My mother, whose principal goal in bringing up her children was not to affirm our self-esteem, was fond of telling us that only unintelligent children got bored. Our house had books and toys and siblings, and we had our imaginations — my mother thought that more than sufficient for any child to amuse himself. Television, let alone video games, wasn’t necessary.”
Read the full article The crack cocaine of the electronic world.
Thanks to Brenda for the link.
cgames 04 – Wallbuilders Live Radio Interview
Summary
This is an interview between Rick Green with Wall Builders Live and Thomas Umstattd Jr. about the dangers of digital gaming. Wall Builders is an organization that educates Christians about their godly heritage and how to be active in culture.
Links
Transcript
Rick Green: Welcome to the interception of Faith and Politics Walbuilders Live with David Barton and Rick Green. You can find out more at our website: wallbuilderslive.com, where you can get all the archives of our previous programs, catch interviews with Congressmen, Senators, activists, attorneys, all types of folks out there on the front lines of the cultural wars.Our goal here is to help equip you and inspire you, get you involved in whats going on in our nation. Being salt and light in every area of our nation. It might be the arts, it might be entertainment, it might be politics, it might be business, it might be the pulpit.
Where ever it is we can each have an impact on what’s happening in this cultural. We have a duty and a responsibility to do that. So hopefully you’ll tune into the program and also look at our articles and previous programs and go to our website and get the videos and DVDs and audios and everything where David has done phenomenal research on the founding fathers and their takes on the issues. We really try to take two approaches to every issue….both a Biblical and a historical approach.
What did the founding fathers say about this? What did God say about this in His Word? And what are the lessons we can glean from there?
Today topic, at first may seem a little bit different from what we typically talk about but it certainly ties into preparing and thinking about the next generation and preparing for the next generation of leadership and raising of young people and understanding the times and knowing what to do.
So we have asked our good friend and Patriot Academy graduate and also former speaker of the House for Patriot Academy, Thomas Umstattd, to come on and talk to us about his lecture that he does and also his efforts to warn folks about the dangers of digital gaming.
Thomas, welcome to the program.
Read the rest of this entry »
cgames 03 – Halo 3 at Church? Violent video games coming to a youthgroup near you.
cgames 03 - Halo 3 at Church? Violent video games coming to a youthgroup near you. [ 10:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadSummary
According to the New York Times , Churches all over the country are using video games such as Halo 3 to attract young people. Is this a good idea? What about young people struggling with video game addiction? How should churches reach video gamers? In this episode we talk to former youth leader Ray Wilson about these questions and more.
Links
