A teenage boy who ran away from home last month after his Xbox was confiscated has been found dead in Canada.

Brandon Crisp, 15, went missing on October 14 after his father forbade him from playing his video game console after becoming concerned about the teenager’s obsession with the online game Call of Duty 4.

Steve Crisp said he removed the Xbox 360 after his son’s behaviour began to change. He said Brandon’s grades were slipping, he had started skipping school and stealing money.

Brandon fled his home on his bicycle and was last seen in a popular hiking and cycling path near Barrie, Ontario, north of Toronto.

A local newspaper and Xbox creators Microsoft offered a $C50,000 reward (27,000pounds) and 1600 volunteers searched the local area, but all they found was his abandoned bicycle with a flat tyre.

Brandon’s body was found by hunters in a cornfield on Wednesday.

Read the article on TimesOnline.co.uk

Commentary

It is much easier to take the xbox out of the house than it is to take it out of your son’s heart. It is not uncommon for gamers to become violent when their game systems are taken away but this may be the first. The key is to help your gamer say “no” himself if at all possible.

What do you think?

“In March 1999, a small number of Californians discovered a new world called Norrath, populated by an exotic but industrious people. About 12,000 people call this place their permanent home, although some 60,000 are present there at any given time. The nominal hourly wage is about USD 3.42 per hour, and the labors of the people produce a GNP per capita somewhere between that of Russia and Bulgaria. A unit of Norrath’s currency is traded on exchange markets at USD 0.0107, higher than the Yen and the Lira. The economy is characterized by extreme inequality, yet life there is quite attractive to many.

The population is growing rapidly, swollen each each day by hundreds of emigres from various places around the globe, but especially the United States. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the new world is its location. Norrath is a virtual world that exists entirely on 40 computers in San Diego. Unlike many internet ventures, virtual worlds are making money — with annual revenues expected to top USD 1.5 billion by 2004 — and if network effects are as powerful here as they have been with other internet innovations, virtual worlds may soon become the primary venue for all online activity.”

Edward Castronova. “Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier” December 2001. CESifo Working Paper Series No. 618. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=294828

I doubt this is still true since many EQ players have moved over to WoW but it is still interesting.

“The bottom line is it doesn’t really matter what it’s labeled, because the reality is that people have problems and many times these problems aren’t labeled or classified, but we in our offices see these problems every day.”

I’ve said this before and I’m just going to say it again: It is irrelevant whether we call it digital dependence, video game addiction, or bug-eye syndrome. Many people have problems with digital games that need to be addressed. Period.

On another note: Thomas just finished speaking at the CHEACT book fair where he addressed home schoolers on the dangers created by digital gaming. You can view last year’s workshop by clicking the “video” tab above.

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.”

~1 Corinthians 10:13, NIV

Amen? Now please join us in prayer.

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.