This morning Tuffcub picked up on a newspaper story that claimed, via the words of a counsellor and therapist, that “two hours of playing games produces the same high as taking a line of cocaine,” in our opinion a misjudged and unwarranted remark.
Well, Adam Thomas, a TSA reader, felt the need to reply to the article in person, and has given us permission to reproduce the email in full:
“I was recently directed to a recent article on your website which made many claims regarding the Video Game industry including comparisons to drug addiction and claims of direct links to violence. I personally find it apprehensible that a news outlet would stoop to relying on sensationalist and fallacious arguments.
Firstly as anyone who knows even a little bit about Psychology should know, there is a very difficult issue surrounding ’cause and effect’ and that it is very difficult to determine when a stimulus such as drugs or video games is the cause for negative symptoms or merely a symptom themselves. The very article I am referring to compares “Spending two hours on a game station is equivalent to taking a line of cocaine in the high it produces,” I find this an interesting comparison since many professionals view drug addiction as a symptom of pre-existing mental conditions, and most of the evidence claiming it can cause a condition is held in some contention.
Secondly another statement was; “One Preston mum, 49, who asked not to be named, said she bought her teenage son the game Call of Duty last year. She said: “Now that I look back on it, it’s like I went out and bought him his first shot of whisky.” Surprisingly the writer seems to have stumbled upon a nugget of truth without even realizing what they were saying. A video game that was rated 18 was never meant to be played by a child, and no matter what you say professionals have stated that no one under the age of 18 should be playing such content.
If there are negative effects from such an omission of parental care then surely it is more the fault of the parent who thought they knew better than the ratings board than of the game itself. It is, in my opinion, equivalent to letting a 13 year old child watch pornography or a violent movie; sure it is reprehensible and hardly a logical step for any caring parent, yet you cannot blame the creators of the content or the content itself since it was ever intended for a young audience. Finally the comparison to alcohol is once again surprisingly apt since when we hear reports of under-aged drinking and the results thereof we do not all rally and get up in arms over the wholesale banning of alcohol to protect our youth, no we instead tighten control over these substances and pass laws penalizing wholesalers that are caught selling to those under-aged.
I could continue to list the erroneous and offensive statements made, not only to the hardworking members of the Video Game industry but also to those afflicted by mental health issues, whose own problems are being used and distorted to light the torches and sharpen the pitchforks so that ignorant luddites may blame technology and media for societal problems.
Such claims make light and suggest (intentionally or not) that those who suffer from mental health issues are somehow to blame for their conditions due to lifestyle choices, when many are simply victims of biology or fate and are already subject to enough ignorance and fear without sensationalist journalists seeking a few cheap viewing figures using their pain to attack something they obviously neither understand nor wish to.
I would also like to point out that millions of people play video games worldwide and if such claims were true wouldn’t we be seeing an epidemic of addiction and mental health issues, violence in the streets as the poisons of technology infect and degrade the population? Since this is not the case, as when last I looked out the window I merely saw people going about their business, then surely such cases are in the minority of the gaming community. Wouldn’t if be safe to assume (for I see your writers have taken the same liberty) that maybe, just maybe, these people you mention as being negatively effected had some issue or another before they ever picked up a video game?
Perhaps like drug and alcohol abuse these individuals are either pre-disposed to addiction (for which there is ample evidence) or are seeking an escape from mental, physical or even societal pain? Maybe these kids that cause violence were disturbed before they played a game never intended for their age group in the first place, perhaps the one thing no one seems to want to admit to being possible is that maybe the parents are somewhat to blame?
I believe your website/newspaper owes the video gaming community an apology for how you have portrayed them and their hobby. I for one am sure that I am neither addicted to gaming (my hobbies are wide and varied including television, movies, reading, playing musical instruments, writing and even taking walks outside) nor am I inclined to any kind of irrational violence or adrenaline fuelled antics. For every disturbed kid or individual who doesn’t know of moderation there are hundreds if not thousands of people who can pick up a pad, enjoy a few hours of gaming, then return to the real world none the worse for wear.
In fact there are plenty who have been enriched by the experience and to finish this letter I would like to take this opportunity to point you towards some of those moments. We are not all psychopathic, technology addicted mental patients and while this letter has been a complaint I would prefer if you could see some of positives that have come from the industry you have so maligned.
Blind Gamer Beats Zelda
http://www.geekologie.com/2010/03/brings_a_tear_to_my_eye_three.php
Halo Raises Money For Haiti Relief
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3177650
Why Video Game Are Art
http://thatgamecompany.com/general/right-moving-on-my-response-to-ebert/
Because we’re not all monsters,
Adam Thomas,
West Yorkshire”
