“Games Are Giving Kids Dementia!” The Sun

Aran Suddi 43 Comments

Once again The Sun has decided gaming is harming the children, this time giving them temporary dementia.

The Sun cites Baroness Greenfield, member of the House of Lords & Professor of Synaptic Pharmacology at Lincoln College, Oxford. Baroness Greenfield was speaking at a conference, though The Sun doesn’t mention which one. The Baroness’ own words are:

“Screen technologies cause high arousal which in turn activates the brain system’s underlying addiction. This results in the attraction of yet more screen-based activity. There is a need to be outside, to climb trees and feel the grass under your feet and the sun on your face.”

However, the Baroness also apparently said that the technology was good for creativity. Now, I must also stress that no study was carried out to support this assertion of temporary dementia.  I agree that kids should spend time outside, running about and enjoying themselves. I’m also aware that no study has given a concrete relationship between gaming and addiction.  Until full studies are done then all of this is still a hypothesis.

Source: The Sun

Update: The Baroness was speaking at the opening of a science centre at Sherbourne Girls’ school in Dorset.The Telegraph gives us a few more quotes to go on as well:

The human brain has evolved to adapt to the environment. It therefore follows that if the environment is changing, it will have an impact on your brain. If you play computer games to the exclusion of other things this will create a new environment that will have new effects … every hour you spend in front of a screen is an hour not spent climbing a tree or giving someone a hug.

I just wanted to highlight the Baroness’ words. So, her angle isn’t video games are evil but instead if you only play games and do nothing else, then that is bad for you. I’m sure we can all agree with that. If only The Sun did some critical thinking and analysis of it’s own.

Source: The Telegraph

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43 Comments

  1. How charming..

    • Indeed, you could say exactly the same things about reading.

  2. Oh for fuck sake. Can’t gaming go a month without being attacked? I bet we are all thugs, who kill for fun and cba to get a job according to them. >:( They have no evdence to back it up. I can claim that the Sun causes RSI(repitive Strain Injury) due to their Page 3. ;)

  3. The Sun in’ Doing something that you like, promotes you doing it again’ shocker. Base jumpers continue to jump off buildings and cliffs because they like it…. people who like chocolate often eat more chocolate because they like it, and newspapers that spout bull, often continue to spout bull because they’re good at it.

    It’s just common sense really, all things in moderation, and all that.

  4. “Screen technologies cause high arousal”

    Really?? I should spend more ‘quality time’ with my TV then i guess!

    • THIS x10000000000! XD

    • I think my TV is broken as it never cause me to become aroused. O-o

      • You clearly aren’t watching the right things on it then Steve! :)

      • I only have freeview and that barely works sometimes due to my crappy arial. :-/

      • Internet as changed how we er.. get aroused, pfft TV who bothers now?

  5. I can’t remember the last time I climbed a tree.

    • Last week for me, no better place to read a book and forget the world :)

    • Climbed a tree just this morning. Needed somewhere to escape to play my PSP in peace.

    • My girlfriend climbed onto my….. Oh I can’t go there for two reasons.

      1. Too far
      2. It was pretty pish anyway ;)

      I miss my tree climbing days.

    • I climbed a tree last year. It cured my dementia.

      • Wow, never heard of that cure. Is it new?

      • I thought that was a symptom ;P

  6. Now now, before we all go crazy because somebody is attacking our hobby, take a moment to consider what he’s saying. What the lady actually said may well be true, the way the Sun reports it though is sensationalist nonsense. At what point did the Baroness state that it gives kids dementia? She didn’t, she said it could be addictive, which I’m sure we can all admit, gaming can be damned addictive!

    • This was my first thought as well! At no point does she mention dementia or anything that resembles dementia. Other than that, she makes a good point. Games can be psychologically addictive and it’s never healthy to do the same thing all day everyday. A perfectly reasonable stance.

  7. Isn’t she essentially saying “gaming is fun and kids get addicted to things that are fun”. She doesn’t seem to be saying it is subversively or physically addictive (like smoking) just that kids enjoy it so want to do it more and more.

  8. The Sun is giving adults dementia!

    • I agree.. but then again I also think that the majority of the readers can’t get passed page 3! It’s always be a trashy paper with trashy articles written my trashy people. (Notice I didn’t use the word journalist)

      • You. You I like.

  9. The S** journo’s must have dementia from staring at there own pc screens for so long because they keep running the same story every month. A tabloid journo never lets little things like actual facts get in the way of a good story.

  10. And they’re probably not climbing trees because its too dangerous!

    • I totally agree.
      I broke my wrist when i fell out of a tree………..when i was 12.
      Anyway, back on topic……..The Sun always “Talks out it’s arse”
      The only good thing about it is page 3.

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