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Video Game Addiction & The Church
Posted by Roger Ferrell in Uncategorized
I am the father of two boys and a girl. My kids all have various interests, from sword-fighting to trampoline-jumping to playing in the woods to raising chickens to reading. But they also all spend some time playing video games. We have a Wii, given to them by their grandparents, and they have Nintendo DS’s which they mainly play when we travel on long trips in the car. And my oldest son has a desktop computer on which he creates his own games.
My wife and I have wrestled with whether or not we should have video games in our home, and have changed our minds several times. And we consider frequently how we should limit the influence of media in our lives. We have had TV at times, gotten rid of our TV, and curtailed our “screen” usage in various ways. Currently, we have basic cable (mostly for the weather channel), only allow our kids about an hour of TV daily (sometimes they don’t watch it at all), and limit their time on games and computers. We also censor the content; allowing only family-oriented games and staying away from mature themes or gratuitous violence. In games where there is an option to do so, I do not allow them to play as the bad guy (Jedi Knights -yes, Sith Lords -no). I know this is an issue that every family deals with and that each of us must deal with a world in which 1) many kids spend more time on various forms of media than they do playing outside 2)more than ever before, there is an open portal into most homes for demonic influence and corrupting media, pornography and false teaching, and 3)things are probably only going to get worse in this regard.
But this is not just an issue with kids. In our church, we have intervened in the lives of young adult men who were staying up all night in 8-hour online gaming sessions. We have helped those who were addicted to internet pornography. And we have encouraged our people regularly not to waste their lives staring at screens. But while pornography is clearly a violation of Christian morality, video or computer games are, for the large part, morally acceptable in the church and therefore a more subtle and pervasive influence. Massively Multiplayer Online Games routinely make more money in sales than the movies about the same characters. This is a huge industry. And this is a huge problem.
The Center for Internet Addiction Recovery offers some help for those whose internet use is way out of whack. And in fact, at http://www.netaddiction.com/resources/internet_addiction_test.htm , you can take a test to see whether or not you are addicted. And you can read some amazingly heartbreaking stories of adults who have lost their jobs and families because of their internet addiction.
I cannot cover everything about this issue in one post, and plan to address it again, but for now, let me ask:
- Is this an issue for the people in your church?
-How are you dealing with it?
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It’s a huge problem for me. I don’t think anyone in my church has a similar problem. We’re not a very technological demographic. I don’t THINK.
Bernard,
Huge problem for you personally? Do you mean gaming or another form of media?
I am an email junkie. I get the shakes if I don’t check email every two hours. And I had to break the Age of Empires CDR my kids gave me for Christmas two years ago. It was becoming addicting. So I snapped it in two. If your eye offends you…
By the way, thanks to our editors for a great picture. It’s classic. Where did you find that?
Just found it on-line.
For me, the game was “Black Hawk Down.” I started playing the game on PC a few years ago. Then I discovered the world of MMOG (multiplayer). I created my character’s identity and joined in battle every night. Many times I found myself still awake at 2:00 or 3:00 AM. And by the time I did quit, my adrenaline was running so high that I couldn’t sleep. I found that I was rushing through my days to get to my on-line comrades in arms.
Then one day I guess God intervened. I had computer problems. And when I tried to re-load everything on a new laptop, the multiplayer system wouldn’t accept my identity and password. So I quit … cold turkey.
Every now and again I load up and play single player. But the handful of times I’ve tried to log in on line it hasn’t worked.
I guess God is protecting me.
This stuff IS addictive, especially combat-related games for adult men. I can testify.
Roger – Huge problem for me in that I enjoy reading informational stuff and the Internet is a source for that. I have a very curious mind about technology, religion, media, Christian artist news, etc., and things of that nature easily lure me away from things I should be doing. The very nature of “hyperlinks” tends to draw me into a web of “Ooh, that’s cool – I want to read about it”.
I’ve spent significant parts of my “life” in time past playing MS Flight Simulator, because I love aviation so much. Not in the past 5 or 6 years, but it’s still an attraction.
Hard to separate hobby and addiction, let’s be honest.
I don’t know if he is available today, but I am curious if our counselor-in-residence, Bowden, has anything on this subject.
I hadn’t touched a video game since college until we got our son the “Cars” PS2 game for Christmas. And yes, I do find that if I’m not careful “20 minutes, I promise” will turn into more than an hours. (I can’t help it. “Story Mode” just keeps on going until you get the Piston Cup race!)
Seriously, though, yes its a problem. We have one family in our church where I know the dad spends countless hours playing games instead of working. Literally. And I believe studies show that internet addiction (not pornography…just “internet”) is killing productivity nationwide.
But I have no answers. Just a race to get to.
Thanks Stuart.
No real answers here either, except to 1) offer real things that matter and feed our hunger for danger – like sharing your faith and 2)pray.