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© St. Petersburg Times, published October 14, 2002
You think your child is playing video games too much. But how much is too much?
According to Jonathan Greenstein, Ph.D., director of psychological services at the Child Development Center of Tampa General Hospital, most kids can handle video gaming with ease. But there are those -- like adults with a taste for too much alcohol -- who bear watching.
Greenstein offers these telltale signs that a kid is becoming obsessed with video gaming:
-- Prefers game playing to almost any other activity, including sports, interaction with peers and family outings.
-- Takes the outcomes of video games too seriously. Greenstein says you can "hear the frustration when they're not doing well in the game, and the cheers of joy when they do."
-- Can't modulate anger and frustration over lack of success in a game. "Those are real signs that they are too into the game or obsessed with it," Greenstein said.
-- Most important, is unwilling to stop playing. "They have meltdowns about it. They can't go with the flow on that," Greenstein said.
Even if your kid is lost in a video world, Greenstein says, it's probably not a long-term problem. On the other hand, if your child is "walking around in military garb all day, drawing picture of guns and explosions, and you're looking for reasons why, start with some of the things they're watching on cable or some of the video games they're playing."
If you have a video game junkie on your hands, Greenstein suggests adopting a zero-tolerance policy. Ban the games, then gradually reintroduce them until you reach reasonable levels of playing time.
There are kids, though, who can't handle even moderate amounts of gaming.
"It's sort of like drinking in moderation as an adult," Greenstein said. "If you can go out socially or watch a football game on Sunday and have a beer or two, you're moderating that or regulating that. But if every time you start to drink you can't stop, we don't advocate even moderation -- you have to go cold turkey. That's what parents have to do with kids who are showing signs of being obsessed with games."