Internet gaming, if addicted, can cause so much harm than enjoyment. Over the years, we have come across news on detrimental consequences of internet gaming and how it had led to murders, negligence and accidental death.  Many also lose sleep and quality time while hooked on to internet gaming.

Just the other day, I could not believe it when I read about how a South Korean couple left their 3-month old prematured baby to starve to death. For a most unacceptable reason of being addicted to internet gaming and busy rearing a virtual baby! It is such a cruel reality to hide in the virtual reality at the expense of their flesh and blood, just because they were jobless and did not want to face the parental burden. I can never imagine how anyone would want to go through so many months “carrying a baby” and then only to neglect such a young one and leaving her to die helplessly.

My heart hurts when I read this….

Then, there are reports of internet game addicts dying of exhaustion after many days of gaming marathon. I have also read about a game addict, who apparently was so mad with his internet gaming opponent for “destroying his created character in the game” that he took real action to kill the other party. In this game, it has turned into real vengence.

Closer to my life, about two weeks ago, I had mixed feelings when a friend was sharing about how her 5-year old son has already started to participate in internet gaming and how at such a young age, he not only has a Facebook account but is also a regular on FB game. Then what worries me later was when she told us how her 5-year old son actually made deliberate attempt to wake up really early in the morning, with a plot  to cheat and transfer his brother’s gaming winnings to his own account. Somehow, he managed to get his way to their passwords.

I cannot imagine a young boy of this age, playing the unethical way of cheating - just to win. *haiz*

It is noted that addiction or getting too involved in any game is harmful to both adults and children.  While I was discussing with my friend on how they should start making things right and inculcating the right set of values to her 5-year-old boy, I was also mindful that I should be more watchful over the types of games that my children play too - regardless whether they are online or not.

As a parent, I feel that it is our responsibilities to observe the types of games played by our children and showing good examples ourselves by not being addicted to any form of gaming. In fact, any type of internet activties by our young children should be closely monitored.

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