I found this article written about video games and addiction to be quite fascinating. From a therapeutic perspective, I’m not sure there’s much to be gained, but from a purely “understanding the disorder” perspective, I found it to be insightful.

Many children who want to believe their tastes are adult will bravely try coffee, find it to be undeniably awful, but recognise something that could one day, conceivably, be enjoyed. Once our tastes as adults are fully developed, it is easy to forget the effort that went into them. Adult taste can be demanding work – so hard, in fact, that some of us, when we become adults, selectively take up a few childish things, as though in defeated acknowledgment that adult taste, with its many bewilderments, is frequently more trouble than it is worth.

Many parents, I’m sure, wonder about whether playing video games can make kids violent or glorify deviant behavior. This is such a tough question to answer and I don’t believe that there’s any real consensus on the subject. I’ve been gathering a number of articles recently written on both sides of the argument and I hope to writing a more lengthy piece later about it. For now, I think, as with all good parenting, you’ve got to be involved in what your kids are playing. End of story.