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[quote=Anonymous]I posted on this recently on the Special Needs Forum b/c DS has recently been diagnosed ADHD and the ped. told us no screen time during the week.  That went over like an atomic bomb!

We are on day 4 and the addiction has lessened but I do believe it was and is an addiction.  Those games require kids to do repetitive motions and attend to many stimuli at the same time... every once in awhile they get a "reward" and then the kids have to do the motions over and over and over and then get another little "reward" on the screen.  It strikes me that it is very much like those lab studies with rats where they have them press a level and give them a food pellet every now and then ... and the rats keep pressing the level so long as they get a reward once in awhile.

Our kids are the rats in this analogy!

Someone on that thread posted a link to a TED talk by Dr. Dimitri Christakos (?) and it was fascinating.  It focuses more on the zero to 3 age range and the enormous brain development in that time, but it still applies to older kids b/c their brains are paring down the many neural connections they've made and making some of those connections very efficient (like highways rather than side streets).  I am now thinking about the things my kids watch on tv (fast paced shows vs. slower, more life-like shows) as well as which games they can play (which ones require superficial attention to many stimuly vs. which ones have fewer stimuli but more strategy required).

I am willing to find a middle ground.  i.e. 15 min. of approved games/weeknight in return for 15 min. of reading quality books or something that requires sustained attention.

I think we will find out in 10-20 years that our kids were the guinea pigs and they have no patience for real life, developing stories or sustained concentration (unless it involves video games).

I suggest you watch the TED video and look at his research.  I also came across a youtube video called IRL and IRL 2.  About gaming addiction.  I will probably have my kids watch it.

If your kids are pretty involved in sports or clubs or  real life, and they can read real books, then I wouldn't be too worried about the games.  But, mine aren't and weren't and so they won't be doing a lot of games and fast paced cartoons/shows that are very stimulating.[/quote]

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