Warning: Not for your child

They come with bizarre names — Grand Theft Auto, Sin City, Silent Hill, God of War — exposing youngsters to mindless violence, blood and gore. Child psychiatrists and psychologists feel that such games have a negative impact on children. As children get hooked on such games, they begin to mimic the unreal characters in the real world. Video games are one of the biggest causes of
behavioural abnormalities, caution psychiatrists.

How would you react if your ward suddenly turned violent and even perhaps went to the extent of hurting you? Once a bright and exuberant boy, Rehman (name changed) started to show signs of aloofness. A 13-year-old star performer in academics, Rehman began to turn into a recluse, remaining for hours behind closed doors, always hooked on to one or the other gadget, be it his mother’s smart phone, father’s laptop or IPad. He would lose his temper and break things at home when it was time to head to school. After much persuasion, Rehman would silently get ready and leave for school, but would never enter the school gates!

Read: Games focusing on physical prowess, not violence, could be the answer

His introvertedness had already started to worry his mother. He would prefer to wait for the school assembly to get over so that the school principal suspended him for the day and he would get a chance to go home.

Whenever Rehman’s mother would ask him anything, he would turn violent and shut the door on her face, asking her to leave the room. At times, he would go to the extent of hitting his mother. When the cycle of violence continued, the mother decided to get to the bottom of the problem and was shocked to discover that behind the closed doors, her son was all the while playing violent online games. Whenever she warned Rehman not to play games, he would don the role of one of the assassins (a character in the game) and would go on hitting his younger sibling! It was at that point that his worried mother took him to NIMHANS.

Speaking to DC, the mother said, “I had no other option than to take Rehman to NIMHANS. I had heard a lot about the Institute. The doctors asked us to admit Rehman as his counseling sessions would go on for a month. As we admitted him to the department of Child and Adolescent psychiatry in NIMHANS, the sessions began and Rehman did fairly well for two days. But the next day, he ran away between the sessions. The doctors had a tough time counseling him.”

She added, “During one of the sessions, Rehman while talking to the doctors who were counseling him, he displayed unusual behaviour. After a thorough examination and counseling of nearly 15 days, the doctors gave up on Rehman and told me that there was no point keeping him here. Rehman needs discipline. He is so absorbed in his virtual world that he doesn’t want to come out of it. The doctor referred Rehman to be admitted in a military school as he doesn’t need counseling but discipline!”

Experts are of the view that many of the adolescents nowadays would rather open up to a stranger on social media sites such as Facebook than to their parents.

Warning signs for parents

1. Observe whether the child is relaxed or reacting in a negative manner
2. Notice how much time the child takes to settle down after being disturbed. If the reaction is prolonged and persistent then it can create negative cognition, resulting in the child behaving violently
3. Parents have to find other recreational healthy activities for their wards as this will act as a buffer for them to settle down
4. Parents should make sure that the child feels comfortable to discuss both negative and positive issues with them. The child should be encouraged to communicate. Parents should communicate with the child without any
5. hesitation

Whether it is used as a storytelling tool or simply for shock value, violence has become a controversial part of what video games are known for. According to an online survey, here’s a list of top 10 violent and deadliest games:

1. Madworld
2. Mortal kombat
3. Grand auto     Theft V
4. God of War
5. Carmeggedon – (a series of grand auto theft)
6. Alien Isolation
7. Super Columbine Massacre RPG
8. Dead space
9. Condemned
10. Soldiers of fortune

Parents should intervene, warn children at an early stage

Currently, violent video games are among the most popular games played by consumers, most specifically First-Person Shooters (FPS). And it is the adolescents and teens who seem to be most firmly in its grip. Technological advancements in game play experience including the ability to play online has accounted for this increase in popularity which both teens and pre-teens enjoy.

However, these violent video games are not only becoming a part of the daily routine but it’s becoming a learning approach for most of the children. “It is a serious issue as there has been an increase in children’s violent behaviour and there has also been an increase in anger among the youth population.

Shockingly, there is a strong association between the two things. And, it is becoming a learning approach, as it is the only way to manage the situation which is getting generalised in children,” explains Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, Additional Professor at SHUT clinic (Service for Healthy use of Technology), NIMHANS.

“These video games are turning out to be a learning model for children and they spend too much time online playing such games. Many of the cases that I get are children whose parents are either very busy or where both are working. Hence there is no interference when they are playing such games,” says Dr H.  Chandrashekhar, head of the department of psychiatry at Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute.

“These online games should come with some warning at the start and parents, when they witness such violent behaviour first-hand, should be assertive and tell them that violence is not the best way to handle situations,” suggests Dr Manoj. He adds, “If getting violent is helping them with their demands, they wouldn’t be facing self-defeating situations.”

Experts note that there are various reasons why a child resorts to aggressive behaviour or turns violent — generally it’s when the expectations of the child are not met properly.

Also, now that there are more nuclear families surfacing with both the parents of the child working, the child feels neglected and therefore gets driven towards the virtual world. “Practicing such aggressive thinking in these games often increases the mind’s ability to think aggressively, which on subsequent use turns into habitual aggressive thinking and increases their aggressiveness in real life,” says Dr H. Chandrashekhar.