Addicted young gamers

A new study concludes that children can become addicted to playing video games, with some skimping on homework, lying about how much they play and struggling, without success, when they try to cut back. Researcher Douglas Gentile, a psychologist and assistant professor of Iowa State University found that 8.5 per cent of Americans ages 8-18 who play video games show multiple signs of behavioural addiction. He said that some kids play in such a way that it becomes out of balance. Addiction symptoms included spending increasing amo-unts of time and money on video games to feel the same level of excitement; irritability or restlessness when play is scaled back; escaping problems through play; skipping chores or homework to spend more time playing.