- Death of a game addictNumerous researches demonstrate the motivating nature of video games in educational contexts, including in the second language acquisition area (e.g. Waters, 2007; & Cruz, 2007). However, does this kind of SUPER motivating nature have some side effects?
CBS News (2002) reported a sharp debate caused by a game – Everquest. It’s an online role-playing game in which players explore a fantasy world. This game has been recommended by many researchers for language learning, such as in the articles I reviewed in my previous posts (Waters, 2007; & Purushotma, 2005). Because of its addictive properties, players refer to Everquest as “Evercrack”. Purushotma (2005) reports that the average player spends over 20 hours a week playing Everquest. “There's no end to the game once you begin to play, unless you turn off the computer” (CBS News, 2002).
As we know, the amount of time is a key factor to influence language acquisition. From this point, Everquest is good. But after you listen to the following story, you might begin to blame this game. Shawn, a 21-year-old game addict, killed himself in front of the computer with Everquest. He had problems depression and schizoid personality disorder. So he spent as many as 12 hours a day playing the game for more than one year. His mom says "He stopped trying because it was easier to move on in the game than it was in real life; he logged into the game and logged out of him life”. And his mom believes “an addiction to Everquest pushed him over the edge”.
This story is so terrible. When I googled “Shawn, game addict”, I found numerous websites about this terrible story. If you want to know more details of this story, you can visit http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=31536.
It’s unfair to convict Everquest just according to one specific event, but this event did give us a big warning. Jay Parker, a chemical dependency counselor and co-founder of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, Wash., said “people who are isolated, prone to boredom, or lonely are much more susceptible to becoming addicted to online games. Having low self-esteem or poor body image are also important factors.” Parker’s words made me start to worry about our ESL kids.
Actually, researches (e.g., Norton, 2000) show that many ESL learners feel isolated and lonely; they don’t know who they are, what their identities are; they have low self-esteem or poor body image. According to Parker, they are just under the category of people “much more susceptible to becoming addicted to online games”.
In my last post, I commented that e-gaming environment is safe place to help ESL kids to forget the marginalization and“power imbalances” they can feel in the real world. They experience a new world and a new identity in the game, so that they can be more comfortable to acquire the English language. But now, I don’t know it’s good or bad. I am afraid that that kind of terrible story will happen on someone else someday.
What do you think of it?
References:
Cruz, J. Q. (2007). Video games and the ESL classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, XIII (3).
Everquest or Evercrack. ( 2002). CBS News. The Early Show. Retrieved on March 18, 2008, from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/28/earlyshow/living/caught/main510302.shtml.
Miller, S, A. (2002). Death of a game addict -Hudson man took own life after long hours on Web. JS online: News: Wisconsin. Retrieved on March 18, 2008, from http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=31536.
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity, and educational change. Essex, England: Longman.
Purushotma, R. (2005). Commentary: you’re not studying, you’re just… Language Learning & Technology. 9(1). P 80-96. Retrieved on March, 2008, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num1/purushotma/default.html
CBS News (2002) reported a sharp debate caused by a game – Everquest. It’s an online role-playing game in which players explore a fantasy world. This game has been recommended by many researchers for language learning, such as in the articles I reviewed in my previous posts (Waters, 2007; & Purushotma, 2005). Because of its addictive properties, players refer to Everquest as “Evercrack”. Purushotma (2005) reports that the average player spends over 20 hours a week playing Everquest. “There's no end to the game once you begin to play, unless you turn off the computer” (CBS News, 2002).
As we know, the amount of time is a key factor to influence language acquisition. From this point, Everquest is good. But after you listen to the following story, you might begin to blame this game. Shawn, a 21-year-old game addict, killed himself in front of the computer with Everquest. He had problems depression and schizoid personality disorder. So he spent as many as 12 hours a day playing the game for more than one year. His mom says "He stopped trying because it was easier to move on in the game than it was in real life; he logged into the game and logged out of him life”. And his mom believes “an addiction to Everquest pushed him over the edge”.
This story is so terrible. When I googled “Shawn, game addict”, I found numerous websites about this terrible story. If you want to know more details of this story, you can visit http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=31536.
It’s unfair to convict Everquest just according to one specific event, but this event did give us a big warning. Jay Parker, a chemical dependency counselor and co-founder of Internet/Computer Addiction Services in Redmond, Wash., said “people who are isolated, prone to boredom, or lonely are much more susceptible to becoming addicted to online games. Having low self-esteem or poor body image are also important factors.” Parker’s words made me start to worry about our ESL kids.
Actually, researches (e.g., Norton, 2000) show that many ESL learners feel isolated and lonely; they don’t know who they are, what their identities are; they have low self-esteem or poor body image. According to Parker, they are just under the category of people “much more susceptible to becoming addicted to online games”.
In my last post, I commented that e-gaming environment is safe place to help ESL kids to forget the marginalization and“power imbalances” they can feel in the real world. They experience a new world and a new identity in the game, so that they can be more comfortable to acquire the English language. But now, I don’t know it’s good or bad. I am afraid that that kind of terrible story will happen on someone else someday.
What do you think of it?
References:
Cruz, J. Q. (2007). Video games and the ESL classroom. The Internet TESL Journal, XIII (3).
Everquest or Evercrack. ( 2002). CBS News. The Early Show. Retrieved on March 18, 2008, from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/05/28/earlyshow/living/caught/main510302.shtml.
Miller, S, A. (2002). Death of a game addict -Hudson man took own life after long hours on Web. JS online: News: Wisconsin. Retrieved on March 18, 2008, from http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=31536.
Norton, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: Gender, ethnicity, and educational change. Essex, England: Longman.
Purushotma, R. (2005). Commentary: you’re not studying, you’re just… Language Learning & Technology. 9(1). P 80-96. Retrieved on March, 2008, from http://llt.msu.edu/vol9num1/purushotma/default.html
Waters, J. K. (2007). On a quest for English. THE Journal, 34(10). 27-32. Available from http://thejournal.com/the/printarticle/?id=21380.
3 comments:
Hey, Jiao,
It's really sad to hear the news about the boy. You raise a very good question. On one hand, to some degree, gaming could enhance ESL students' socialization skills. On the other hand, ignoring kids' social communication in real life may isolate them. Gaming, sometimes, is just like a "double bladed sword." It is necessary to have a thorough examination of both its advantages and disadvantages. Both teachers and parents have responsibilities to guide kids in playing games. It's not an easy task though to maximize the gaming's learning opportunities and minimize its downsides. For those who are addicted to gaming, adequate counselling is very needed. It is really a complex and serious topic.
Hey Zhuo,
Thanks for your comments. But recently I read a review article in games and learnig (Kirriemuir, etc, 2004). This article examines the issue of game-playing addiction. I found some quotes are very interesting:
Durkin (1995)concludes that what appears to be game-playing addictions are: “…actually transient phases of excessive
involvement rather than enduring
dependencies from which the victim will find it very difficult to escape.”
"(Marsh 2001) analysed the activities of a sample of English families and discovered that3 to 4 year-olds watched television for time periods far greater than involvement in any other ‘leisure pursuit’, including the playing of video games. Other studies
support this, such as a European
comparative study in 1997/1998 which showed that people aged between 6 and 16 spent on average 32 minutes per day playing electronic games, but 136 minutes watching television."
You are right, gaming addiction is a very complex and serious issue. I'd like to look more with careful and critical eyes.
Hey Jiao,
As a former avid gamer and still casual player, I must say there were certainly multiple risk factors for this individuals sad and tragic death. First off, he suffered from multiple psychological disorders and most likely had an addictive personality. Many times these individuals do withdraw from the world and use a trigger stimulus of some kind to create that unfortunate step which often leads to suicide.
The idea that the game itself is conducive to suicide or withdraws people from reality in general is simply not valid. Parents should be careful of their children and game playing habits. This needs to be examined in many cases, I always ask the question, where are the parents, especially when their children are sick to begin with and this case is no different. I think the ESL concept adds a twist as well because if games are the only place that certain individuals can turn to as an outlet for self-esteem or identity, they need to be interacting with other children or finding hobbies such as reading, music, the arts or exercise. Many studies show that healthy diet and exercise can help alleviate depressive symptoms as well as prescribed medications. Gaming can be dangerous to one's health if done in excess but the same can be true of any vice or over-indulgence of pleasure, moderation is always the key for a balanced life.
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