What parents should know about boys and video games

Watch Video: What parents should know about boys and video games by Rick Meeves, PhD, LMFT , ...
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What parents should know about boys and video games

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Video games are addictive, particularly, to boys more than girls. Statistics show that anywhere between six to twelve percent of boys become addicted to video games, or use habitually, whereas, only one percent of girls. They are addictive because they are particularly wired and appeal to the pleasure centers of the brain for boys, in particular. Whether it's problem solving, which is a good excuse for kids when they are defending why they use so much, or whether it's about the visual and the auditory stimulation. Then there's the conquest element and invincibility element. It really appeals to the "I am invincible. I am going to conquer this. Oh, and by the way, if I get killed, I get to restart or redo." Those are some really compelling attractions to video games that can lead into the addiction. They just want more of it. Everything else becomes less important to them and the video game becomes much more important. Additionally, we need to be worried aware for parents is that there's a social aspect to it. They are gaming online, so they may feel some particular devotion to these other kids or whoever else is online. They are part of this group and they can't let their group down. That has been some additional compelling elements that parents have to be really careful about.

Watch Video: What parents should know about boys and video games by Rick Meeves, PhD, LMFT , ...

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Rick Meeves, PhD, LMFT

Clinical Director of CRC

Dr. Rick Meeves has spent the last 16 years working with adolescents and their families. He currently serves as the Director of Adolescent Clinical Services for CRC Health Group, the nation’s largest provider of addiction treatment and related behavioral health services.  Rick has helped families deal with the rapidly expanding access to video and electronic media. As a practitioner he has seen teens lock themselves in their rooms, playing video games for days on end. He has also seen teens who became addicted to online gambling. Rick has seen parents who have accepted this behavior as some acceptable alternative to staying out all night or using drugs or alcohol. He has helped families re-establish healthy patterns and use of electronic gaming and has established healthy patterns with his own boys.

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