A recent news report says that South Korean game addicts could be made exempt from mandatory military service. Because of the extreme amount of citizens that struggle with game addiction, the country is in the midst of debating a law that tackles the issue. Even though no one has yet qualified for this exemption, the policy amendment made by South Korea’s Military Manpower Administration in 2010 excuses video game addicts from their mandatory military service.

Recently, there have been heated debates over excessive video game use and the addictive nature of games. Video game addicts have been known to exhibit some of the same addictive tendencies as other addicts, including those that are drug or alcohol addicts. A recent investigative piece was published in a United Kingdom newspaper and it talks about Britain’s growing number of gaming addicts and claims that a nearby clinic received 5,000 calls related to seeking help for video game addiction and it also says that three suicides have been linked to Call of Duty.

Every week, we hear about mass shootings at the hand of a violent, enraged gunman. Violence and shootings affect hundreds, if not thousands of innocent people every year. Today, news footage is cluttered with reports and images of people that have suffered at the hands of violence.  After the fact, we find out that many mass killers such as Adam Lanza, Anders Berivik, and Evan Ramsey, were addicted to violent video games.

Excessive screen time is common today. Smartphones, televisions, and computers are often used as babysitters for children, even infants. Too much screen time, especially when children are exposed to violence in video games, television and movies (games with 17+ ratings and rated R movies), can change the way their brains respond. They can make children that were once smart and socially engaged, into children that are withdrawn and aggressive. For children and youth that struggle with technology or gaming addiction, screens turn into their drug of choice.  A recent article out of the UK interviews a mother of a 12 year old son who has become what she calls, a “monster” – she says she feels like she is living with a drug addict.