Shoot 'em up or turn 'em off?

The age profile of video-gamers is ever-reducing, and some children learn to buy i-Phone apps before they can read. Should parents be worried, or proud?

SEVEN-YEAR-OLD Tomas von Engelbrechten was playing Wii tennis at home in Kildare one day, when he hit his hand off a table and cut it badly. Even thoughit was bleeding heavily, he had no idea, says his mother Siobhán. “He didn’t even notice; he was so engrossed in the game.” She promptly got rid of the Wii, which was on loan from her sister.

For a week, Tomas had spent as much time as possible playing the Wii in his bedroom, she says. “If we still had it, I can’t imagine him ever wanting to come out of there of his own free will. He has real tunnel vision when he’s playing these games.”

Like Tomas, my own six-year-old son is a young digital native in thrall to computer and video games. Normally outgoing and lively, he becomes so mesmerised when he’s playing online computer games on websites such as Looneytunes.com or Nick.co.uk, or video games on our ancient Sony PlayStation, that he’s completely unaware of what’s going on around him.

An American website, familylobby.com, says the best way to break the trance of mini-gamers is to clap your hands and tell them it’s time up. “You could also use a hand bell, horn or whistle,” it advises.

A tad extreme? Probably. Most parents I know take a gentler approach, giving a five-minute warning that it’s nearly time up, which helps to avoid tears, tantrums and pleas to “wait until I’ve finished this level”.

When my sons aged six and four go on play dates, all their friends have Nintendo Wiis and DS games consoles and a few have a Microsoft Xbox. The pressure is on for us to follow suit and it feels as if resistance is futile.

The age profile of little gamers is getting younger, with children as young as two or three being targeted by manufacturers such as Nintendo, which makes Peppa Pigand Dora the Explorerfor Wii. There are also iPhone and iPad apps aimed at toddlers, including Nursery Jamand Wheels on the Bus.

Aisling O'Donoghue, founder of Babytravelshop.ie has two sons, Fionn (5) and Cian (3), and many of their friends at Montessori have their own DS consoles. "We nearly crashed the car on our way through town one day when our eldest piped up and asked to stop at Smyths so we could buy them a DS Lite each with Super Marioon it. It was like we were entering a whole new world," she says.

She and several of her friends have been trying “to fight the good fight” by not buying their children games consoles too early. A few have already caved in and bought their children DS Lites, rather than a Wii or PlayStation, because they are portable.

She hasn't bought them but says they love to play Angry Birdsand Talking Tom Caton her iPhone and her three-year-old has learnt to use the iPhone by looking over his brother's shoulder.

“Every so often I get an e-mail receipt from the App Store saying ‘Thank you for buying a certain game’ and I discover my five year old has bought it himself online. He’s only learning to read but can buy them by looking at the photos and clicking the links.”

There is a 15-minute window after an authorised App store purchase, during which time children can potentially buy more apps without having to input their parents' password, and this has been the subject of controversy. The Washington Postrecently reported on an eight-year-old who spent $1,400 (€985) buying Smurfberries to decorate the Smurfs' Villageapp without the knowledge of her parents.

O’Donoghue says while it’s positive that they are as comfortable swiping a screen as turning the pages of a book, she has noticed these games hold an irresistible lure. “When I come home and they see the iPhone and I put it on the counter, you can see their eyes keep looking down at the counter and you know what they’re thinking. It’s pretty much to the forefront of their minds.”

Siobhán von Engelbrechten says that while her daughter Thea (9) has a Nintendo DSi console and likes to play Nintendogs, a simulated game where you can bathe and feed little dogs, "she wouldn't play to an unhealthy level. My five-year-old daughter Anneliese will also pick it up and play but the girls are able to take it or leave it."

Mark Griffiths, a professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University, who has conducted more than 20 years of research into video-game addiction, says all the evidence indicates that boys are more likely to want to play compulsively.

“There are as many girls with Nintendo DS consoles in the school yard but what they are playing and how they are playing is different. Boys tend to have better spatial skills and, while girls are just as good at skill games with practice, the research suggests they don’t persist. I know my daughter’s attitude is that she has better things to do with her life,” he says.

While games such as Marioand Luigiseem to appeal to boys and girls, he says for the most part, children revert to stereotype when it comes to their choice of game, with boys preferring "beat-'em-up shoot-'em-up games and girls go for nurturing, dress-up games".

Griffiths says that while video and online games can be engrossing, parents often pathologise their children’s behaviour, which means they see it or treat it as psychologically abnormal.

“I get an e-mail every week from some parent saying ‘my son’ – and it always seems to be their son – ‘is addicted to video games. When you try to take the game off him he screams the place down.’

“Well of course he’s going to be upset if you take something that he loves off him. Wouldn’t anyone? It doesn’t mean they’re addicted.”

He says true video-game addiction is rare and when it does happen it is usually in the 13-22 age range. “It’s not a case of demonising one medium over another; video games are no more detrimental to a child than if they spent too many hours reading at the expense of other activity or interaction.”

PROF ALF NICHOLSON, a consultant paediatrician with the Children’s University Hospital on Temple Street, says the hospital sees cases of children suffering from repetitive-stress injury as a result of excessive playing on games consoles, but that the sedentary nature of these games, which can lead to obesity, is a greater problem. He says the aggressive nature of some video games, which involve killing to progress through levels, can leave children agitated and stressed.

On the plus side, he says a recent study found that children who play with games consoles have good hand-to-eye co-ordination and precise hand movements and were impressive at performing virtual surgery with a Wii console, which is used to train surgeons.

Behavioural therapist Siobhán O’Rourke says claims that video and computer games can help a child’s reasoning and boost their IQ are overstated.

“Research shows that, while children appear to be getting better at a game and learning certain skills, when they try to use those skills outside, they are of limited use. We have Wii table tennis but when my kids went to France and there was real table tennis, they couldn’t play at all. It’s about mimicking, playing against a machine.”

She says while it’s unusual for very young children to become addicted, alarm bells should ring if they want to spend all their free time playing video games.

It’s not uncommon for children to become irritable when they are told to switch off and plead to be allowed continue to the next level. “There’s no closure in these games in contrast to most physical games. There’s always another level, so they are never completely satisfied,” she says.

Even with seemingly gentle games aimed at girls, dopamine is released in the brain so it is hard to pull away, O’Rourke adds. “They’re in a state of emotional arousal and this can lead to irritation and anger and they need some physical activity to burn it off.”

She says some children are more likely to become dependent on these games than others. “They might complain if they have to go somewhere and can’t bring their Nintendo DS. You see children who get up and are playing with their DS in the morning, and are still playing with it during a family meal in a restaurant later on. At a young age, it’s important to learn to order nicely in a restaurant and be social.”

Not that she’s a po-faced parent. “We all have days when we plonk them in front of the TV with popcorn. I don’t aim for perfection, but I’d say save the games for when you need them to play and use them as a lever. When they misbehave, tell them they’re getting one more chance or the game is going in the boot of the car. Children will appreciate it more if they have to earn it.”

'I don't like being told it's time up on PlayStation'

Tomas von Engelbrechten (7)

My cousin has Sonic Rush on his Nintendo DS, which I love because it has twisty lines and they run all over the place. I love Mario Cars because you can play lots of races. It's really fun and exciting. Wii is lots of fun, really good, you shake your hand a fair bit, and Wii Tennis is great fun. Most of my friends have a Wii or a DS.

Thea von Engelbrechten (9)

I like Nintendogs where you get to take care of a dog, bathe it and feed it. Most of my friends have a Nintendo DS. Wii is brilliant, great fun. On Wii Motor Sports Airplane, you can pretend you are in a plane and can steer it and land it, Wii Sports is good because you can sit down and stand up, and more than one person can play. Loads of my friends have Wii and my auntie has one.

Anneliese von Engelbrechten (5)

I love a game called Tigerz where you can pet tigers, and make them sick, and then give them medicine to make them better.

Luke Hoade (10)

Nintendo DSi is really good, it has really good games and time slides by when you are playing them – and you can take it anywhere with you. They are great for long car trips. I don't usually mind when I'm told to stop playing by my parents except when I have friends over.

If I could get any game, I'd like to get the Halo gun game on Xbox and PlayStation. My friends talk about it at school and about how they were playing and they accidentally shot someone. Luke's mother Julie Cox says: "We held off getting them games consoles for a long time and two families stuck with us but once they start going to school, if their friends don't have them, then siblings of friends do. We were put off PlayStation because the games tend to be much more aggressive so we went for Nintendo DSi and Wii."

Cal McGrane (6)

I like Avatar on daddy's iPhone because it's fun, and you get to shoot things and go to the next level. There are cool games on PlayStation. Crash Bandicoot is my favourite but it's broken, so I have to play Rayman. I don't like being told it's time up on PlayStation or the computer because I can't finish the levels. If I could I'd fight the barrel pirate in Rayman every day.

Theo McGrane (4)

I like PlayStation so much and I like Spider-Man on daddy's iPhone but I don't like the Doc Oc level on Spider-Man, it's too hard.