America may be stereotyped as having an entire generation of kids currently being raised on video games and Mountain Dew, but theres at least one other nation that tops us in terms of childhood gaming obsession.
That would be South Korea, where gaming addiction is a serious problem among youths, so much so that last year a ban went into effect which does not allow kids under the age of 16 to game online between 12 AM and 6 AM in order to force them to get some sleep.
This was originally meant to be mainly for PC games, as titles like Starcraft are by far the most popular in South Korea, but it has since extended to consoles. Sony had trouble getting the Playstation in line with the rules, but finally did so last fall. Now, Microsoft is falling in line as well.
An announcement on the official Korean Xbox site states that as of February 1st, 2012, Xbox Live will be offline from 12-6 AM for those under 16. And if you think that a clever Korean kid might skirt the ban with a phony age, the countrys national ID system doesnt let things like that happen on nearly as widespread of a scale as it does here.
Is this a good idea for America? We have far more pressing issues at hand, but I could envision an intrepid politician bringing up such an idea at some point. Im not sure if it would be a Republican cause, because though they are usually the anti-violent game brigade, the idea is also tantamount to the government stepping into the role of a parent, something they seem to resist when it has to do with healthy school lunches and the like.
Im not sure its entirely necessary in America. Even with our kids playing more games than ever, I think its a very select few who are up during those hours gaming. If they are, thats a parenting problem of either not paying enough attention, or doing something unwise like giving a child a TV and console in their room.
Well keep our freedoms for now, but I predict video game addiction will be an increasing problem both in our country and many others in the future as games figure out how to be even more appealing, and their player bases become more widespread. This idea might reach our shores someday to be sure.
