Video game addiction Essay Example for Free

Video game addiction Essay A. Rationale: Development in technology brings many things that change human’s life. One of these things is online gaming that is provided by Internet. Online gaming is one of widely used leisure activities by many people, especially, young people. They think they are playing just for fun or just like a past-time without knowing a lot of effects of playing these games are more than they think. In Vietnam, there are more and more people who play online games and even are addicted to it. Playing online games, according to some research is beneficial. It stimulates the mind of the players to be more active, especially, puzzle games. It helps people relax after a hard-working day. Playing these games makes the players experienced different feelings because it is as if the players are really taking part in the challenges and so on. Despite those benefits, playing online games also causes negative effects. It takes much time and money of players, keeps them away from school and social activities, maybe make them more violent. The situation has been very popular with the young and become a concerning issue in our society. Many children and teenagers aren’t fond of any activities but be keen on online games. The Online-Game addiction seems like addiction drugs which causes a lot of serious consequences for themselves, for their families and for the society they live in. It is high time for all of us to do something to limit this urgent situation. Therefore, the study is conducted to investigate the effects of the Online-Game addiction and suggest some effective solutions to help young people overcome it. Particularly, our study is carried out with the students of two secondary schools and two high schools in Danang city. B. Literature review: In recent years, online games have been affecting a lot of people, especially the young. The number of young people attracted by online games is increasing. Online gaming has a great influence on health and study of the young. Therefore, there are more and more people pay attention to this state. The purpose of this section is to provide a solid background overall information for the research by reviewing previous studies, researches and other materials relating to the research. They are organized in a thematic review. According to a research of Chalton and Danforth of the American. Medical Association –The AMA concluded that online game addict may be emotionally or socially isolated and lonely. Besides, Anderson, Gentile and Buckley also have view-points about the effects of online games especially violent games. In their reports in January, 2007, they claimed that those who engaged in games that are more violent also engaged in more behaviors that are violent. Besides, they emphasized that the children who were witnessed to have increased their aggression were the same children who played more violent video and online games over the course of the school year. In Vietnam, there are also a few conferences discussing this problem. Dr. Trinh Hoa Binh –Vietnam Institute of Sociology claimed that younger gamers tend to imitate the actions they have shown in the game, it creates the increase in violent acts of aggression in some children and make them lose feeling when they see violence. In Dongnai Internet and Online Game Addiction Conference (6/8/2009) Mr. Nguyen Minh Tien presented the speech on â€Å"How are addicted to games† stated that bad games can make litigants face to many difficulties and obstacles in their studying activities, work, communication and social relations. In summary, the researches, articles and statistics above are worth mentioning as they have studied on the topic relating to this study. They all aim at the purpose of alerting the online game addiction. However, different from the researches above, this study investigates negative effects, outside expressions of it and propose some solutions to reduce the problem. C. Aims, objectives, research questions: 1. Aims: This study aims at investigation into the Online – Game addiction in the young in Danang. 2. Objectives: The research is intended to: To find out some information on the effects of the addiction online games on young people’s health, studies and personalities. To suggest the effective ways including the management of the Government and responsibilities of their family in dealing with the problem. 3. Research questions: How does the problem affect the young’s studies, health and personalities (characteristics)? What must the Government do in order to manage Game programs? What are the responsibilities of their parents in this problem? D. Scope of the study: The study is confined to the effects of the issue on the young aging 12-18 in Danang city on their study, health and personalities. Exactly, the study is conducted with the students in 2 secondary schools and 2 high schools in Danang city. II. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: A. Research design: This is a qualitative and quantitative research. B. Research methods : 1. Sampling : a. Subjects: We are going to work with 300 students at 4 schools in Danang city: 2 secondary schools (Trung Vuong,Tr? n Hung D? o) and 2 high schools (Quang Trung, Phan Chau Trinh). The fact that, people whose age from 12 to 18 years old play online games more than ones at other ages. b. Instruments: We will survey with questionnaires and interviews. The questionnaire allows us collect a wide a mount of data in a relatively short amount of time and data can be also controlled and analyzed easily. The interview helps us get more in-depth information, obtain personal behaviors and attitudes of the populations. The questionnaire will be delivered to the students on the first week of the study. The participants will be asked to answer 18 questions including: 4 open questions and 14 close questions. With close questions, they will write up their answers to the topic of the research. There are 4 parts in the questionnaire: Part I: The effects of online gaming on students’ studying (questions 1-6) Part II: The reasons why young people play online games (questions 7,8) Part III: The effects of online gaming on students’ personalities (questions 9-13) Part IV: Awareness of students about the state and the effects of the online game addiction (questions 14-18) Besides, a short interview is going to be continued after we collect the questionnaires. We will have direct conversations with 20 respondents among 300 ones in order to observer their attitudes towards the online-game addiction. The information of the interviews is record with cassette recorder and then transcribed. 2. Data collection: a. Phase 1: The purpose of phase 1 is to collect data which will be used for the survey in phase 2 that will in turn be used to test in phase 3. In this research our group will spend 3 week to have meetings with some of student groups in the high schools and the secondary schools above. The purpose of the meeting is to know whether they may be willing to participate in later stages of data collection One-week close monitoring of time addict game: Our group will schedule 30 minute -periods of daily continuous monitoring with 10 participants in every week. During the first week of the project, our group will meet them after they finish their lessons in their school. We will work closely with participants to talk about any thought during the whole conversation. We will ask them to provide two kinds of background information. b. Phase 2: Survey design and test Data collection in this phase will be limited to 20 surveys to identify the weakness in the survey design + Personal information including: gender, age and current studying result. + Kinds of entertainment including : reading, playing online games, doing a sport†¦ and how much time they spend on each kind. c. Phase 3: Survey data The purpose of phase 3 is to test the hypotheses. The surveys will check these answers from the questionnaire to find out how much time students spend on game, and the difference in gender and age in people playing in game. 3. Research hypotheses: a. It is hypothesized that addicting to Online Games could lead young people to get bad results in their studying. b. It is supposed that maybe addicting to Online Games makes the young unsociable III. TIME LINE: Reading materials and collecting data: from 10 September to 30 September Analyzing data: from 8 November to 10 November Writing the report: from 10 November to 13 November IV. PROPOSED OUTLINE: Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION Resonale Literature review Aims, objectives, research questions Scope of the study Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter 3: METHODS AND PROCEDURES 1. Research design 2. Research methods 1. Sampling 1. Subjects 2. Instruments 2. Data collection 1. Phase 1 2. Phase2 3. Phase3 3. Data analysis 1. Qualitative analysis 2. Quantitative analysis 3. 2. 4. Research hypothesis Chapter 4: DISCUSSION OF FINFINGS 4. 1. The effects of online – game addiction in the young 4. 2. The responsibilities of families and society 4. 3. Some solutions for the problem Chapter 5: IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 5. 1. A summary of the development of the study 5. 2. Implications 5. 3. Limitations 5. 4. Suggestions on restricting of the online gaming V. REFERENCES: 1. Anderson C. A. , Gentile D. A. , Buckley K. E. (2007). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents. USA: Oxfort University Press. 2. Brady, Sonya S. , Matthews, K. A. (2006). â€Å"Effects of media violence on health-related outcomes among young men†. Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine. 160. 341-347. Retrieved 18/12/2009 from http://archpedi. ama-assn. org/cgi/content/abstract/160/4/341. 3. Charlton Danforth. (2007). â€Å"Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing†. Computers in Human Behavior. Vol 23(3). 1531-1548. 4. Gershoff, E. T. (2002). â€Å"Corporal punishment by Parent and Associated Child Behaviours and Experiences†: A metal analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128(4), 539-579. 5. Grusser, S. M. , Thalemann, R. , Griffiths, M. D. (2007). â€Å"Excessive computer game playing†: Evidence for addiction and aggression? Cyber Psychology Behavior. 10. 290-292. Retrieved 18/12/2009 from http://www. liebertonline. com/doi/abs/10. 1089/cpb. 2006. 9956 6. Kinh Luan. (2009). â€Å"Struggling to find solutions to manage Game Online†.retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://antg. cand. com. vn/News/PrintView. aspx? ID=68787nd. 7. Nguyen Tran, Huong Le. (2009). â€Å"Young internet addicts return to real life†. Vietnamnews. 8. Tien Nguyen. (2009). Tam ly tri lieu. Retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://tamlytrilieu. com/nghien-gameonline. htm. 9. Wood, Richard (April 2008). â€Å"Problems with the concept of video game addiction: Some case study examples. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction. 6. Retrieved 18/11/2009 from http://www. ijma-journal. com/content/abstracts/6/2/00001 VI. APPENDIX: A. QUESTIONNAIRES This questionnaire is just a survey to find out information about the current online-game addiction of young people. The data you provide will be used for this purpose only. Your honest responses to the questions are a great help to our research. Please, circle your choices or write up your answers frankly as you will not be identified in any discussion of the data. I. The effects of online gaming on your studying: 1. Do you think online games are interesting? a. No, I just play for fun when I have nothing to do b. So so c. Yes, really interesting 2. How many hours do you spend on online games a day? a. 2 hoursb. 3 hoursc. 5 hoursd. Others, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 3. Have you ever put your homework aside to play online games? a. Usuallyb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 4. How does online gaming affect your studying? a. Motivateb. Do not relate c. Deteriorated. Do not know 5. What do you like to do if you own a computer which is linked Internet? a. Search for information for my studying b. Listen to music c. Play online games d. Others, please specify. 6. Do your learning results get worse since you play online games? a. Not at allb. A littlec. Muchd. Seriously II. The reasons why young people play online games? 7. Why do you play online games? a. Just play for fun b. Appealed by your friends c. Bored with my current world and want a new world d. Have no friends to play with e. Others, please specify†¦ 8. What do you think about when you are free? a. The way to solve a difficult mathematic exercise b. The performance to show in the activity of my class next time c. The plan for weekends with your family or your friends d. The level you must achieve in a online game III. The effects of online gaming in your personality 9. Do you often take part in school or social activities? a. Very oftenb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 10. Do you think playing online games is more interesting than any other kind of activities? a. Strongly agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly disagree 11. Have you ever been angry with others because you lost an online-game competition? a. Usuallyb. Sometimesc. Seldomd. Never 12. What do you feel about a day without playing online games? a. I have a lot of things to do which are more important than it b. It is not a matter, I will play it in other time c. It is so pity, if only I could play it today d. I can’t stand a day without online games 13. What do you often do at weekends? a. Help my parents with housework b. Go out with my friends c. Play online games whole day d. Others, please specify†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. IV. Awareness of students about the state and the effects of the online-game addiction 14. Do you think the online-game addiction in the young should be concerned profoundly? a. Yesb. Noc. Do not know 15. Do you know any person around you who addicted to online games? If yes, who? a. Nob. Yes- myself my friends my relatives. 16. Can you control yourself in playing online games? a. Yesb. No 17. Do you think that addicting to online games affect the player’s life seriously? a. Strongly agreeb. Agreec. Disagreed. Strongly disagree 18. If you could, what would you do to avoid addicting to online games? †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. THE END†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. Thank you for your cooperation! B. INTERVIEWS I would like to invite you to participate in this interview to gather in-depth information about your views, experience and attitudes towards the online-game addiction. Your sincere and accurate answers will be a great contribution to our survey. Thank you for your kind attention! You will be asked to answer these 5 following questions: 1. How do you think about that the government prohibit people from playing online games? 2. What do people, especially the young do in their spare-time without playing online games? 3. Do you think playing online games too much can cause some problems in the player’s health such as: obesity, short-sighted eyes, mental disorder and so on? 4. According to you, who will have to be responsible for the online-game addiction in the young? 5. Can you propose any solutions for this issue?