Monday, January 7, 2013
Interview by Lon Woodbury
Hilarie Cash Ph.D., CoFounder of reSTART, an Internet Addiction Recovery Program in Washington State, and Steven Cessario, founder of Connecticut Youth Mentoring and Coaching compared perspectives with Lon Woodbury on the Struggling Teens L.A. Talk Radio Show about the positive and negative impact of computer gaming, especially violent computer gaming, on children and adolescents.
Background
Hilarie Cash Ph.D., LMHC, is a partner and Co-CEO and Education Director at reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Center. She is a speaker, teacher, and author and has appeared on ABC News, CNN, NPR, PBS, the BBC, and in print in the Seattle Times, U.S.A. Today, U.S. News and World Report, and the New York Times.
Steven Cessario committed to helping others develop life skills and achieving success by founding CT Youth Mentoring & Coaching. A knowledgeable mentor and coach, he has learned and studied the process of mentorship and coaching through extensive study and training.
What Impact Does Computer Gaming Have On Young People?
During the meeting, Lon asked his guests to throw light on the topic of computer system games. In particular, he wanted to know, exactly how it impacted young individuals. He was especially concerned about the impact violent and sexually specific scenarios in games impacted our youth. He described the current contradictory views held about pc games and asked his guests to throw light on the issue.
Steven Cessario, whose role was to cast a positive interpretation on computer gaming, pointed out that a study by the Pew Research Center concluded that video games, far from being socially isolating, serve to connect young people with their peers and to society at large. He also observed that other research has documented, qualitatively, the many ways that video games promote social interactions and friendships. Adolescents make friends with other gamers, both in person and online. They talk about their games with one another, teach one another strategies, and often play together.
Hilarie Cash, whose role was to point out the darker side of computer gaming, pointed out that excessive video games were often shown to be socially isolating, thus reducing opportunities for outdoor activities, which in turn could lead to obesity and poor physical health. In addition, there was some research to suggest that in less emotionally balanced kids, it did promote a tendency for violence if the games have violent content. Those who were not tempted to enact out violent urges did show a narcissistic tendency to be antisocial. They appeared to have become insensitive, lacking empathy and compassion for the suffering of other people.
Final Thoughts
As might be expected, there was no final resolution in this friendly debate as both guests were able to marshal logical arguments as well as cite studies to support their point of view. However, toward the end, both guests agreed that moderation was the best policy because most of the negative addictive qualities arose when computer gaming became excessive.
Interview by Lon Woodbury
Hilarie Cash Ph.D., CoFounder of reSTART, an Internet Addiction Recovery Program in Washington State, and Steven Cessario, founder of Connecticut Youth Mentoring and Coaching compared perspectives with Lon Woodbury on the Struggling Teens L.A. Talk Radio Show about the positive and negative impact of computer gaming, especially violent computer gaming, on children and adolescents.
Background
Hilarie Cash Ph.D., LMHC, is a partner and Co-CEO and Education Director at reSTART Internet Addiction Recovery Center. She is a speaker, teacher, and author and has appeared on ABC News, CNN, NPR, PBS, the BBC, and in print in the Seattle Times, U.S.A. Today, U.S. News and World Report, and the New York Times.
Steven Cessario committed to helping others develop life skills and achieving success by founding CT Youth Mentoring & Coaching. A knowledgeable mentor and coach, he has learned and studied the process of mentorship and coaching through extensive study and training.
What Impact Does Computer Gaming Have On Young People?
During the meeting, Lon asked his guests to throw light on the topic of computer system games. In particular, he wanted to know, exactly how it impacted young individuals. He was especially concerned about the impact violent and sexually specific scenarios in games impacted our youth. He described the current contradictory views held about pc games and asked his guests to throw light on the issue.
Steven Cessario, whose role was to cast a positive interpretation on computer gaming, pointed out that a study by the Pew Research Center concluded that video games, far from being socially isolating, serve to connect young people with their peers and to society at large. He also observed that other research has documented, qualitatively, the many ways that video games promote social interactions and friendships. Adolescents make friends with other gamers, both in person and online. They talk about their games with one another, teach one another strategies, and often play together.
Hilarie Cash, whose role was to point out the darker side of computer gaming, pointed out that excessive video games were often shown to be socially isolating, thus reducing opportunities for outdoor activities, which in turn could lead to obesity and poor physical health. In addition, there was some research to suggest that in less emotionally balanced kids, it did promote a tendency for violence if the games have violent content. Those who were not tempted to enact out violent urges did show a narcissistic tendency to be antisocial. They appeared to have become insensitive, lacking empathy and compassion for the suffering of other people.
Final Thoughts
As might be expected, there was no final resolution in this friendly debate as both guests were able to marshal logical arguments as well as cite studies to support their point of view. However, toward the end, both guests agreed that moderation was the best policy because most of the negative addictive qualities arose when computer gaming became excessive.
About the Author:
Lon Woodbury created Struggling Teens to help families. He has the recorded this interview on his L.A. Talk Radio show for easy access at any time.
