New Delhi: In India, nearly 88 per cent of youth upto the age of 23 said they prefer to play online games more than any other activity, though there is no harm in playing online games as a hobby it can just as quickly turn into a habit making a 'gaming addict'.
The problem has grown more protracted since the coronavirus induced lockdown. The number of people playing online games in India has increased rapidly and this includes children as well as elders. People in India on an average spend 218 minutes a day playing online games, earlier it was 151 minutes. Children fall prey to online gaming addiction because they do not understand its dangers so if there are children in your house fond of playing online games then they should be explained about the dangers of it all.
Zee News Anchor Sachin Arora on Friday (October 1) spoke about the growing addiction of online gaming among youngsters in India and how timely intervention can save them.
Here's what the government advisory on online gaming said:
Keeping in mind the growing addiction to online games, the Delhi Government has issued an advisory for all the schools and parents but in India this problem is not limited to any one state or city. As many as crores of parents in India are troubled by their childs addiction.
The Delhi government's advisory informed both the parents and teachers that if children play online games continuously for several hours that it can have a bad effect on their physical and mental health. Also, there is a safety issue so children should be explained that they should not talk to unknown persons through the web cams, audio, private messages or Online Chat boxes while playing online games.
Kids should avoid registering Debit or Credit Card in Gaming Apps and teachers and parents should explain to children that they should not download any software or game from any unknown source because it may contain virus and also obscene content.
Make sure to check the age rating of the online game your child plays. If someone is harassing your child while playing an online game, then do not react rather report that person to the police. Infact, join your children as they play the online games so that you can know how your child behaves while playing the game.
Parents need to stay alert
As a parent you need to be careful if your child starts hiding his online activities from you or if your child suddenly starts spending too much time on the Internet. Check for mood swings with the child, if you see a lot of phone numbers or e-mail addresses in your child's digital device then be on alert.
Booming online gaming business
There are currently more than 3 million mobile phone applications on Google Playstore in India of which 4,44,226 are Online Gaming Apps. Among these, 19,632 apps have been developed in India itself.
In the year 2018, the number of users playing online games in India was 26.90 million. In the year 2020, the number of such users increased to 36.50 crores. And it is estimated that in the year 2022 this number will be 51 crore.
The value of online gaming industry in India for the year 2019 was Rs 8,300 crore but by 2022 it is estimated to increase to 21,000 crore rupees.
Meanwhile, psychologists say online games can turn into addiction and it can be recognized by some mental and physical activities like:
* Isolating from everything other than games
* Loss of appetite
* Lack of sleep
* Anxiety about not being able to play the game
* Talking about the game even when not playing the game.
* While the physical symptoms of this addiction include
* Tiredness
* Pain in the eye
* Wrist pain
Psychologist Ashima Srivastava says,"Playing online games is not bad but keeping work aside and playing games is not only dangerous but then the hobby turns into an addiction. It is then time to get rid of the habit."
