Psychological scientists Robert Weis and Brittany C. Cerankosky of Denison University conducted a study examining short-term effects of video game ownership on academic development in young boys. Families with boys between the ages of 6 to 9 were recruited for this study. The families did not own video game systems, but the parents had been considering buying one for their kids.

The children completed intelligence tests as well as reading and writing assessments. In addition, the boys’ parents and teachers filled out questionnaires relating to their behavior at home and at school. Half of the families were selected to receive a video game system (along with three age-appropriate video games) immediately, while the remaining families were promised a video game system four months later, at the end of the experiment.

Over the course of the four months, the parents recorded their children’s activities from the end of the school day until bedtime. At the four-month point, the children repeated the reading and writing assessments and parents and teachers again completed the behavioral questionnaires.

The results of this study showed that the boys who received the video game system immediately spent more time playing video games and less time engaged in after-school academic activities than boys who received the video game system at the end of the experiment. Furthermore, the boys who received the video game system at the beginning of the study had significantly lower reading and writing scores four months later compared with the boys receiving the video game system later on. Although there were no differences in parent-reported behavioral problems between the two groups of kids, the boys who received the video game system immediately had greater teacher-reported learning problems.

Further analysis revealed that the time spent playing video games may link the relationship between owning a video game system and reading and writing scores. These findings suggest that video games may be displacing after-school academic activities and may impede reading and writing development in young boys.

The authors note that when children have problems with language at this young age, they tend to have a tougher time acquiring advanced reading and writing skills later on. They conclude, "Altogether, our findings suggest that video-game ownership may impair academic achievement for some boys in a manner that has real-world significance."

Video Games May Hamper Academic Development in Some Children is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Games.com reports that Dr. Phil told Teresa that she was taking her obsession to the point where she was sabotaging the family computer when others tried to use it. "She unplugged the router, so you would think the Internet had gone down, and as soon as you went away, she plugged it back in and went back to tending her crops," Dr. Phil told Teresa’s daughter Jennifer, who confronted her mother about the problem.

"Part of the reason is because of her attitude when I do ask to get on the computer," Teresa responded.

"No, it’s not," Dr. Phil said. "You unplugged it because you have a ridiculous addiction to a ridiculous computer game that’s interfering with your ability to be a mother. You needed a fix, and she wouldn’t get off, so you had to create the opportunity."

Dr. Phil Confronts Mom about Online Game Addiction is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

“You hear stories about you can’t get someone through the Internet,” said Maryland’s Howard County Sheriff’s Department deputy Matt Roberson. “Guess what??You can. I just did. Here you are, playing World of Warcraft, and you never know who you’re playing with.”

In this case, online gamers were playing alongside Alfred Hightower, a man wanted on charges of dealing in a schedule III controlled substance and dealing a schedule IV controlled substance, and two charges of dealing in marijuana. A warrant was issued for his arrest in 2007.

The sheriff’s department enlisted the aid of the U.S. Marshals this summer to track down a number of fugitives as part of Operation: Falcon, and Hightower was among those targeted. Unfortunately, authorities were unable to locate him. Roberson soon found out that he had left the country.

“I received information from a childhood friend, who tells me the guy is in Canada,” said Roberson. “I held onto the information in the back of my head. I spoke to the marshals and asked if we could confirm the guy’s location, would they help us get him? They indicated that they would.”

With the help of sheriff’s major Steve Rogers, Roberson began gathering information on Hightower through a number of sources, and discovered that their suspect was a World of Warcraft fan.

“We received information that this guy was a regular player of an online game, which was referred to as ‘some warlock and witches’ game,” said Roberson. “None of that information was sound enough to pursue on its own, but putting everything we had together gave me enough evidence to send a subpoena to Blizzard Entertainment. I knew exactly what he was playing—World of Warcraft. I used to play it. It’s one of the largest online games in the world.”

Roberson’s subpoena was nothing more than a politely worded request, considering the limits of his law enforcement jurisdiction and the ambiguity of the online world.

“They don’t have to respond to us, and I was under the assumption that they wouldn’t,” said Roberson. “It had been three or four months since I had sent the subpoena. I just put it in the back of my mind and went on to do other things. Then I finally got a response from them. They sent me a package of information. They were very cooperative. It was nice that they were that willing to provide information.”

Blizzard gave Roberson everything he needed to track down Hightower, including his IP address, his account information and history, his billing address, and even his online screen name and preferred server.

“I did a search off the IP?address to locate him,” said Roberson. “I got a longitude and latitude. Then I went to Google Earth. It works wonders. It uses longitude and latitude. Boom! I had an address. I was not able to go streetside at the location, but I had him.”

Roberson and Rogers contacted the U.S. Marshals, who immediately notified the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Border Services Agency. According to Rogers, Canadian authorities located Hightower in Ottawa, Ontario, and arranged to have him deported. The marshals picked up the suspect in Minneapolis, and Howard County has until Jan. 5 to bring him back here to face charges.

“Roberson did some great work on this deal,” said sheriff Marty Talbert. “This is the first time in my seven years as sheriff that a fugitive was located in Canada. Rogers and Roberson did an outstanding job coordinating this…Suspects cannot be allowed to escape facing criminal charges by simply moving and relocating.”

Man’s Video Game Addiction Gets Him Caught on Drug Charges is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

According to David Bookstaver, a spokesman with the city Office of Court Administration, Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr., a 41-year-old Staten Island resident, will be replaced by Judge Desmond Green.

John M. Annese of SILive.com writes that Bookstaver declined to comment on the reason for Sciarrino’s transfer, but that several court insiders, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, described several "issues" that had arisen concerning Sciarrino’s alleged behavior on and off the bench, including his activities on social networking sites.

Sciarrino, who was appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, served as a Criminal Court judge for two years in Brooklyn before moving to Targee Street in 2007 to preside primarily over misdemeanor cases.

For several months, Sciarrino’s Facebook.com page was public, so anyone could see photographs of his children and at times, details of his location and schedule. He would update his Facebook “status” while sitting on the bench and once, according to sources, took a photo of his crowded courtroom and uploaded it to his Facebook page. One source said the photo was removed immediately.

"It’s all childish. I don’t think it was meant to harm anybody. The man was on Facebook 24 hours a day. If you were on Facebook, you saw what he was doing all the time," a source said.

Sciarrino’s profile is currently set to private.

Judge’s Transfer Could Be Due to Facebook Addiction is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Science Daily recently released a report of new findings from Taiwanese researchers which suggests Internet-addicted teens are more prone to aggression than other adolescents. By contrast, American researchers who study violence are not yet ready to make any conclusions about a possible link.

Amidst controversy between the two sets of researchers, the Taiwanese camp suggests parents and educators should pay more attention to children’s online habits. This is not bad advice, although the motive is causing a stir among American researchers.

The study “does not demonstrate that one behavior caused the other,” said Dewey Cornell, a professor of education at the University of Virginia, in Science Daily.. Even so, other research shows “that persons who play violent video games will be more prone to have aggressive thoughts, feelings and actions.”

Internet addiction was first described more than a decade ago, yet still causes controversy as not all mental health specialists will recognize its existence. In the Taiwanese study, researchers led by Chih-Hung Ko, M.D., from Kaohsiung Medical University, found 25 percent of the male students and 13 percent of females to be Internet addicts based on a commonly used scale.

Of those students who reported engaging in aggressive behavior – such as threatening or hurting others – 13 percent were female students and 32 percent were male students. By comparison, 37 percent of those suffering from Internet addiction engaged in aggressive behavior.

Brad Bushman, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, argues that the study does not allow conclusions about which came first — Internet addiction or aggression. “It could be that using the Internet causes people to behave more aggressively or it could be that aggressive people seek out the Internet,” he said. “Or some other third factor could cause both — people with poor social skills don’t have any friends, so they spend a lot of time on the Internet and can’t resolve conflicts in non-aggressive ways.”
 

Study Suggests Internet Addiction Leads to Aggression in Teens is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment