NATORE: Addiction to online games is interrupting children’s normal mental growth that causing unhappiness in the family and making their parents helpless. So, children have to be kept away from this addiction to the online game.
A huge number of children and adolescents die in home and abroad every year due to online game.
In very recent, a teenager was playing game in mobile phone sitting on rail track but he didn’t notice arrival of train, resulting died on the spot, reports BSS.
Children and teenager in a large number in the country is now addicted to online games such as PUBG, Free-Fire, Clash of Clans, Call of Duty, Combat Strike Go etc, and these games not only require internet connection but also gems and coins through payment as well as some gears to go to bronze, silver, gold, platinum, diamond, heroic and grand master levels.
On an average, Taka 1,000-10,000 is needed for playing these games.
A lawyer of Natore district who is reluctant to be named said recently Taka 43,000 disappeared from his mobile wallet.
“Later, I found out that my younger son, a six-grade student, sent the money to a person’s car to collect some gears for playing an online game.
Some of the amount was recovered with the help of police,” he said.
Mahmudul Huq Mahi, a ten-grade student of Natore Government Boys School, said friend circle is always busy with the discussion of online games although he has kept him aside from playing this game due to his parent’s counseling.“When get in touch with their discussion, I become destabilised and it seems that they are smarter than me and I am lagging behind,” he revealed.
A nine-grade student of the same school, Shihab who attained talent pool scholarship in five-grade became addicted to the online game from the last two years, resulting in daily 4-5 hours being wasted from his life due to this addiction. He, however, got a big relief as the JSC examination was not held this year, but his parents have become helpless.
Tasnuva Rahman, teacher of a known private university, said her son Towkir is addicted to mobile game abnormally although he completed secondary education anyhow but she is worried about the future of her son.
“He (son) clearly told me that he would rather go to his father [with whom she got divorced for his addiction to narcotics] but can never leave this game,” she said.
While trying to unearth the reasons behind this addiction, it is found that as the working parents aren’t able to give time to children; they provide mobile or other devices to their kids. In some cases, parents gift devices feeling proud that their children know technology.
In addition, education institutions remained shut down for a long time, enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic that allowed children to divert themselves to different options to spend time.
Besides, the addicted children and teenagers think the developer company will hire them when they become more skilled after playing game for long and it will be their profession abroad.
Experts said children and teenagers start playing online game initially from curiosity, but later it turns into addiction and hampers their normal evolution, education, family and social life.
Mental Disease Specialist of Pabna Mental Hospital Dr Masud Rana Sarker said mobile game works as the catalyst of many mental problems.
“Parent should be aware and spend enough time with their kids so they are not engaged with online game,” opined Professor Dr Anwarul Huq Sufi of Psychology Department of Rajshahi University.
Dr Abdul Khalek, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said children’s eyes are being affected badly due to non-stop sightings to the mobile phone or computer screen during playing games.
Dr Abdur Rahman Siddiki, former Professor of Sociology Department of Rajshahi University, said policy makers in society and state should move forward with effective measures regarding this issue to wipe out the negative impact of online or mobile games.
State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said there is some software which can block online games on different devices, and the ministry is giving guidance to the parent to this end.
Parents should install such anti-gaming software to their children’s devices, he said, adding, “Our children have to be kept away from the addiction of this online game.”
