@DrewDad,
Quote:And I'm saying that just because people's brains are different, it doesn't mean that they are dysfunctional.
I agree with you about that.
But, the specific quote you chose to comment on, was referring to the known
dysfunctional, long-term effects of
excessive playing of
particular types of video games. That quote wasn't a statement about negative effects of video games in general, nor was it about why children enjoy playing them. It referred to specific findings regarding maladaptive/dysfunctional consequences. And that was the reason for my reply to you.
Quote:If video games are like a drug, so what? People take all kinds of drugs all the time, and trying to keep them out of people's hands has been an abject failure.
Video games are out there, and we're not going to be able to keep people from playing them, so all of this "they sky is falling" BS is about as effective as Chicken Little was.
Who's saying "the sky is falling"?
Most parents don't want to put drugs in their child's hands, or encourage excessive involvement in an activity that could have detrimental effects on the cognitive functions, or brain development, or social functioning, of their children. They do try to exercise some control over the types of video games their children play, and how often they play them.
You can't lump all types of video games together, nor do the researchers do that. And, when it comes to children, some types of games may have more negative effects than positive, or vice versa, particularly on a developing brain. Many parents are interested in knowing things like that because they do try to exercise control over what they allow their child to do, and they are concerned about things that could be harmful to their child.
