Fighting internet addiction with a video game. It might seem counterintuitive and instead it is a strategy that can prove useful. So much so that it was chosen for the project funded by the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Ccm) of the Ministry of Health for middle school students aged 12-14. The idea is to encourage a conscious use of the web, teaching children to emotionally self-regulate and find solutions in situations that are stressful or frustrating for them.
One of the effects of the widespread diffusion of technological devices is that of the increase in exposure to video games, gaming and gambling online, of which the most widespread is poker. According to the latest report from the Entertainment Software Association, 31% of online gamers are under the age of 18 and 60% are male. But the most widespread problem is that of web addiction, which involve many young people.
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All online
“We live in a hyper-connected society, which no longer knows the value of time, everything and immediately governs the moments of life. The alarming data linked to the continuous increase in the use of technology bring to light a sense of inadequacy of children and technology has massively entered into everyone’s daily life, but in the last year and a half where, due to the pandemic, it has represented the only way to maintain contact with loved ones. Technology itself is not to be demonized, it is a precious means, but it must be used with awareness. We need to talk about digital education, and when we are all educated to use these tools, aware of their potential, then we can say that we use them to our advantage “, he explains. Giuseppe Lavenia, president of the National Association of Technological Addictions, GAP and Cyberbullying Di.Te and professor of Psychology of Technological Addictions at E-Campus University.
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Gambling online
A recent study of 1000 Italian high school students showed that 22% of them had problematic Internet use behavior, almost 10% were addicted to gambling. Behaviors linked to poorer academic performance, inability to be interested in enjoyable activities, dissociative lability, sterile and colorless communication and impulsivity: all risk and vulnerability factors for the development of psychiatric disorders in young and adulthood. According to experts, there is a high risk in those with problematic Internet use behaviors of having dissociative experiences and negative emotional states (such as sadness, anger, anxiety, feelings of loneliness and marginalization).
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The role of parents
Children and adolescents are in a risky age group, but adults can protect them with greater awareness of the dangers and benefits of these tools. “The guidelines on the use of technology suggest not to give technological tools to children before the age of 13. The social policies, if you read them, say that before the age of 13 or 14 children cannot access them. use of digital, before using it – explains Lavenia – The question we should ask ourselves before giving the cell phone to children is: “Is my child ready for this tool? Do they really need it? “. There are children who already have adequate cognitive capacity at 11, others at 13, others at 15. However, I do not recommend giving smartphones to their children, believing that everyone will be calmer in this way. given to children with a pact to be respected, with the ‘instructions for use’, digital education is needed “.
In small doses
It is all about limiting excessive use of the network. “None of us would eat a food that they like indefinitely, even if it is pizza. The Italian Society of Pediatrics has suggested not to give children their mobile phones before the age of two and up to five can only watch it together with their parents. and for an hour a day. Knowing that technology should never be meant to calm or distract them. Teach them to manage boredom or frustration. As for teenagers, the situation is different. they say that we spend 6 hours a day on the mobile phone and the kids even spend 10 hours on the Smartphone. But the time spent online does not always indicate an addiction, what makes the difference is the quality of the time spent online “, explains the expert. .
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The emotional presence
But what should parents do to avoid web addiction? “Teaching the rules of behavior online, then explaining – adds Lavenia – that everything that is done online could hide a risk or a benefit, we must know how to recognize it. To say that everything that goes online will remain present for a long time, if not for always. And if you use this tool lightly, there could be consequences also in the future. We must return to listening to children: we do not minimize the problems that children bring to our attention and we give (and give ourselves) clear and precise rules on the use of the Smartphone. We also pay attention to all the signals of adolescents, without obsessively exercising control over the cell phone but with an emotional presence and affection to give to the lives of our children. The respect exercised every day, after all, begins with the knowledge of our emotions and those of others “.
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The game of emotions
Research on the subject has shown that difficulties in regulating negative emotions play a fundamental role in the development of addictive behaviors, problematic use of the Internet and pathological use of social networks. Hence the idea of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control project to act on the self-regulation of emotions to prevent problematic use of the web. One of the tools used in the Ministry of Health‘s project will be that of ‘serious games’, with which students will make short simulations on interactive multimedia whiteboards (IWBs) in which they will be able to put into play, alone or in groups, some of their behaviors in situations criticisms. Moments they see as problematic and frustrating, such as being marginalized and isolated, being accepted or rejected by peers, having little tolerance for frustration and lack of self-discipline. All situations that can also lead to bullying.
Positive change
Students will be involved in group activities for the development of multimedia modules and will evaluate the appropriateness of the contents proposed by the experts. Although presented in a way similar to video games, ‘serious gamess’ allow to stimulate positive change. The project will be carried out in 20 classes of five Regions (Autonomous Province of Trento, Lazio, Marche, Lombardy and Molise). After a short training course, teachers will conduct 45-60 minute sessions with students. The games will be available to children even after school hours, to be able to repeat them at home.
Detox exercises
A project that from the school will enter the homes of the children to make them more free. There are already a series of useful exercises to try to distance yourself from the web, when you have the feeling that there is a danger of addiction. “They are those of technological detox that can be done every day. No meals with the smartphone on hand, or next to the plate, using the time to talk, really savor what we are eating, listen to the body, and make full use of the time of the conviviality, to interest each other, to return to being interesting for the other. In a nutshell, to listen to each other and to listen “, explains Lavenia.
Mediation by a parent
Situations that can also be handled by an adult. “One day of the week you can stay with the phone off, and do activities with the kids, even a simple walk singing together, or discussing together what you are trying to observe the view. You can cook together, tell each other the emotions experienced. from their parents when their child’s age … Let’s show the children that we are the first to set a good example, by turning off our mobile phones and turning on our senses, because only in this way will we be able to restore the order of priorities. with the phone off, looking around: What really matters? “, adds the expert.
Nothing checks
According to experts, parents must not become policemen who are ready to monitor their children at all times. But they have to help them bring about change. Free them from excessive use of technology, accompanying them in the discovery of new interests. “More than controlling, we have to go back to talking to our children, to take an interest in their life. Not only the offline one, but also the online one. Have you ever asked your child: What did you do today with your smartphone? It is important to ask them how they spent the day. You have to go back to dialogue and you can do it if you inquire, if you talk, leaving aside judgments and if you open up to confrontation. What do they like? What are they looking for online that they do not find in the Real life? Why does a game make such a hold on them? We ask questions and welcome the answers, returning to restore healthy boundaries within which to cultivate respect for the other. Only by doing so will technology not represent a problem, but a resource. It is not by threatening or imposing solutions that the problem is solved. Let us help them activate critical thinking and never tire of inviting them to strengthen empathy “.
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