A New Disorder

Have you heard about the new mental health disorder?

Yesterday evening my 3^rd grade neighbor Johnny helped me pull weeds in our yard.  I asked him if he had enjoyed the past year in school.  His answer was interesting.

Johnny told me that he enjoys school and learning and spending time with most of his classmates, but some of his classmates are very annoying.  One of them, Martin, brags about the video games he plays after school, how many people he killed in his games and gross things like that.  Martin also cannot pay attention in class and annoys his classmates with activities other than discussing his video game exploits.  He picks his nose and does other annoying things. Johnny also said that he wonders what Martin will do when he gets older, what sort of crimes he will commit. Johnny himself only plays nonviolent video games for up to 15 minutes at a time, and then he does something else.

At dusk, I walked Johnny home and came back inside the house.  Upon booting my computer, a headline caught my eye.

It said that the World Health Organization (WHO) plans to include in its diagnostic manual a gaming addiction disorder.  WHO is classifying gaming disorder under “Disorders due to Addictive Behaviors” along with one other condition, Gambling Disorder.

Currently the description of “Gaming Disorder” reads like this.

On March 8, 2018, President Trump held a round table at the White House to discuss violent video games and how they relate to school shootings.  Douglas Gentile, a psychology professor at Iowa State University, had researched the issue.  Mr. Gentile concluded that if every violent video game disappeared tomorrow, the risk for school shootings and violence would be reduced. He further stated that the more children consume media violence, the more they behave aggressively.

Our children are our future.  How they feel and what they do shape the future health and well-being of our society.

I am glad that Johnny spent his evening pulling weeds with me instead of playing violent video games like his classmate Martin.

Let the encouraging words in these near a river posts help you

soar like an eagle above life’s storms.

I really do need your help with something important.

When life is hard, please stand tall anyway!

Why is our world so chaotic today?

How are you doing?

If you enjoyed this post, remember that BJ writes for children.

Her encouraging children’s eagle

Near a River common core reading book

is available on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com.

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