Today, the homepage of CNN boasted the results of a new study claiming that children who play video games on average of 2 hours per day suffer more than their peers who play less or not at all, from attention problems.
While we use such studies to help us understand the dangers we face in overusing technology and not being involved enough in our children’s daily lives, I can not help but to be amazed that we need such studies. I mean duh! Why would anyone think it is good that a kid sit in front of a monitor alone for a few hours EVERY day? How did we get here?

You do not need a study to tell you that your children should probably not be playing video games every day. You know that. You do not need a study to tell you that exposing children to violent role playing games, pornography or bullying online is not a good thing. You know that too. And you know that as a parent, it is your role to set limitations, monitor what they are doing in their free time, make sure they eat well, get enough physical activity, do their school work.

But still, hours playing on the computer every day — this is what reality is for so many kids growing up today. And then so many people are out there asking:  Is my child addicted to online gaming? Should I get help for my child if he does not socialize with other children and only plays on the computer? Is it a problem that my son spends time with friends via Facebook and never in person? YES!!!! It is a problem! And it is not his fault.

With all of these online temptations making it easy to be lazy, it is hard to resist. And if no one provides a structure and sets the rules, it is no different than allowing a child to eat candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And then say – “oh, was I supposed to tell him what he can eat?”

I admit, the studies serve a very important purpose to identify trends that may have detrimental effects, but it seems a sad comment on what we are doing, as a generation of parents, educators and policy makers, to need such studies to tell us what is bad, what can cause emotional problems, what will effect a child’s ability to reach his potential. It is as though we can do anything — until a study suggests it may not be healthy. It’s like we move forward toward a technology horizon we aspire to while moving further and further away from our own basic human instincts of knowing how to nurture and educate our own children. We don’t even know what we are supposed to eat anymore – let alone what we are eating (take a look at any packaged item in your supermarket and count how many ingredients actually sound like food!