When I said Earlier it was a nice change to see something other that FPS games being attacked in the news, I didn't think I'd find an article attacking games and gamers quite so soon.
MVC posted an article reporting on a statement from therapist Steve Pope, who in an interview with BBC 5live says:
"2 hours of gaming is equal to a line of cocaine"
Aswell as:
"It is the fastest growing addiction in the country and this is affecting young people mentally and physically."
In the 25 or so years I've been a Gamer, this is probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard... Ever!
While It's suggested that prolonged exposure to violent games can desensitise people to extreme violence, comparing any form of entertainment to drugs is stupid.
I have never heard of a Gamer hitting bad times solely due to games addiction, nor have I walked about town and seen homeless gamers begging for there next fix.
I'm not saying all gamers are fine upstanding members of the community, but games usually get thrown into the same bucket with drug abuse, alcoholism and depression when anything truly awful happens.
The only true comparison between games and drugs, as was noted in the comments on the mcv article, they are both expensive, and at times can both be a relatively short enjoyable experience
The quote that truly made me laugh though
"go upstairs to your kids bedroom and try and take the game station controller out of their hands"
He said most kids will react
"in the same way as an alcoholic would if you tried to take their booze – it's scary".
You can put that into any argument,
"go to a library and take the book somebody is reading from them"
"go to the supermarket and take things from other peoples shopping trolleys"
Or
"go to the sports centre and take things from peoples lockers"
All of these will lead to the same outcome, facing a very pissed off person with a minor chance of getting punched.
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