FCC blames World of Warcraft for college dropouts

If you're in the market for more hyperbole and absurd government news, take a gander at this long-winded transcription of a speech by Federal Communications Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate at the Telecom Policy and Regulation Institute

The speech offers a glimpse into the viewpoints of our governmental policies of helping and fighting technological advancement at the same time.

With the explosion of educational resources available online, one might think parents would be 100% pleased with the internet's role in their children's lives. But surveys show just the opposite: a late 2006 survey that showed 59% of parents think the internet has been a totally positive influence in their children's lives--down from67% in 2004. You might find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction-- such as World of Warcraft--which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide.

Even more concerning, the threat is no longer contained to the family computer. It is in the palmof your child's hand. Given the fact that approximately 60% of American teens have a cell phone, and that cell phones are being marketed to children as young as 6, I have, and will continue to, challenge telecom carriers to adopt initiatives to provide curriculum and education regarding safe use of their products--including internet safety, and the prevention of access to inappropriate websites by children.

Since, I'm heavy on anecdotes today, when I was a senior in college one of my roommates stayed up for two days to beat Legend of Zelda. In the process, he missed a final exam and told the dean he had a drug problem rather than admit to his video game addiction. He's now a deputy DA in Florida.

Via GamePolitics

[alegr]

"He's now a deputy DA in Florida."

Does that say good about him, or bad about FL?

[daverosenberg]

A little bit of both. On the plus side, he always looks for "creative" answers for his clients.

[tekwiz4u]

This is funny. The next blame for college dropouts is going to be watching too much TV. Cmon....

The only blame should be the people who cant CONTROL their gameplay. Yes...that would be called an addiction, but WoW is just a form of entertainment. Like any other forum. So the blame is clearly held accountable towards the individual. And please dont compare this like taking drugs. The game doesn't destroy lives and put you in the hospital.

[wowgoldfan]

I agree. People should stop putting the blame on scapegoats and start taking responsibility for themselves. Drugs can kill you, destroy your body, destroy your mind, but have you even heard of someone farming for <a href="http://www.ige.com">wow gold</a> that did that to himself directly?

No, it's the negligence of one's self that does that, not gaming. If the same person was addicted to something else, the result would be the same.

[Dr_Zinj]

Speaking from personal experience and observation, on-line gaming is addictive.

There are positive mental rewards for game play that reinforce continuous playing. And game play has very little adverse physical consequences, other than repetitive motion disorder or cramps from being in the same position for hours at a time. So you can't really argue that it is destroying a players mind or body.

What on-line games can do is prevent people from doing more than maintenance-level activity. Working adults will continue to work to pay their bills and buy food; but are more likely to take a "game day" off frequently, have fewer personal interactions in their real life community, be unlikely to participate in other hobbies, or physical fitness activities. They will do other than gaming activities only when they "have" to.

The problem with college students is, for most, they are not paying for their college. They fail to realize that their spare time is supposed to be used for study, not recreation. It's a hard lesson to learn, and even harder to teach; but if you have a child who is an avid gamer and playing so much they are failing their classes; you need to tell them what the problem is, and then to cut them off from ALL funding. AND they can't come home to sponge off Mommy and Daddy either. For them, it's time to fish, or cut bait. Or for those with a more naturalist bent; time to push them out of the nest and see if they can fly on their own or die at the bottom of the tree.

[stein4153]

My first inclination is to take the position that the game can't be blamed for anything. The user makes a choice to play it too long or too often but it's not that simple. The game is awesome and everything about it encourages addiction. The adverse consequences are lack of exercise, screwed up diet, repetitive motion disorder, neglect of all of the other aspects of the person's life such as family, the and wear and tear on the expensive parts of the computer (graphics cards and screens). And there is the issue of college. My son became so engrossed that he failed two courses and almost lost his college loan. We had to repay $1500 for him to retake two classes. Because he had done so well prior to that class, we had no reason to suspect that he had become obsessed and had skipped class for two weeks. Regardless of who or what is to blame, the bottom line is the same. I believe the negatives overshadow the entertainment value of the game. If there were time limits on the games within every twenty four hour period, it would help. He would literally never come out of his bedroom, if he didnt have parents who forced him too. He would play WOW 24/7. There is nothing good about a game that affects people that way.

[guildwarsguy123]

If parents wouldn't be lazy and actually get ACTIVE in their kid's life and maybe possible look in on them every once in awhile instead of being workaholics (even if the work is needed, it's OKAY to look in on your child every once in awhile) they should see what the crud their kids are doing at that moment, and if they suspect an addiction or something they should ask them what they did on the computer, or something. I play WoW a LOT, but i force myself to take breaks off of my computer. Not play another game, get OFF of the computer. If you can't do that, then you need some help. That's what kids have parents for. Now, people who lose their jobs over the fact that they play some sort of addicting MMO, that is EXTREMELY sad. That means they have no free will and "NEED" that game. This is not true, they just think it. I was like that for a long time, possibly a year or two (third year playing WoW right now, in High school, 11th grade) and i just HAD to have it. It was all i thought about.Then i got a girlfriend, and started paying attention in school and starting up my actual life and trying to pass High school. The point is, WoW can't be blamed if they make an AWESOME game. The child, or person, (or the child's parents if they don't pay attention to the child) is to blame. Sorry parents of addicts to WoW, but you're failures! YAY!