The UK’s Telegraph newspaper has been criticised by the games industry’s trade body for “extensively misrepresenting” the effects of playing video games on young people.
A recent Telegraph article, ‘Spiritual opium: could gaming addiction ruin a generation?’, warns that “classroom iPads and online textbooks are normalising the use of screens” in a way that is “potentially harmful to teenage brains”.
The piece goes on to specifically highlight gaming as a perceived health risk, as opposed to other screen activities. “It’s time all of us woke up to the ‘opioid’ possibility of gaming, before teenage screen addiction becomes another global pandemic,” it reads.
The basis for the article is partly a statement made by the Chinese state media last week, in which it compared video games to “electronic drugs”. China heavily regulates video games and requires…
