Video games: a threat to Yemeni society [Archives:2006/923/Reportage]
February 23 2006
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In the past 15 years, video games and playstation entertainment shops have spread remarkably in most Yemeni cities. Nearly every Sana'a neighborhood has one or more video game shops where children and teenagers spend much time for entertainment. Parents complain that video games influence their children's behavior.
Money and sexual harassment
Playing video games is not free; it costs money. Every 10 minutes of play costs 40 riyals. How do children and teens get money to play? Children generally receive some money to buy sweets from their fathers. Some prefer not to buy sweets but to play video games instead. Others save money they get for school break time and spend it on video games.
What is most striking is that some children and teens who are addicted to playing video games resort to theft. Most notably, they steal money from their parents, sometimes stealing gold if they cannot find money.
Three years ago, a father discovered that his 15-year-old son had managed to steal 5,000 riyals from his pocket. After a harsh beating, the teen confessed to his father that he spent the money playing video games with his friends. The father therefore put him in prison as punishment.
Not only this, a boy sometimes is obliged to borrow money from friends or even video game shop owners, which usually results in problems between them, with parents bearing the consequences, for the most part.
Addicts who cannot pay for games sometimes are subjected to sexual harassment. Most are underage and video game shop owners exploit them sexually when they cannot pay for games. Children sometimes are obliged to perform homosexual acts to get money to pay for games. Last year, homosexual intercourse with a child occurred in one Sana'a video game shop.
Family pressure and ignorance
In some families, children are deprived of watching television and having video games. Some parents oblige their children to help them work, thus leaving them no chance for entertainment. Moreover, parents usually reduce their children's entertainment time on study days.
These factors and others lead children and teens to spend time secretly in video game and playstation shops. In doing so, they are careful not to be discovered by their parents or elder brothers. For them, prayer times, qat sessions and school times are favorable opportunities to divert themselves in video game shops, as they exploit their parents' absence at these times.
A father usually sends his son to the mosque while he remains at home. Khalid Al-Dhamari, 28, said he once asked his younger brother to go to the mosque. He followed him but did not find him there, so he immediately went to a nearby video game shop and caught his brother playing. For this reason, mosque imams order shop owners not to open during prayer times. In some neighborhoods, people do not allow video game shops to open near mosques.
During qat sessions, fathers are busy chewing qat with friends, while mothers visit neighbors or relatives. Therefore, children find it an opportunity to go to playstation or video game shops, as there is no one to prevent them. Even if their parents are present, children obtain permission to revise their lessons with friends outside home and easily can go and enjoy themselves instead. Abu Mazin, 44, says, “My son used to play video games without telling me. I learned about this only when he was sent to the police station over a quarrel with some other teenagers in a video game shop.”
The problem is that some parents trust their children and do not worry about their behavior, where they go or what they do. Very rarely does a father follow up his children at school or their behavior on the street. This is why some teenagers absent themselves from school to play video games. In the morning, dozens of students can be found in playstation and video game entertainment shops. One can tell a game player is a student by the school uniform he wears and the books he carries. Secondary school student Mustafa said he often escapes school after break time and heads for a video game shop. “I don't like to study. I like playing video games and here I am playing, away from my family,” he added.
Violence begets violence
Most children and teens prefer violent games like wars, street fights, etc., which has bad effects on their behavior. Studies about video game violence show that children and teens who play violent games become more aggressive and behave more violently than those preferring non-violent games. This is evident in the behavior of those teens in video game shops, where they demonstrate their abilities to fight with other teens and enjoy bullying. Such teens also form violent gangs in schools and neighborhoods. In 1999, at Columbine High School in the U.S., two teenaged students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, fired on their fellow students, killing 12 and one teacher. Some researchers attribute this incident to the influence of video games.
Killing and violent games make players aggressive during the game, as they react with the actions of the game. This short period of aggression has real-life consequences, as they tend to behave violently. Research also shows that such games encourage them to follow suit in solving their real-life problems with pathetic consequences.
Most of these teens like to be armed with personal arms like daggers and pistols so they are ready for any fight. Last week, a teenaged boy killed another as they quarreled in Musaik zone in Sana'a. He managed to escape and now his father and brother are in prison.
Troubles at home
Some parents allow their children to have video games at home for fear that playing at video game shops will badly influence their behavior. At home, children do not play the game as they do in video game and playstation shops. For one thing, they feel at ease to shout and laugh out loud as they get into the game. Another thing is that they feel at liberty to play as many games as they want, for here they do not have to pay.
In families with more than one child, quarrels between brothers and sisters over playing games are inevitable. Each child tries to play first and play the most. Young children sometimes like to watch such games even though they do not know how to play. At times, players hit their little brothers who they say “confuse them.” Nasser Al-Hamami says his younger brothers make noises as they play, each complaining about the other. “It has never occurred to us to play without shouting and fighting,” he added.
What is more terrible is that allowing children to use video games at home has bad consequences for their studies. Their interest in studying becomes less and less over time and their abilities and skills, if any, dwindle as they now devote their skills and talents to being professional game players, even priding themselves on their video game success. This is why many teachers complain of students' low performance in their studies.
On a health level, experts say many symptoms are associated with video game playing such as, backaches, dry eyes, migraine headaches, changes in eating or sleeping patterns, etc.
In fact, many families are beginning to realize the bad effect of video games on their children, so they wish to find solutions for those children who have become addicted.
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