Do online games like World of Warcraft lead to bad parenting? (1 Viewer)

[SaintInBucLand]

I'm sure there are a lot of parents who game and will take offence to this questions, but this is a problem within my extended family and wanted to see other thoughts.

I have a relative who has been a parent for 12 years now and about 3 years ago he got involved with World of Warcraft. Prior to that he was always an involved parent and he was always at family gatherings or doing things with his children. This past year has been the worst so far. His marriage is on the verge of collapse and most of us hardly ever see him. The last family gathering led to his wife breaking down before a few of us as she told us how he doesn't pay attention to them when he is playing.

I realize this is most likely a character flaw rather than the game being to blame. But prior to this, he really was a good father and husband.

Thoughts?

 

[antipop]

bad parenting would be allowing your kids to play a crappy game like WOW or any of its related pay to win titles

 

[Zack Lee]

sounds like the game is just taking the place of any number of other things like going to bars after work. It is probably the underlying unhappiness and needs counseling. I just doubt that gaming has any more power than any number of other obsessions to take you away from your family unless away from your family is where you want to be.

 

[SaintInBucLand]

bad parenting would be allowing your kids to play a crappy game like WOW or any of it's related pay to win titles

It's?

 

[SaintInBucLand]

sounds like the game is just taking the place of any number of other things like going to bars after work. It is probably the underlying unhappiness and needs counseling. I just doubt that gaming has any more power than any number of other obsessions to take you away from your family unless away from your family is where you want to be.

And that was my thinking as well. But prior to him playing this game, he never had any of the character flaws we are seeing now.

 

[efil4stnias]

I'm sure there are a lot of parents who game and will take offence to this questions, but this is a problem within my extended family and wanted to see other thoughts.

I have a relative who has been a parent for 12 years now and about 3 years ago he got involved with World of Warcraft. Prior to that he was always an involved parent and he was always at family gatherings or doing things with his children. This past year has been the worst so far. His marriage is on the verge of collapse and most of us hardly ever see him. The last family gathering led to his wife breaking down before a few of us as she told us how he doesn't pay attention to them when he is playing.

I realize this is most likely a character flaw rather than the game being to blame. But prior to this, he really was a good father and husband.

Thoughts?

Sounds like he escaping the "mundane" thru gaming.

Family/Parenting can be "mundane" in some aspects. ( Lord know if i gotta tell my kids one more time "will you PLEASE pick up your clothes off the floor", i may just join World of Warcraft)

But that comes WITH parenting/family.

I used to be same way with the whole Medal of Honor/Battlefield series. But i made it a point to play once my wife and kids were asleep ( 8-9pm til). Furthermore it was years ago. ( in my mid/late 30s )


Looks like he wanted a little escape and got too involved.

Guess it could be worse...drugs/drinking/infidelity.

 

[Zack Lee]

And that was my thinking as well. But prior to him playing this game, he never had any of the character flaws we are seeing now.

huh. I guess at the heart all addictions share the same core traits and only differ at the fringe. Sacrificing your values is certainly on of those traits. I just have not personally seen anyone let their family fall apart for gaming but obviously it is out there.

 

[antipop]

Zack is right....addiction doesn't always have to be chemical and it is usually caused by some stress or underlying issue....gaming can be a great escape from reality and it's easier to escape than to deal with things....dude is probably just unhappy with some things in his life and he is looking to hide

It's?

 

[SaintInBucLand]

huh. I guess at the heart all addictions share the same core traits and only differ at the fringe. Sacrificing your values is certainly on of those traits. I just have not personally seen anyone let their family fall apart for gaming but obviously it is out there.

I have been doing some reading online and it definitely seems to be a problem, and I still believe it is indicative of addiction problems. I have read some sad stories online about small children hurting themselves because parents were too involved in their game.

 

[Twenty]

Maybe his wife should figure out why a video game gives him more pleasure than she does.

 

[SaintInBucLand]

Maybe his wife should figure out why a video game gives him more pleasure than she does.

Was this a serious response?

It's no different than asking this:

Maybe his kids should figure our why he wants to spend more time with a video game than them.

 

[WhoDatPhan78]

I'm sure there are a lot of parents who game and will take offence to this questions, but this is a problem within my extended family and wanted to see other thoughts.

I have a relative who has been a parent for 12 years now and about 3 years ago he got involved with World of Warcraft. Prior to that he was always an involved parent and he was always at family gatherings or doing things with his children. This past year has been the worst so far. His marriage is on the verge of collapse and most of us hardly ever see him. The last family gathering led to his wife breaking down before a few of us as she told us how he doesn't pay attention to them when he is playing.

I realize this is most likely a character flaw rather than the game being to blame. But prior to this, he really was a good father and husband.

Thoughts?

As others have said, it's just standard addiction.

The game is just the manifestation of underlying problems.

 

[Arathrael]

Children need time and attention. Any obsession that takes up a lot of time and attention and isn't shared with the children can therefore lead to being a bad (or at least, absent) parent, be it a computer game, a hobby, whatever.

So I wouldn't say WoW in itself leads to bad parenting. Obsession with anything can do.

But I would say that WoW, as a game, is designed to be time-consuming and psychologically addictive (for want of a better expression), so while I wouldn't say that it leads to bad parenting, I might go so far as to say it lends itself to it.

 

[Twenty]

Was this a serious response?

It's no different than asking this:

Maybe his kids should figure our why he wants to spend more time with a video game than them.

It was a serious response to your serious question about a video game making a bad parent.

 

[BHM]

sounds like the game is just taking the place of any number of other things like going to bars after work. It is probably the underlying unhappiness and needs counseling. I just doubt that gaming has any more power than any number of other obsessions to take you away from your family unless away from your family is where you want to be.

An addiction is an addiction whether it drinking, drugs, porn, gambling or video games. Typically the addiction is just an effect of the real problem.