Geelong kids skip school due to gaming addiction

Geelong kids hooked on gaming are being left so exhausted they cannot attend school, as children who have not even started primary school seek help for too much screen time.

Jigsaw manager Natalie Lanyon. Picture: Alan Barber

Kids hooked on gaming are being left so exhausted they cannot attend school, amid concerns the habit could be driving loneliness.

Geelong psychologist Chris Mackey said overuse of screen time, including gaming, was being raised for kids ranging from as young as preschool age to late teens.

“The games are developed with such sophistication, just like poker machines, to capture people’s attention and keep them engaged,” he said.

Psychologist Chris Mackey. Picture: Alan Barber

Natalie Lanyon, manager of Barwon Health’s Jigsaw, said the youth mental health service saw young people with a gaming addiction, often alongside another mental health condition.

“While gaming is often a safe retreat for people who are struggling, it does have the capacity to exacerbate mental health concerns,” she said.

“If a young person is spending at least three hours per day gaming, this has the potential to adversely affect their health and wellbeing, including their relationships and productivity.

“Gaming addiction, like food addiction, is often experienced when the brain is expecting a reward from a certain activity.

“It starts producing dopamine, which makes you feel good, motivating you to repeat the behaviour to experience the same rush.”

Ms Lanyon said signs of an addiction include spending more time playing video games to get the same level of enjoyment, giving up other previously enjoyed activities or social relationships, and reduced school or work attendance.

She said while gaming addiction, generally to video games, tended to affect males in the 16-20 age group, all genders were affected, and addictive issues could surface earlier and beyond this age group.

MacKillop Education Geelong co-principal Skye Staude. Picture: Alan Barber

Skye Staude, co-principal of MacKillop Education Geelong which caters for kids who struggle to attend mainstream school,said gaming was a “big problem”.

She said young people were staying up all night gaming and then were too tired to come to school.

“If they’re staying home and they’re gaming during the day, then there’s a decrease in them being able to socially connect with other young people,” she said.

“And then if that increases over time, and they’re not getting those social connections happening, but the connections are happening online, then that kind of strengthening is happening in that particular areabut it’s not happening in the real world.

“And we’re hardwired for social connection … so then what we’ve seen is there’s been a spike in terms of mental health, loneliness, all of those things, because they’re not getting those social connections.”

Mr Mackey, who is principal psychologist at Chris Mackey and Associates, said people may be more vulnerable to overuse if they were socially isolated.

He said it was important to acknowledge gaming could have positive outcomes for neurodiverse kids, including a social aspect and as a special interest.

Mr Mackey said families could set screen time limits early on or implement rules like no screens in the bedroom; engage in offline activities together; and parents could model positive behaviours.

Originally published as Geelong kids skip school due to gaming addiction