“Put that down and come eat!” or “Turn off the video game and go to sleep!” resonate from one side. The answer is often silence or: “I’ll finish the game and go, it’s the last mission!” or “I’m coming, five more minutes!”
Currently, 25% of online video game players are minors and spend almost 18 hours a week playing.* Do parents really know what our children are doing when they play online? What kind of games do they spend their time on? Who are they playing with? Do they have good behavior towards the community of players? Are teenagers making a good use of video games?
The word ‘flamer’ means ‘flamethrower’ in English. But in the world of video games, it has a totally different connotation. A ‘flamer’ is a player who sends deliberately hostile messages with no constructive purpose. This is a type of player considered toxic and is also usually called a ‘troll’. The act of making these types of messages and comments is known in video game jargon as ‘trolling’ or ‘flaming’.
Did you know these terms? The world of video games evolves day by day, and so does the way of communicating through them. Today, a player on online platforms in Spain can communicate, through a video game, with any other player in the world. Without any restrictions. And sometimes, the behavior of these players may not be entirely exemplary.
How to prevent the misuse of video games by children and adolescents?
It is difficult to keep track of the things that our sons or daughters write in a chat within the game interface, and it is even more difficult to control what they read. So, what can be done in this case? Inform yourself and observe. Search the Internet for information about the video game and what they say about its community of players. It may turn out that a game is suitable for their age due to its characteristics but, nevertheless, has a rather hostile community. Currently, if we look for information on popular games and the assessment of their community, the debates in forums are inclined towards League of Legends and CS:GO as the hosts of players with the worst behavior.
If your son or daughter communicates with their friends or other players through voice or video call programs, we must take extreme precautions, however, detecting bad behavior can be much easier. It is convenient to know who our children are talking to and inform them about online safety. It is also preferable that they play in a place where we can see them or that they keep the door open, in this way we can detect through what our children say, or how they say it, if they are making a misuse of video games or if they are being toxic players.
What words denote inappropriate behavior of adolescents in video games?
The problem lies, as we wanted to show at the beginning, in that the world of video games has its own jargon. Often these are Spanishized English words, so it is difficult to know their meaning. From díde we want to provide a list of basic words that you should know and raise the alert if you hear them from your children:
- Ban, banning or to ban: this is a restriction. Normally the video game team prohibits playing or having access to certain functions of the game for violating the rules of the community.
- Cheat, cheater: ‘cheat‘ means trick or deception in English. It is used to refer to the gamer (player) who uses them within the games. These types of players are usually rejected by the community, so the problem arises when a player is accused of it for having skills and not cheating.
- Kick or kicking: the literal meaning of this word is ‘patada’ (kick). It is used by the hosts of a chat or game to expel a user for non-compliance with the rules.
- Manco/a: this term is usually used in a derogatory way to refer to users with little skill.
- Noob: synonymous with novice, this word is used to refer to someone who is starting in a game and is somewhat lost.
- Niño rata: this term has gained popularity in recent years. It refers to a player between 8 and 18 years old who does not respect the rules and is annoying to other players.
- Muerdemandos or chupamandos: it turns out to be a sexist insult, ‘it is a derogatory concept based on photos of women in sexy poses with console controls’**. It is used to accuse a girl of playing for fashion or to attract attention.
The World Health Organization (WHO) will consider for the first time that video game disorder is a mental illness. And this pathology will be included in the next edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11), which has not been updated since 1990.
Vladimir Poznyak, head of the WHO’s Department of Mental Health, told New Scientist that “health professionals must recognize that video game disorders can have serious health consequences.”
The specialist clarifies that most people who play video games do not suffer from any disorder, just as most people who drink alcohol do not.
How can parents detect ADDICTIVE BEHAVIORS TO VIDEO GAMES early?
Early detection of learning, development, behavioral and emotional difficulties
*source: 3d games
**source: Todas Gamers
