A charity has raised concerns that a generation of children are becoming living zombies from sleep deprivation due to computer game addiction.
A charity has raised concerns that a generation of children are becoming living zombies from sleep deprivation due to computer game addiction.
Social workers at Wing South West say it has serious concerns over an increasing number of young computer gamers who are 'stoned' from sleep deprivation.
They said youngsters were in danger of losing empathy and the compassion of 'genuine relationships'.
"We have a number of young people who most of the time look almost stoned, not necessarily on drugs, but just with sleep deprivation because they're gaming all the time," the Daily Mail quoted Paul Bowser, who works with young people at Wings South West in Bideford, as saying.
"Whether it's an obsession or an addiction, I don't know. It's certainly different from a few years ago, partly because the technology wasn't there," he said.
Robert Hart Fletcher, who runs Kids and Media, a charity giving information about children's use of digital media, stated "Gaming is a phenomenon that's been around quite a while.Now we are starting to see the effects in behaviour of young people."
"In the past people had genuine relationships with empathy and compassion which has been replaced by this virtual relationship where they are not necessarily having to show empathy or compassion.
"That's starting perhaps to change the way they interact on a day to day basis," he added.
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