About
New headlines in China highlight suicides and murders caused by online games. A boy murdered his uncle for money to pay to play video games. A thirteen year old committed suicide because of World of Warcraft. A fight between nineteen gamers over in-game dropped treasure in a game injured four teenagers. Tian Bingxin interviewed Zhang Chunliang on Internet games in China. Tian compared Internet games to opium on a website. It affects all classes of people and ruins parents’ hopes for their children. Zhang called the Internet addiction, “electronic opium.” The Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences estimated that 80% of dropouts are a result of Internet addiction.
Young people in China turn to video games to escape the real world. Online games are a world free of responsibility. The current generation has adopted western mediums and do not see it as their duty to take care of their family. Parents consider the Internet as a distraction from schoolwork, while children see the Internet as an escape from schoolwork.
People prefer MMOGs (massively multiplayer online games) because players can do steal items and kill other players without consequences. Players get married online without real responsibility or stress.
A player fighting an enemy in World of Warcraft, a popular MMOG
