Computer Game Addiction

An Incident or Experience which has affected me in some way

Computer Game Addiction

I had an experience with computer game addiction; my gaming pattern was beyond normal since I could forego studying, eating, sleeping and duties allocated to me by my parents, all in the name of computer games. My gaming pattern irritated everyone in the house since I could not concentrate on other things, no matter how important they were. Gaming took a bigger picture of my mind and my life since I spent roughly fourteen hours on the computer on daily basis. My school was half day, so the six hours left were spent on two hours doing my personal things and only four hours of intensive sleeping. My father always busted at me “My son, plan your time effectively”, and I would ignore.

My parents had come to realize that my gaming was abnormal and that I was addicted to the computer, I did not admit any addiction, since to me gaming was part of my daily routine. My parents started discouraging me on extensive gaming; I took it as a personal attack and wrestled with the ideas. In one way or another I always found myself on the computer, after my parents realized that they could not stop my gaming pattern by simply talking to me, they put a password on the computer, so that I could access games when they wanted.

I found myself in my neighbors house gaming with my friends, my parents were discouraged by the turn of events. I consulted my friends and they showed me how to bypass the computer password. My parents realized it and put a second level password on the computer. At that time Windows XP was the common operating system on the computers. My friends also showed me how to overcome all the passwords in the computer. I bypassed the passwords and accessed the computer games.

My parents realized I’m bypassing the passwords and confiscated the computer into their bedroom, in which they locked the door. I waited one Saturday evening after my father left the keys unattended. My friends had told me that by using a bar soap, one could take the shape of the key by pressing the key against the bar soap. I did exactly as they had advised me and got a copy of the key from a local key cutter.

It took months for my parents to realize that I had a copy of the keys to their bedroom, my mother came home early than expected one day and found me playing the computer games. I started facing difficulties with my education, my performance had significantly dropped to a point that my class teacher called my parents to the school to discuss on the issue. My health had also taken a negative twist since I could not concentrate on food. It took the intervention of my parents and my teachers to comprehend the complexity of the computer games addiction that I was experiencing in my life.

My parents invited one of my cousins to be staying with us, as way of monitoring my moves. The cousin to me was also a schoolmate, so we shared a number of facilities and my parents expected that I could change to the best as my cousin was. I did not improve in school and most of the time I felt absent-minded. My parents decided to take my computer games addiction to a higher level. I had to change school to a boarding school where computer access was limited.

The computer free environment forced me to change and realize that the computer gaming was affecting me negatively. I came to understand that I failed to personally stop myself from ending my gaming addict. I felt a failure in life, by not taking control of my characters, despite numerous warnings from my parents.

Addiction to computer gaming scarred me mentally and physically, since I could not concentrate on my schooling, my body and also on sleep. In one way or another, I found myself distrusting my characters and conscience, to an extent that I have challenges gaining confidence in my duties. Boosting my inner confidence is one thing that I struggle with in academics, social life and also in my daily activities.

I learnt that getting assistance from people after an addiction is not a crime, and it is important to listen to the mature people at home and in the society. In this world, we all need one another since we are talented differently, just as the trees of the forest are not of the same size. Realizing and accepting addiction is the first step of solving the issue, the second step is seeking help from the community by openly communicating the inner feelings and attitudes. Today I help and mentor young people on ways of avoiding addiction to games and drugs, and the best model of dealing with the practice. I’m a living testimony to the negative results of addiction and I thank my parents and teachers for helping me in positively managing computer games addiction. Nothing is impossible with a strong will to change, and change to the best.