Drunk on Gadgets

KOMPAS/RIZA FATHONI

Nursemaids accompany a child at Star Child Daycare in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Friday (20/7/2018). Child care services are an option for working parents. Through such care services, children can play, have regular activities and breaks in the nursemaids’ supervision, and avoid children from exposure to gadgets.

At only 7 years old, M is adept at operating a variety of gadgets, including an iPad, an Apple TV and a smartphone. He uses them to play online games and access social media sites like YouTube. He mostly watches videos of his favorite video games on YouTube’s many gaming channels.

During the school holidays, M could spend more than seven hours a day on the gadgets. When his parents grounded him and took away his gadgets, he screamed and cried endlessly. As the days went by, his parents saw his behavior begin to change slowly. “He was becoming rough. He learned it from the gamers’ videos he watches on YouTube,” said M’s mother. The family lives in Tangerang, Banten.

M’s mother said that she first introduced him to gadgets when he was just 2 years old. She let him play children’s games, such as puzzles, alphabet and number games, to calm him down for meal times.

More severe cases of gadget addiction are found in two teenagers, a middle school student and a high school student, who were treated at the psychological ward of Koesnadi General Hospital in Bondowoso, East Java, in late January 2018. The two teens were taken to the hospital as their parents were overwhelmed by their change in behavior after they became addicted to online games through their gadgets.

They would become angry whenever the gadgets were taken away from them. Sometimes, they would throw whatever was at hand or hurt themselves by banging their heads against the wall.

During the psychological observation at the hospital, one of the teenagers said he was a killer and hwas obsessed about becoming a character he allegedly had found in an online game.

After being treated for several months by the Koesnadi hospital psychiatrists, they got better. “They returned to school and got good grades. They were able to socialize with others, although they still preferred to be alone at times,” said psychiatrist Dewi Prisca Sembiring on Friday (20/7/2018).

Gaming addiction

Following the two teenagers, Koesnadi hospital received nine other male middle school and high school students who were also addicted to gaming. One of them would stay up for three days without eating or sleeping, just to play games on his gadget in his room. “They had similar symptoms to the two patients we treated in January,” said Dewi.

One of the gadget-addicted teenagers went so far as to threaten his parents’ lives for trying to ban him from playing the games. He once reportedly hid a knife above his mother’s bedroom and intentionally poured gasoline in the bedroom.

Cases of gaming and gadget addiction among children In Jakarta have also been found. In the last three years, psychiatrist Iman Firmasyah, who heads the rehabilitation division of the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), has treated seven boys aged between 11 and 18 for gaming or gadget addiction. Their parents were overwhelmed by the change in their behavior.

One of the boys, an 11-year-old, lost control of himself one time and repeatedly threw his 8-year-old brother to the ground. Another one threatened his mother with a knife. Yet another tried to choke his mother while she was driving after she told him not to use his gadget in the car.

“When I met them for the first time, I could not get them to talk to me. They were all so quiet. It was only after I learned about the games they were playing that I was able to communicate with them,” said Iman, adding that the games includes popular titles like Mobile Legends and Clash of Clans (COC).

Recovering was not easy for the teens. Of the seven boys under Iman’s treatment, some needed medicine along with counseling from doctors and their families. Two have gone back to school, while another three are still being treated and two others withdrew from treatment.

Like drug addiction

The Addiction Psychiatry Polyclinic at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital (RSCM) has treated minors with gadget addiction since 2017. An 18-year-old university student who is receiving treatment was known to play online games for more than 18 hours a day.

Because of his gaming addiction, the student took drugs like methamphetamine to stay awake so he could play his games nonstop.

“The therapy for gadget-addicted children is similar to the therapy for drug addicts. The brain disruptions found in the two types of addictions are similar,” said mental health department head Kristiana Siste Kurniasanti of the University of Indonesia’s School of Medicine (FKUI).

Child and adolescent psychiatrist Tjhin Wiguna of the FKUI mental health department said that cases of gaming and gadget addictions had been on the rise in the past three years. Most of the patients were teenagers.

Atma Jaya Hospital psychiatrist Eva Suryani said that gaming and gadget addicts were unable to control themselves while gaming. If they did not receive immediate treatment, their cognitive functions could become damaged, including the brain’s executive function that plans and controls their activities.

Apart from online games, children were also vulnerable to being exposed to negative internet content accessible through gadgets, especially pornography and violent content.

Marsudi Putra Antasena Social Home (PSMP Antasena) in Magelang, Central Java, is currently caring for 28 teenagers from several provinces for digital addiction. “Most of them said that they sexually harassed or assaulted others after seeing pornographic content on their gadgets once or twice,” said PSMP Antasena psychologist Betaria Septiarini Rosana.

Gaming addiction may also encourage children to commit violent acts, including abuse, robbery and fighting at school. In one case, a child committed robbery after watching online video tutorials on how to break into wardrobes and open padlocks using simple tools.

Gadget addiction among children across Indonesia should be a warning for the public, especially parents. Information technology has brought numerous benefits, but it also has a dark side that can threaten and destroy the futures of our children.

(E05/E15/TAN/EGI/GER/SON)