ADDICTION is bad, regardless of its nature. The way our children became addictive to online game Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) in recent times had become a source of concern and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority took the right decision on Wednesday, thought belated one, to finally ban it. In a statement, the Authority said it took the decision after receiving several complaints about the game being addictive, a waste of time and its potential negative impact on children’s physical and psychological health.
Indeed, there will be backlash from the millions of users of the game in the country who will furnish different pretexts to get the ban lifted but we will ask the Authority not to reverse its decision as it is the matter of life and health of our children. There are also cases of suicide attributed to the game. No other game has caused so much distraction or addiction than this one. Users of all ages are found to be playing the game, and a majority of the users comes under the age category of 10 to 15. The adrenaline rush caused by the game play forces the users to continue playing for hours, and in students, this causes addiction to a dangerous level. They drift away from their studies and spend most of their time playing the game. The lack of other outdoor activities and games today is the chief reason for children getting attracted to mobile and PC games. Statistics show that the game has over 100 million downloads from the Google play store and it is the most popular game in the apple store as well. We will also suggest the PTA to not only ban all the other related games but maintain a strict vigilance so that such violent games could not be downloaded or played in future. We are not against the children playing games but everything should be done in moderation. The children should firstly be encouraged to play outdoor games and as regard computer games, they should opt for the one that also help them in their education and are suitable for their age group. Heavy responsibility also rests with the parents to place limits on the time their children spend on any media.
