Parentline Plus, the national parenting charity, has launched a series of tips to deal with the problem of children addicted to online gaming. It followed a report by Sweden’s Youth Care Foundation, which concluded games such as World of Warcraft, popular among teenagers in the UK, were ”more addictive than crack cocaine”.

Jeremy Todd, Parentline Plus chief executive, told The Telegraph, ”Parentline Plus recognises that parents with teenagers can find it difficult to cope at times and online gaming can lead to conflict within families if agreements about usage are not made and adhered to. Our top tips will help parents improve their relationships with teenagers and resolve any potential arguments around online gaming that may arise.”

The charity has also provided a list of questions to help parents decide if their child is spending too much time online…

Does your child:

• Play almost every day?
• Often play for long periods (over three-four hours a time)?
• Play for excitement?
• Get restless and irritable if they can’t play?
• Sacrifice social and sporting activities?
• Play instead of doing their homework?
• Try to cut down their playing but can’t?

If the answer is “yes” to more than four of these questions, then your child may be playing too much. Parents who are worried can contact the charity for around the clock advice – further details are available at www.parentlineplus.org.uk.

The charity’s ‘Golden gaming rules’ are designed to help parents manage their child’s online gaming addiction. Some of the top tips include:

Check the content of the game before you buy. Provide games that are educational rather than violent. Just as you wouldn’t dream of allowing your children to watch an 18-certificate film, ‘18’ games for the X-Box or PlayStation will also contain inappropriate content, graphic language and violence. Suggest games like ‘Mario’ or ‘FIFA World Cup’ which don’t contain violence.

Get involved: Talk to your child about what they’re playing and how they should behave when they are gaming. They should be encouraged not to accept ‘cheats’ or talk to people that they don’t know in the real world. If anyone asks them to do something that makes them feel uncomfortable they should come straight to you.

Make sure you continue to do things as a family, such as sitting down at the table to eat meals together or, if possible, having a weekly cinema/DVD night.

Talk to your child about why they are spending so much time online, and what they are doing. Try and find and encourage your child into an offline activity that links in with their online interests. For example children who enjoy role-play fantasy games might equally enjoy reading fantasy fiction or playing traditional fantasy board games.

If all else fails, temporarily prohibit gaming and then allow them to play again on a part-time basis when appropriate. (This can be done using parental control software, to block access to gaming sites or only allow it at certain times of the day.)

For the rest of the tips and further information, go to: http://www.gotateenager.org.uk/default.aspx?page=viewarticle&module=articles-view&id=138