Of all the many things that children nowadays get into, one of the worst (if not the worst) is probably computer gaming. In fact, this particular addiction has become so rampant that it has triggered a country-wide explosion of computer shops that cater mostly to gamers. As testament, if you sample the many computer shops along Katipunan avenue, for example, you’re not going to see a single computer shop dedicated to typing or surfing. All of them are network-linked and are ready for playing DOTA or CounterStrike or Warcraft.

I’m not surprised. I know how it feels to be addicted to network gaming because I too, at one point, was addicted to the same thing. And for me to be addicted to one thing is not a common phenomenon.

You see, throughout college, I was able to stay sober, Rocky Patel cigar-free, drug-free, and even gambling-free. True, I would try some of them every once in a while but never did I develop any dependence or desire to have frequent tasting (hence the term free), that is except for network gaming.

I know it may sound relatively less dangerous than alcoholism or gambling, but pc gaming addiction can be as risky as (if not riskier than) these two. I know because I came to the point when I would rather save money for Warcraft than lunch, when instead of doing my assignments I would stare at the monitor replaying strategies in my head about skirmishes with Orcs and Undeads, to the point that I would forget about urinating just so my playing would not be interrupted. And probably the most dangerous thing about this type of addiction is that it happens to children, not even discriminating between primary or secondary or college students.