TV addition is causing alarm amidst child specialists

By Kazi Mahmood, IOL South East Asia Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR, February 10 (IslamOnline) - A survey carried by the local Malay newspaper Berita Harian (BH) said thirty percent of kids treated for psychiatric problems at the Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (HUKM) in Kuala Lumpur were affected by addiction to television, computer or video games, sending an alarm in the country of the impact of these technologies on the society.

The paper said Prof Zasmani Shafie, who is a child psychiatrist said the children sent to this hospital were those who refused to go to school, did not listen to the advice of the teachers and were not paying attention in classes.

Malaysians are known for their extreme liking for television programs both in Malay languages and in other subtitled languages screened on the various channels in the country.

“Cartoons are the favorites of many local children, and most of these cartoons are produced either in Japan or in the United States,” said a mother of 3 children, one of whom has started to abandon school.

"My son runs from school to watch cartoon at a friend’s place, that is horrible since he always watches TV at home,” Yatie, who lives in Kuala Lumpur said.

There are daily complaints from parents of their children abandoning schools or tuition classes and even prayers in the mosque to either play games at the cyber café’s and watch TV at home.

“Since most of the parents go to work, there is this tendency to leave the children at home. They have nothing to do but to watch TV, play games or surf the net and chat in the IRC channels. This is a scourge of the modern times,” said a male teacher.

Mustafa, a counselor whose duty at a school near Ampang city is to handle ‘hard core’ students who suffer from some psychological disorders due to the effects of television or video/computer games, added the trend was alarming.

He suggested that a survey should be carried out by the proper authorities to look into the impact of these games and the television programming on local children.

"It has always been hard for kids who have both parents going to work. In this modern society, grand parents do not always live with their children, hence the new generation suffers from the absence of someone close to take care of them,” he added.

He explained that one of the ways to prevent the kids from getting addicted to the fantasies of television and gaming, would be to get them more interested and involved in outdoor sports.

“It’s a duty for me to jog with these boys and girls caught smoking at school, they are also deeply addicted to gaming at the game centers here,” he said.

The newspaper splashed the effects of television and games on its front page, with additional stories on how it is affecting the newest generation of Malaysians.

“Most of the kids affected would play games at home or at the Cyber café, 2 or 3 of the cases registered at the HUKM shows this trend, and all their time are wasted in playing games,” said Shafie in an interview with BH.

He added that even when they were not playing the games, they were day dreaming of these games.

Not too long ago, Malaysian children were seen always playing outdoors in fields that sit in the vicinity of their homes.

“Many of the children today do not even want to play soccer or take up athletics, this is a pity because the real potential for this country is there intact but wasted,” said a psychologist.

He added that this trend is seen even in remote areas of Malaysia, villages that are supposed to be remote but have facilities for video games.
"Computers has penetrated in almost every single houses in this country, yet is it being used properly or are the parents aware of the impact of this seemingly innocent machine on the children,” Mohamad Slamat, who holds a PHD in psychology told IslamOnline.

Addiction to the ‘machines’, Slamat said, is the reason behind many children stealing money, abandoning schools or lying to their parents about their whereabouts.

The only solution would be to “impose on parents a duty rooster, that is to say the parents are liable to know what their children do everyday on their computers, at the Cyber Café’s and at school,” he added.

“That sounds farfetched but it must be done since the future of the country is at stake here, otherwise we should get stiffer cracking on video games and internet game centers,” Slamat said.

"More pitiful indeed is to know that many children of the younger generations do not even think of helping out at home, spending their time watching TV or pressing on the video consoles to score imaginary high scores, while their education suffers,” said another mother of two teenagers living in Ampang city.