Report: 3 million US children addicted to videogames

Whoops. An Iowa State University study has found that 8.5 percent of game-playing American youths aged 8-18 show multiple signs of behavioral addiction.

From this Washington Post piece:

The study found that 88 percent of the nation's children ages 8 to 18 play video games. With 45 million children of that age in the country, the study would suggest that more than 3 million are addicted "or at least have problems of the magnitude" that call for help, Gentile said.

"It's not that the games are bad," said Gentile, who is also director of research at the nonprofit National Institute on Media and the Family. "It's not that the games are addictive. It's that some kids use them in a way that is out of balance and harms various other areas of their lives."

Full thing through there. Scary reading.