SINGAPORE - NOT only are youths spending too much time online, many are also addicted to online gaming. A media report quoted TOUCH Cyber Wellness Centre as saying it saw 71 such cases last year. That is a 40 per cent increase compared to 2009.

Officials at the counselling centre said the profile of gaming addicts are getting younger – some as young as 11 or 12 years old although the typical client is 14 or 15 years old.

For some of these teens, it’s their parents who asked for help when they felt their children’s gaming habits were getting out of control. The counsellors at the centre said some of the teenagers addicted to gaming have dropped out of school or failed their exams.

An Institute of Mental Health consultant said addiction is more about whether the students are “spending time that they can ill-afford rather than the actual hours” spent on gaming.