Is PUBG Harming Our Children?

Online gaming is booming in India. And, PUBG is the latest craze. While some people make money playing the game, the majority play it for the thrill. Some even end up before a doctor. A ban will accomplish little or nothing.

- Pooja Biraia Jaiswal

It was a story that usually would not have merited a second glance. Two brothers were spending long hours on their mobile phones. Yawn. Wait, there is more! Their house got robbed twice, when they were at home playing online games. And, they had even urinated in their pants, refusing to leave their phones even when nature called. The elder one was 22, into his second year of bachelor’s in engineering. The younger one, 19, should have been preparing for his higher secondary board exams that year. Of course, the upper middle class parents had started noticing that something was off. Declining interest in studies. Irritable. Anti-social. Erratic sleep pattern. But who thought things would go this far?

This was a case that Ankur Sachdeva, professor at the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Medical College in Faridabad, witnessed in 2012. It was one of the first cases of technology addiction to cross his desk. This was a time when the term was yet to enter the medical lexicon. “Such incidents used to be a rarity,” says Sachdeva. “After 2013, however, the numbers spiked. I have come across at least 10 such cases.”

What is the socio-economic profile of an at-risk gaming addict? “Earlier, gaming was a source of entertainment for the upper middle class, people who could afford consoles and gaming equipment,” says Sachdeva. “Now, their favourite titles are available on low-end smartphones. This has opened up the playing field, quite literally.”