Game Over
By W. Bryce Hagedorn, Ph.D., Alexandra Frank and Sabrina Butler | May 2023
“I hate this class, you should all just be bombed,” Jamie said. This wasn’t the first time Jamie disrupted class, but recently her outbursts and threats seem to be escalating. Jamie has few friends at school and spends most of her free time at home on her phone or playing video games. She has traditionally done well academically but has fallen behind on her work and seems both more easily distracted and tired. Jamie’s teachers are alarmed by her frequent verbal and behavioral outbursts, and her low energy. Due to her escalating behaviors, Jamie has served four in-school suspensions in the last two weeks, but her teachers report no changes in her behavior. She is now facing an out-of-school suspension due to this most recent threat, which was directed toward the teacher and students. Jamie’s teachers and family are at a loss as to what to do next.
The excesses of gaming and its harmful effects aren’t hard to see. Mental health concerns and addictive gaming behaviors can combine with lethal results. Whereas gaming on its own isn’t the problem, the way some students use it and its potentially detrimental impact is important to monitor.
Like all behaviors, you should always begin by considering the multiple facets a behavior serves, both pro and con. For example, online gaming culture can offer a sense of community and friendship for those struggling with loneliness and/or mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety or depression) preventing them from interacting with their peers in person. Rather than immediately disparaging gaming and thus potentially missing its potential benefits, take the time to explore and understand the roles gaming plays.
If/when the behavior becomes problematic – moving closer to or fully into the addictive realm – design interventions accordingly. School counselors are well-positioned to support, identify and provide interventions for students at risk for exhibiting addictive behaviors. Even better, school counselors already have many of the tools necessary. Given the documented and harmful effects of gaming misuse, consider including internet, video and app-based gaming safety within your classroom instruction. Teachers, school counselors and families are looking for ways to best support students in navigating the impact of gaming addiction.
You may feel daunted by the task of supporting students at risk for engaging in addictive-like gaming behaviors, but the tasks of actually diagnosing and providing addiction-specific interventions don’t fall on you. Instead, you play the pivotal role of educating students and families, supporting at-risk students with school-appropriate interventions and identifying students in need of a higher level of care. A multitiered system of supports (MTSS) can guide you through these roles.
Tier 1: Educate All
Classroom lessons are ideal opportunities to educate students about forming good habits and preventing bad ones, such as addictive gaming behaviors. These lessons address several ASCA Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success. For example, you can provide classroom lessons on safe technology use and healthy habit formation aligned with belief in development of the whole self (M 1), self-discipline and self-control (B-SMS 2), time-management (B-LS 3), delayed gratification for long-term rewards (B-SMS 4) and personal safety skills (B-SMS 9). Potential classroom lesson topics include digital citizenship, online safety, knowing which habits to form and which to break, time management and goal setting.
Tier 2: Support Some
Even with preventive and educational measures in place, some students will still struggle with addictive gaming behaviors and need Tier 2 supports. In Tier 2, ascertain the level of support necessary by determining the severity of the gaming behavior.
The WASTE-Time Interview protocol is a great way to integrate a screening tool into conversation with a student when considering what level and type of support to provide. The interview isn’t meant to be diagnostic but can help determine the necessary level of support.
Based on the interview results, some students who scored higher may be good candidates for group or individual counseling within the school setting. For these students, use Tier 2 interventions already at your disposal and align those to the addictive gaming behavior. For example, consider implementing educational or behavior-specific interventions, such as a group focused on forming healthy habits or goal setting. You can also use a check-in/check-out system, specifically emphasizing problematic behaviors such as phone use during school or moderating the students’ response when they can’t engage in their preferred activity (e.g., gaming). All along, focus on partnerships between the school, the home and, if necessary, community supports.
Tier 3: Identify a Few
For those few students who need more help than Tier 1 or 2 supports can offer and/or for those who score higher on the WASTE-Time Interview, more intensive, individualized intervention may be necessary. In this case, collaborate with the student’s family and consider a referral to a community-based mental health counselor. As with Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions, align interventions with professional best practices by using and gathering data from a variety of sources in an appropriate and culturally informed manner. Maintain a list of community resources, including considerations of location, payment options, religious preferences, etc.
After you’ve made a referral and received signed consent, you and the community-based counselor can collaborate frequently and consistently to best serve the student by uniting the different systems in which the student interacts.
Consider the conclusion to Jamie’s story as an example of what school-to-community support can look like: After collaborating with Jamie’s family, the school counselor made a referral to a local community agency for more targeted mental health counseling. Upon meeting Jamie and her parents and after consulting with the school counselor, the clinician was able to develop a full conceptualization of Jamie’s presenting concerns. They determined that Jamie had no actual intention to cause harm to others and that her problem behavior wasn’t unique to school, but also happened at home and in counseling sessions. Jamie self-identified her community as consisting of the online clan members present in the online games she plays. She reported feelings of disconnection from her classmates and blamed them for her outbursts in class. Jamie failed to recognize how her behaviors were disproportionate to the triggering events and struggled to communicate her feelings in other ways. Based on this information, the clinician developed a treatment plan to address both the behavioral and emotional aspects of Jamie’s problem. The clinician also brought in Jamie’s parents for family sessions and stayed in regular contact with Jamie’s school counselor to monitor Jamie’s behavioral progress in school. After months of intentional, wraparound care, Jamie’s family, teachers and counselors saw a significant decrease in emotional outbursts and an increase in pro-social communication.
Using MTSS tiers can help you address students’ gaming behaviors and help them use gaming for its positive aspects, without getting addicted.
W. Bryce Hagedorn, Ph.D., is a professor and program director of counselor education at the University of Central Florida. Alexandra Frank is a first-year counselor education doctoral student at the University of Central Florida and former school counselor. Sabrina Butler is a first-year counselor education doctoral student at the University of Central Florida and former mental health and substance abuse counselor.
The excesses of gaming and its harmful effects aren’t hard to see. Mental health concerns and addictive gaming behaviors can combine with lethal results. Whereas gaming on its own isn’t the problem, the way some students use it and its potentially detrimental impact is important to monitor.
Like all behaviors, you should always begin by considering the multiple facets a behavior serves, both pro and con. For example, online gaming culture can offer a sense of community and friendship for those struggling with loneliness and/or mental health concerns (e.g., anxiety or depression) preventing them from interacting with their peers in person. Rather than immediately disparaging gaming and thus potentially missing its potential benefits, take the time to explore and understand the roles gaming plays.
If/when the behavior becomes problematic – moving closer to or fully into the addictive realm – design interventions accordingly. School counselors are well-positioned to support, identify and provide interventions for students at risk for exhibiting addictive behaviors. Even better, school counselors already have many of the tools necessary. Given the documented and harmful effects of gaming misuse, consider including internet, video and app-based gaming safety within your classroom instruction. Teachers, school counselors and families are looking for ways to best support students in navigating the impact of gaming addiction.
You may feel daunted by the task of supporting students at risk for engaging in addictive-like gaming behaviors, but the tasks of actually diagnosing and providing addiction-specific interventions don’t fall on you. Instead, you play the pivotal role of educating students and families, supporting at-risk students with school-appropriate interventions and identifying students in need of a higher level of care. A multitiered system of supports (MTSS) can guide you through these roles.
Tier 1: Educate All
Classroom lessons are ideal opportunities to educate students about forming good habits and preventing bad ones, such as addictive gaming behaviors. These lessons address several ASCA Student Standards: Mindsets & Behaviors for Student Success. For example, you can provide classroom lessons on safe technology use and healthy habit formation aligned with belief in development of the whole self (M 1), self-discipline and self-control (B-SMS 2), time-management (B-LS 3), delayed gratification for long-term rewards (B-SMS 4) and personal safety skills (B-SMS 9). Potential classroom lesson topics include digital citizenship, online safety, knowing which habits to form and which to break, time management and goal setting.
Tier 2: Support Some
Even with preventive and educational measures in place, some students will still struggle with addictive gaming behaviors and need Tier 2 supports. In Tier 2, ascertain the level of support necessary by determining the severity of the gaming behavior.
The WASTE-Time Interview protocol is a great way to integrate a screening tool into conversation with a student when considering what level and type of support to provide. The interview isn’t meant to be diagnostic but can help determine the necessary level of support.
Based on the interview results, some students who scored higher may be good candidates for group or individual counseling within the school setting. For these students, use Tier 2 interventions already at your disposal and align those to the addictive gaming behavior. For example, consider implementing educational or behavior-specific interventions, such as a group focused on forming healthy habits or goal setting. You can also use a check-in/check-out system, specifically emphasizing problematic behaviors such as phone use during school or moderating the students’ response when they can’t engage in their preferred activity (e.g., gaming). All along, focus on partnerships between the school, the home and, if necessary, community supports.
Tier 3: Identify a Few
For those few students who need more help than Tier 1 or 2 supports can offer and/or for those who score higher on the WASTE-Time Interview, more intensive, individualized intervention may be necessary. In this case, collaborate with the student’s family and consider a referral to a community-based mental health counselor. As with Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions, align interventions with professional best practices by using and gathering data from a variety of sources in an appropriate and culturally informed manner. Maintain a list of community resources, including considerations of location, payment options, religious preferences, etc.
After you’ve made a referral and received signed consent, you and the community-based counselor can collaborate frequently and consistently to best serve the student by uniting the different systems in which the student interacts.
Consider the conclusion to Jamie’s story as an example of what school-to-community support can look like: After collaborating with Jamie’s family, the school counselor made a referral to a local community agency for more targeted mental health counseling. Upon meeting Jamie and her parents and after consulting with the school counselor, the clinician was able to develop a full conceptualization of Jamie’s presenting concerns. They determined that Jamie had no actual intention to cause harm to others and that her problem behavior wasn’t unique to school, but also happened at home and in counseling sessions. Jamie self-identified her community as consisting of the online clan members present in the online games she plays. She reported feelings of disconnection from her classmates and blamed them for her outbursts in class. Jamie failed to recognize how her behaviors were disproportionate to the triggering events and struggled to communicate her feelings in other ways. Based on this information, the clinician developed a treatment plan to address both the behavioral and emotional aspects of Jamie’s problem. The clinician also brought in Jamie’s parents for family sessions and stayed in regular contact with Jamie’s school counselor to monitor Jamie’s behavioral progress in school. After months of intentional, wraparound care, Jamie’s family, teachers and counselors saw a significant decrease in emotional outbursts and an increase in pro-social communication.
Using MTSS tiers can help you address students’ gaming behaviors and help them use gaming for its positive aspects, without getting addicted.
W. Bryce Hagedorn, Ph.D., is a professor and program director of counselor education at the University of Central Florida. Alexandra Frank is a first-year counselor education doctoral student at the University of Central Florida and former school counselor. Sabrina Butler is a first-year counselor education doctoral student at the University of Central Florida and former mental health and substance abuse counselor.