With the increasing craze for video games among children it won't be wrong to classify it as an addiction. More than two-thirds of the children of the age groups 2-18 spend their leisure time playing video games. Though a good quality video game offers a continuous process of learning along with the tinge of entertainment yet the ill-effects associated with it cannot be undermined. Overindulgence to video games raise concerns about issues like health emotional instability fascination for violence etc. among children. This article discusses all these issues and suggests certain guidelines to the parents that can change gaming into a positive family experience along with many of its educational benefits.

The video and computer games have shaken-up the lives of the children thanks to the advancement in Information Technology. Children of all age groups on an average love to spend most of their leisure time playing these games. The increasing exposure to the video games has multifold influence on the children. Although one cannot deny the benefits of this source of entertainment its ill-effects on children also cannot be overlooked.

The video game industry is one of the fastest growing entertainment industries in the world and ranks second only to music in profitability. As projected by the global consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in its eighth annual edition of "Global Entertainment and Media Outlook" report video game market is expected to rise from $32 bn in 2006 to $49 bn in 2011 a compound annual growth rate of 9.1% during the five-year period globally.

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