• The (Ashtabula) Star-Beacon, June 21
On Wednesday, President Trump signed an executive order to halt an abominable practice that never should have been implemented and announced the administration will stop separating parents and children at the border.
As the images poured out from the border and the truth of what was happening there became known, our nation was presented with a choice. We can be a country that does what is right and protects children, regardless of where they’re born. Or, we can be a nation that rips children away from their families and uses them as human shields or negotiating chips. We cannot be both.
Everyone in this country now, except those 100 percent descended from Native Americans, has immigrant blood in his or her veins. We all come from immigrants, and many here today are second- or third-generation Americans who knew relatives that immigrated here. Everyone wants to believe their ancestors came to this country legally and while many did, others, desperate for a new, better life, did what those at the southern border are doing now.
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What children along the border endured was wrong and will long be a stain on America. We came perilously close to becoming a nation that no longer wants to do right by children — and we should have zero tolerance for that.
Online: https://bit.ly/2KndncI
• The Blade, June 24
Who hasn’t lost patience with kids engrossed in video games and exclaimed in frustration, “Agh! You’re addicted to those things!”?
The World Health Organization has now backed up what you might have meant as a hyperbolic diagnosis. The agency now will recognize compulsive gaming as a mental health condition.
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Before you snatch the smartphone or game controller out of your seemingly addicted teenager’s hands, though, keep in mind that legitimate compulsive gaming disorder is believed to afflict only about 3 percent of gamers.
Also, keep in mind that the American Psychiatric Association has not gone so far as the WHO in declaring gaming addiction a medical condition.
What is important to recognize in the WHO designation is that obsessive gaming can lead to some very real problems. If a gaming habit interferes with school or work, relationships, or socialization, the games have become a problem. Maybe even if the gamer does not technically have an addiction, knowing that gaming is disrupting life this way can help families intervene.
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What is needed now is more research into the nature of compulsive gaming and what kinds of therapies or treatments will help those who are afflicted.
Online: https://bit.ly/2ty2gmY
