Greene County New Opportunities invites everyone to a free program this Saturday related to gaming addiction.

New Opportunities Problem Gambling Counselor Dorinda Wehde is leading a discussion on “When is Gaming More Than Just a Hobby?” that focuses on parents and grandparents learning about the potential warning signs of gaming addiction in youth. Wehde tells Raccoon Valley Radio the topics that will be covered include the nature of gaming and how certain video games are designed to be addictive and sharing the signs that a child is allowing that to consume their life. She explains how gaming addiction early in life can lead to other addictive behaviors later on because their brains aren’t fully developed.

“Oftentimes the games that they start out with, they’re easy to play, they’re easy to win. So they go through life thinking that’s how any type of gaming and/or gambling will be, just easy to play, easy to win. And another factor that it could become a problem would be that many mobile and online gambling games may look like video games. They might think that they can beat the odds or win money if they merely improve their skills.”     

The free program takes place at the H.F. and Maude E. Marchant Memorial Library in Scranton on Saturday at 10:30am.