When Richard Gribble noticed that his pupils were having difficulty concentrating, he asked them why. Their answers shocked him.
The final year primary school pupils, aged 10 and 11, admitted spending up to 40 hours a week playing computer games. Some stayed up until 4am to play, other got up at 5am.
Of the 26 pupils in Mr Gribble’s Year 6 class at Widney Court primary school in Plymouth, three out of four said they played on a games console every evening. One in three played before going to school and nearly half played games with 15 or 18 ratings.
Mr Gribble wrote to the parents of all 600 pupils at the school urging them to monitor their children’s internet and computer games use.
He said yesterday: “I did this in response to issues in my class where some children were clearly not ready to learn. That is a phrase teachers use when children turn up and they either haven’t had breakfast or you can tell they are completely exhausted.
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“You talk to them and they have glazed expressions and do not engage with their studies. I started asking what they were doing in their spare time and they were very, very candid.”
“They started revealing horror figures about how long they were spending on the Xbox. Children come into school for five and a half hours a day but if they are putting in a seven or eight hour shift on the Xbox it shows where the majority of their input is coming from.
“I have spoken to some parents about the early signs of addiction to computer games. Many must have thought getting an Xbox was the greatest idea without realising the impact it could have.”
Mr Gribble’s findings echo those at schools across the country. The University of Exeter’s Schools Health Education Unit, which surveys 440,000 children each year, says more than half play computer games after school for more than an hour and up to 80 per cent were allowed to browse the internet without supervision.
The majority of those showing signs of being “addicted” to computer games were boys, with girls more likely to spend time gossiping with friend on Facebook.
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George Muirhead, chair of the National Primary Headteachers’ Association, is also concerned about the impact of violent computer games on children as young as five or six who act out in the playground what they have seen on the screen.
He said: “There is an issue about tiredness but there is also a concern about violent games in which people are shot. Young children are acting out what they have seen and over the past two or three years there has been an increase in violence particularly among children aged five, six and seven. Parents need to be aware of what their children are watching and playing.”
He believes the popularity of hand-held consoles such as the iPod touch makes it difficult for parents to monitor their children’s games use. He added: “Children are able to play right through the night without the knowledge of their parents. But ultimately children are not responsible for buying these games and staying up late, it is the responsibility of the parents to instruct their behaviour.”
Last month, Baroness Benjamin, who co-presented Play School on BBC television from 1976 to 1988, criticised modern children’s programming, saying there was a “crisis” in quality and said too many parents used the television as a “babysitter”. She called for televisions and consoles to be removed from children’s bedrooms.
A Plymouth City Council spokesman said: “Our schools provide guidance to parents about home school support which would usually encompass making sure bedtimes help youngsters feel fresh and bright for school.”
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Eye test
Of the 26 10 and 11 year olds in Mr Bribble’s Year 6 class:
20 played on a games console every evening
9 got up early to play before school
26 watched YouTube every day
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17 had seen “unsuitable” images
17 watched films rated 15 or 18
11 played games rated 15 or 18