Demographic profile: 11-year-old British male; source of account: author contacted by
subject who had seen author talking about video games on a national television programme.
Martin is an only child who did not have many friends, at least not in the “real” world
and he spent most of his spare time playing the massively multiplayer online role playing
game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. Martin enjoyed playing his game and explained how
he enjoyed the various adventures that he was involved in with his gaming friends. Martin
was concerned that his parents were trying to stop him from playing as they thought he was
“addicted” to the game. He admitted that he did play as much as he could and was happiest
when he was playing. However, Martin confided that he was being bullied at school and
hated going there. His game playing was his way of coping with the experience, and it
allowed him to socialise without going outside and possibly being bullied again. He had not
told anyone else about the bullying. His parents noticed his reluctance to go to school, that
his teachers were concerned about his performance, and that he was spending so much time
on his own in his room playing his game. They believed that the game was the cause of his
problems and were threatening to take it away from him. Martin was distraught, not only
was he getting bullied, his only escape from the reality of his existence was being
threatened. If Martin could not play online with his friends he felt that he would have
nothing enjoyable left in his life