Video games can be addictive for children, says minister There can be timings, for instance, put on the games to ensure that children automatically have a break after a certain length of time. However, a lot of this will be up to parents, and the more guidance we can get to them the better because, as the noble Earl knows, these games can be addictive and can cause children to spend an awful lot of time on them. Earlier this year psychologist Dr Tanya Byron claimed that Britain was in the midst of a "sleep deprivation crisis" that was "harming our children and young people with two million suffering sleep disorders in the UK." Professor Byron said: "Screen time gives a 'false energy' to children and masks the feeling of tiredness." Other research has found that the average 10-year-old has access to five different screens at home and that a baby born today "will have spent a full year glued to screens by the time they reach the age of seven." Teenagers were found to be clocking up a staggering "six hours of screen time a day" which affects the brain chemical dopamine that is implicated in addictive behaviour and the inability to pay attention.