Communication Patterns on Addicted Elementary School-Age Children in Playing Free Fire Games

. Free fire online game is an online game that is currently popular with elementary school age children. This game, which is currently being played by children, has been downloaded more than one million times. This game is a battleground game. Lots of children have been given personal gadgets by their parents. This makes elementary school-aged children lose track of time and tend to be addicted to free fire online games. In addition, since the pandemic, regulations have been implemented for all citizens not to leave their homes to control the spread of the Covid-19 virus. However, because of this, many children are used to using gadgets and are addicted to online games, especially free fire online games. The role of parents is needed in the condition of children who are addicted to free fire online games. Therefore, researchers want to see how communication patterns occur in families in children who are addicted to playing free fire games. Researchers conducted research in North Sangatta District, East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan because researchers saw many elementary school-age children who had been given personal gadgets by their parents and played free fire online games. This study uses the constructivism paradigm. This study used descriptive qualitative method. There were 4 key informants in this study consisting of 2 parents and 2 children. As for the supporting informants, namely 1 child's playmate and 1 older sibling, and one expert informant who is a family psychologist. Data collection techniques used in the form of observation and in-depth interviews. To increase the validity of the data, researchers used the triangulation method, namely comparing the results between observations and in-depth interviews obtained. In this study, there are two types of family communication patterns, namely protective communication patterns and pluralistic communication patterns. In this study it was found that the liveliness of communicating with children every day is not enough to eliminate online game addiction in children. Parents should be more aware of their children. Care is needed, as well as an understanding of parenting for children.


INTRODUCTION
One of the real forms of development in the digital era is the presence of various new media, such as games.The child's character will be shaped by the media's coverage of online games.They are more likely to get addicted to online games and consider playing them an important part of their daily routine.Because they don't interact with other people, especially with their family, they are often closed off from their surroundings.Kids, teens, and adults really enjoy playing online games.One can become addicted to this kind of game if they play it too much.Excessive play can have a number of negative effects, including a reduced sense of sociality, a lack of social interaction, and difficulty communicating with the outside world-even within the family.so that only online games will be played during that time.This is demonstrated by online game enthusiasts who are willing to devote all their daily time to playing games alone.
According to Agustina (2015: 2) "Games are a way of learning by analyzing with a group of players or individually by using rational strategies".Also according to Masya & Candra (2016) the game itself has addictive properties that can affect a child's psychology.The game will not have a negative impact or significant influence on the child's psyche if the child plays it wisely and is always under the supervision of parents.Even though the game itself has a positive impact, it does not affect a child's mental health if used effectively and appropriately.psychology.Free Fire Online is a complex action-adventure battle royale game where players choose the desired character, weapon, and location according to the level of play and can play at the same time because it is connected to the internet network.
Source: (www.liputan6.com, accessed on January 20, 2023 at 14.23 WIB) Image 1. Display of the Free Fire game on the Google Play Store page Free Fire is an esports game that combines third-person shooter (TPS) gameplay with battle royale.At first glance, this game looks like a war game with 50 players spread over a large area.For one player to win, they must all kill each other.Free Fire begins with players free-falling from an airplane and looking for weapons and medical supplies to fight and survive, just like in other battle royale genres.A plane will drop an airdrop in the middle of the game in the form of a large box containing special weapons, helmets, and bulletproof vests.To win, players must stay in the safe zone.
The researcher found a description of the free fire game in the initial observations: First, there are three game modes in the free fire online game.To start, players can play in solo (alone) mode.In this mode, the only goal is for the other 49 players to survive.Second, there is a duo mode (two players).There are 25 teams in this mode, and players can revive or heal their fallen comrades.Third, there are 13 teams in squad mode, which is a team of four people.The previous mode also lets you play with three different people.Second, Free Fire has a chat feature with other players as well as chatting with other squads, teams, and clans.Thirdly, in the free fire online game, you can buy and sell things in the shop.Fourth, players in the free fire online game have access to voice chat, allowing them to communicate with other members of their four teams.Therefore, there is no need to communicate or meet in person, but strategy discussions can be carried out via voice chat.Fifth, each player's character is unique, starting with Antonio, Miguel, Paloma, Maxim, Kelly, Andrew, Ford, Eve, Adam, and A124.In this voice chat feature, they can exchange ideas, joke and joke, discuss strategies, and work together to get booyah or first place.From the picture above, it can be seen that the Free Fire game has been downloaded approximately one million times.And that is fantastic data, considering that the game was just launched in 2017.But whether all the people downloading are adults is unclear.Because there are so many children throughout Indonesia who play these online games.According to the terms of the game on the Google Play Store, only people over the age of 12 may play Free Fire online games, or Garena Free Fire.However, the phenomenon that researchers found in East Kutai Regency, especially in North Sangatta District, is that some families allow their children who are still in elementary school to play free online games regularly or every day.Even though there are many underage players who play the game.However, the excitement of this free online game can have an impact on children who play it too often, so what happens is that children will become indifferent when they are engrossed in playing and tend to get angry or have tantrums when disturbed, so the researchers conclude that they are already addicted to online games.Not even a few children dared to snap at their parents when warned.Communication between children and parents, which is family communication, is the key to a harmonious relationship between parents and children.
North Sangatta District has a total of 226 elementary schools spread across the North Sangatta area.North Sangatta District has approximately 13,073 elementary school students, consisting of 8,048 public schools and 5,025 private schools (source: https://data.kaltimprov.go.id/, accessed on 10 July 2023 at 19.57WIB).Addiction to playing the Free Fire game in elementary school-age children can have negative impacts, such as decreased academic achievement, increased health risks, social isolation, and disturbances in family communication patterns.Healthy and effective family communication patterns have an important role in supporting children's growth and development.Lack of parental supervision will have an impact on the behavior of their children.For example, when the streamer says harsh words that they don't deserve to say, children will see it as something new and will follow their example.This is certainly not in accordance with religious and social values.Plus it's not like on television where there are institutions that regulate to whom a broadcast can be addressed.But it's different from now, where having a smartphone is commonplace, even for elementary school children.Parents should provide understanding and supervision to their children and not let them play games continuously.You may play games, but remember that there are limits to playing games.
Playing games too often will have an impact on the child's behavior in the future.Children will also think that school is no longer important.Even though education is very important for children who are still in their infancy, Not to mention, if their wishes are not listened to or responded to by their parents, they will tend to speak harshly and get angry at their own parents.In some cases, they can even steal their parents' money to top up their diamonds.This is where interpersonal communication between parents and children is needed to understand what their children want.
Playing games too often will have an impact on the child's behavior in the future.Children will also think that school is no longer important.Even though education is very important for children who are still in their infancy, not to mention, if their wishes are not listened to or responded to by their parents, they will tend to speak harshly and get angry at their own parents.In some cases, they can even steal their parents' money to top up their diamonds.This is where interpersonal communication between parents and children is needed to understand what their children want.
Addiction to playing the Free Fire game in elementary school-age children can have negative impacts, such as decreased academic achievement, increased health risks, social isolation, and disturbances in family communication patterns.Healthy and effective family communication patterns play an important role in supporting children's growth and development.Lack of parental supervision will have an impact on the behavior of their children.For example, when the streamer says harsh words that they don't deserve to say, children will see it as something new and will follow their example.This is certainly not in accordance with religious and social values.Plus, it's not like on television, where there are institutions that regulate to whom a broadcast can be addressed.But it's different from now, where having a smartphone is commonplace, even for elementary school children.Parents should provide understanding and supervision for their children and not let them play games continuously.You may play games, but remember that there are limits to playing games.
Parents must always supervise and pay attention to their children, not necessarily without imposing family rules, but parents must also listen to their children's opinions.Parents must be open and not give many rules to children, but children must remain under parental supervision.Relationships within the family will be well established if the communication that occurs within the family is good.Playing online games without supervision will have many negative effects on children, especially elementary school-age children.Where their cognitive and social development must be nurtured from an early age.Addiction to playing online games will affect brain function, where children will later tend to withdraw from the social environment, think playing games is a daily routine, have tantrums, and have an impact on their health and relationships with other people.Therefore, family functions are urgently needed to overcome online game addiction in children, especially free online games.
One of the districts in the Province of East Kalimantan, Indonesia, is East Kutai Regency.Sangatta is the capital of this regency.According to the 2010 Indonesian Population Census, the area of this district is 35,747.50km2, or 17 percent of the area of East Kalimantan Province.It has a population of 253,847 people, with a population density of 4.74 people per km2 and an average growth rate of 4.8% per year.One of the areas that emerged as a result of the division of Kutai Regency was East Kutai Regency.47 of 1999, which regulates the division of provinces and regions, was inaugurated on October 12, 1999, by the Minister of Home Affairs.In East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, North Sangatta is a sub-district that is part of the former Sangatta sub-district.Because North Sangatta is the center of government and trade in East Kutai, it is the district in East Kutai with the largest population.The writer chooses East Kutai Regency, especially the city of Sangatta, because the writer sees that the free fire online game phenomenon is very popular with elementary school children, and the writer also sees that many children are fanatical about this online game.An example is when the Free Fire game is insulted, they will be easily offended and angry, and sometimes they cry.The author also sees a phenomenon where many elementary school-age children are allowed to have their own gadgets and are addicted to playing free online games.This is what the author wants to examine more deeply: how are the patterns and ways of communicating between parents and elementary school-aged children in the city of Sangatta.
Communication is an interaction that causes causal processes or actions and reactions whose directions alternate.If someone gives a message, whether verbal or non-verbal, then a recipient will react by using verbal language or by nodding his head, then the first person will react again after receiving feedback or a response, and so on (Deddy Mulyana, (2008:72).In communication, there is family communication, namely the process of a person's relationship with his family serving as the basis for one's views about people and life in general.As a result, a person will learn to adapt to life by following family norms.Children's social development is largely influenced by family interactions and their structural integrity, not just their socioeconomic status.This is easy to accept when the goals, norms, and dynamics of a social group-including its leadership-have a significant impact on the lives of the children who join this group.Family plays an important role in the personal development of children.Factors that help children become healthy individuals and members of society are parental love, compassion, and education about life values, both religious and socio-cultural (Yusuf, 2007: 37).
In reviewing this research, the researcher found other research related to the research that the researcher made which was related to the discussion of "Family Communication Patterns in Children Addicted to the Free Fire Game", one of which is the research entitled "Parent Communication Patterns to Teenagers Addicts to Online Game Arena of Valor in Jakarta" which was researched by Angga Sudarnoto.The year 2021.The results of this study indicate that the communication patterns of parents (mothers) and adolescents addicted to the online game Arena Of Valor are expressed by parents and adolescents in various communication patterns in overcoming the effects of addiction to the online game Arena Of Valor, including democratic and permissive communication patterns.
The focus of this research is to find out how to communicate between parents and elementary school-age children who have indications of being addicted to playing free fire online games.Because the author sees a lot of children playing the game without their parents accompanying them.This is what the author wants to know about the patterns that occur in communication within the child's family.This research was conducted in the field.Using a qualitative descriptive research approach and interviewing and observing parents of children who are addicted to the online game "Free Fire" to collect data Perception begins by looking directly at the object of exploration.The main research question for this journal is "What are the forms of family communication patterns in elementary school-age children who are addicted to playing free fire online games?".
Children aged 6 to 12 years were included in the selection criteria for researchers to become informants, then play free fire online games and live in North Sangatta District, East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan.The researcher chose this online game because it is very popular in Sangatta and has many fans, the majority of whom are elementary school-aged children.

RESEARCH METHOD
The research method that researchers use in this study is qualitative research.Research that usually uses analysis and descriptive language is known as qualitative research.Finding through qualitative research.Data collected in the form of words and pictures rather than statistics is one feature of qualitative research.With interactive and adaptive methods, qualitative research looks at the perspective of the participants.The purpose of qualitative research is to understand social phenomena.Using a special approach that is more oriented toward the case study approach.Consequently, the study report will include a data extract that outlines how the report will be presented.Field notes, observation notes, and other sources were also used by the researcher.Within a certain period of time, this research was carried out in stages.The researcher attempted to collect information by meeting with informants in the field and conducting interviews and direct observation of the community.To make it easier to understand, the data is then presented as a verbal description that is in line with what is obtained in the field."Insiders" in research settings who serve as sources of information are subjects of qualitative research.People who provide information about the situation and conditions of the research setting are also interpreted as research subjects.Basrowi and Suwandi (in Rahmadi, 2011) The subjects in this study were parents and elementary school-age children who were addicted to playing free fire games aged 6-12 years who lived in North Sangatta District.According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary, the research target is known as the "research object" (1989: 622).The object of this study is family communication patterns in children who are addicted to playing free fire games.Data analysis techniques performed by the authors are divided into four (4) methods, namely data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions.

RESULT
First parent key informant families have low conversational orientation.This is due to several factors, namely the lack of openness between parents and children, there is no time to confide in the family, listening to children's opinions but in terms of making a decision in the family the child must follow the father's decision as the final decision maker.The second parent's key informant's family has a high conversation orientation, even though as a parent they have to work from morning to evening, they still have time to call their child to ask how they are and their condition, and there is a time to vent at night.Then in terms of decision making he always listens to his son's opinion and considers it, not necessarily making a decision on his own.He also involves his children and wife in terms of making a decision.

Roni an)d Rico)
The second parent's key informant's family has a high conversation orientation, even though as a parent they have to work from morning to evening, they still have time to call their child to ask how they are and their condition, and there is a time to vent at night.
There is good quality of communication between parents and children, even though they play games quite often, but there are still rules that must be obeyed within the family, parents are also open in the discussion room and listen to children's opinions, and parents give time for children to vent within the family.

Source: Data Result (2023)
In the first informant's family it can be seen that the conformity aspect in the family is high, but in the key informant's family the first parents do not apply the rules and give freedom in playing games, but the child must obey the orders of the parents and always be at home, the parents are worried if the child plays outside the home.This makes children addicted without any rules that apply in playing free fire online games.Meanwhile for the family of the second parent key informant, it can be seen that this family is low in the aspect of conformity.However, in the families of key informants, the second parents still apply rules in playing games, so that children can still be controlled in playing games, but the parents are busy working from morning to evening which makes children still lack supervision.Parents also let their children choose what they like and parents fully support all their child's decisions.However, due to busy parents at work, children become compulsive when playing online games.

Rules in the family The attitude of children in playing games
In the family of key informants, the first parents did not apply the rules and gave them freedom to play games, but the children had to always be at home, the parents were worried if their children were playing outside the house.
There is high conformity regarding the rules of playing children in the family but precisely when playing games they are freed without any game playing rules which have an impact and make children compulsive when playing games, children will also assume that playing games is normal and do not need permission from parents to playing games.

Second
Parent and Second Child Key Informants (Mr. Roni and Rico) In the family of key informants, the second parent still applies rules in playing games, so that children can still be controlled in playing games, but the parents are busy working from morning to evening which makes children still lack supervision.This is also a factor for children to become compulsive when playing online games.
In the second parent key informant's family it can be seen that this family has low conformity aspects, but regarding the rules of playing games, this family still applies the rules.However, the obstacle is the lack of supervision when the parents are working, and at night the children still like to steal time to play games secretly because the parents are fast asleep from working all day.

DISCUSSION
Basically these children both play free fire online games because their surroundings also play the Free Fire online game, but there are differences in the pattern of family communication between the First Key Informant and the Second Key Informant's family, the difference lies in the freedom child.
The first parent key informant tends to free his child in terms of playing gadgets, he allows his child to play games as he pleases but there is an exception, namely he has to finish school assignments and recite the Koran first.When these two obligations are fulfilled then there is no problem.Her son is also not allowed to play outside because his mother is afraid that he will mingle freely out there.However, it was different from the second parent's key informant who did not release his child.The second parent's key informant always provides direction and supervision so that he can still control his child from a distance, this is done because the second parent's key informant works as a civil servant.
Then the next difference lies in the time to play online games, the first key informant said that he used to stay up late at night, even though it was school hours.He will start sleeping at least after 12 pm on school days, and can sleep after 12 hours on holidays.This is supported by statements from the first parent key informant, the first supporting informant and also the second supporting informant who agree that the first child key informant likes to stay up late to play online games.
Meanwhile for the second key informant's family, he always told his son to sleep at 10 p.m.However, their children also like to find loopholes to be able to play free fire games secretly.This is evidenced by the incompatibility of answers between parents and children.According to the confession of the second parent's key informant, he always warned his son to sleep at 10 pm, but his son said that he often stayed up late to play the free fire game.
Then the next difference is when welcoming children's ideals.The first parental key informant tends to listen to his child's opinion but in the end it is still the parents who are responsible for making decisions in terms of ideals, this is in accordance with the statements of the first parental key informant and the second supporting informant.Therefore it can be seen that the family of the first parent key informant applies a consensual pattern.Meanwhile for the second key informant's family, he applied a pluralistic pattern in his family.He tends to let his children make their own decisions and these decisions are taken by deliberation by conducting discussions between the children and also the wife.As a parent, he also lets his child choose what he likes later.
Then for payment from the two families of the key informants, they both gave gifts to their children when he got a ban.However, parents will only give their children gifts that do not burden the family's financial condition.
Family communication patterns according to Fitzpatrick and Koerner are divided into four types: (1) Consensual Patterns, (2) Pluralistic Patterns, (3) Protective Patterns, (4) Laissez-Faire Patterns.(Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2006) After seeing the results of the research it can be seen that the family of the first key informant applied a protection pattern.This can be seen from the low conversation orientation and high conformity orientation.The first parent key informant tends to be permissive in terms of parenting because from the interview results he tends to encourage his child to play games, and buy his own personal gadgets for his child.Even though his son is free to play games in the house, in terms of decisions, his son must obey all of his father's decisions.Because the decision was determined by his father as the head of the family.In the family of the first key informant, the father plays an important role in the family.Parents' decisions become the final decision in this type of family, they tend to listen to their children's opinions but they are the ones who have the right to make the final decision.Children like it or not, like it or not, have to follow the decisions that have been made, because in this type of family, parents' decisions will influence the decisions of their children.
Unlike the case with the second key informant's family which applies a pluralistic pattern.It can be seen that in this family the conversation orientation is high and the conformity aspect is low.In the second key informant family, they still provide rules and understanding about online games, they also still find time to communicate even though they have to go to the office first and come home in the afternoon.Families of the pluralistic type really value dialogue within the family.Open and unrestricted conversation including all family members and various subjects is a characteristic of communication in a pluralistic family.Parents in this type of family do not feel the need to use parental authority over their children by force.Nor do they feel obligated to make decisions for their children on their behalf.This is marked by the existence of communication involving their children, he also does not forbid what his children aspire to be later, but if their children have to choose then he will not forbid it either.The first parental key informant also did not free his child when he top-up using an online game voucher, he bought his child but there were several conditions that had to be met, for example when the test scores were good, or after the semester exams.There are certain times when he allows his child to top-up online game vouchers.

CONCLUSION
Based on the results of the research that the researchers have obtained, it can be concluded that of the four aspects of online game addiction, research informants who were still in elementary school showed three signs of online game addiction, ranging from being compulsive, withdrawing, having interpersonal problems, and also having health problems.For health problems, there was one informant who complained that if he played games for too long, he would feel heat in his eyes.Even though both of them showed signs of addiction to playing online games, there were differences between the two informants' families.
For the family communication pattern used by the first key informant's family, it uses a consensual pattern, while the second key informant's family uses a pluralistic pattern.The first key informant's family frees children a lot to play gadgets and online games, and parents tend to give freedom to their children as long as their children are at home.However, it is the parents who determine the decisions in the family.While the second key informant's family tends to be more organized in terms of giving permission to play online games, playing time for children, and fully supporting what their children want, Parents also tend to consult to determine a decision.