I play WoW.. have been for 4 years now, so does my son. I'm in my 30's, he just became a teenager. I've held the same job doing web site and server administration for well over 7 years now, for a leading Fortune 50 company (not 500, but 50). I'm a single father, with sole custody of my child, who receives 0 child support. My son gets mostly As in school, with a few Bs here and there. He's missed 1 day of school this year, which was due to snow. I've not missed any work, except for planned vacation days and a personal day here and there. My live-in girlfriend also plays WoW with us and it is actually a very fun family activity, where we all interact together and enjoy ourselves. She goes to college and doesn't miss school due to some "need" to play an MMO.
You can control your online gaming, or any other online habits quite easily. Unlike addiction to drugs or alcohol, where the disease can eat you up and spit you out, "addiction" to gaming is a joke and requires just a bit of self-discipline. If you notice yourself starting to fall behind or losing motivation to work or go to school, because of gaming, then you stop. People who compare an "addiction" to gaming to a real physical addiction to drugs or alcohol, give me a pretty hearty laugh.
Blaming lack of self-discipline on a video game is the very wrong direction to take on the matter. Perhaps if the parents of these kids, didn't just use the TV/PC/Gaming Console as a baby-sitter and actually interacted with the kids, perhaps play some of these games with their children, or actually set some limits on their play time and show them self-discipline through example.. there most likely wouldn't be as big of a "problem" as this article tries state there is.
Sure, the schools could help set an example as well, but this falls squarely on the shoulders of the parents and no one else.