Really, this is getting ridiculous.

http://weirdnews.aol.com/2011/05/14/chuck-e-cheese-sued-for-promoting-gambling_n_861785.html

I completely understand the concern this mother is having. I have grown up in a family with extremely addictive personalities. This goes back generations. My great-uncle died due to cirrhosis of the liver, the result of being an alcoholic. My great-aunt just died due to respiratory complications from being a smoker for the majority of her life. Both of my aunts suffer from addictions which have hurt them and their children more than anything else I can imagine would be able to. Addictions, of any sort, are dangerous. The compulsion to do anything, (gamble, drink, etc) is bad news bears and ruins lives daily, if not ending them entirely. Letting yourself succumb to an addiction is risky business that leads to grave consequences. Rehabilitation centers make millions of dollars yearly through helping people who want to turn their lives to the straight and narrow, and get clean.
That being said…
IT’S CHUCK E. FUCKING CHEESE. Let your kid have some fun for Christs sakes. As a kid I was very anxious, paranoid and angry. Even as a toddler I suffered from separation anxiety disorder. Most often, I was not a happy camper. One of the few times I was happy was when I got the chance to play with other kids my age, either at Chuck E. Cheese or some other place that was similar. These places were created to provide a fun, carefree and safe environment for kids to enjoy themselves. With the way society is turning out, many children already suffer from pressures of being successful by the time they hit the first grade. Between being the best in their class, to knowing as many languages as a translator, to playing a sport and volunteering at an animal shelter kids today don’t know how to have fun. Playing a game at Chuck E. Cheese and winning a tie-dye t-shirt with the rat himself on it or a stuffed animal will not put children on the slippery slope to addiction. They’re only kids for a short while, they have from about age 16-18 and on to worry about such things. Let them enjoy childhood while they can.