Are Video Games Harmful? “The 2010 average gamer spends 8 hours a week playing video games” If you ask young people what is their opinions of video games, likely you will hear that they are fun and enjoyable. On the other hand, parents describe them as the polar opposite: violent, useless and costs lots of money. As technology advances and first generation gamers ( playing in the late 1970’s) begin to pass on their “gaming gene” to the second generation of gamers, are video games really harmful? This essay will explore both sides of the argument and reach a conclusion about how they affect people. Any type of addiction is bad, having a video game addiction is no exception. Good games can lead to addiction as gamers will spend hours to try and complete the goal of the game. A study to addiction of video games conducted by Scientist Douglas A. Gentile researched 3,034 children and teenagers and the study revealed that the average time spent on playing video games was twenty hours a week which is nearly one full day of a week playing games. The research also found out that 72% of houses in america play video games, that means if you go into one hundred peoples houses in America you will find at least seventy of them that have a video gaming device. Out of the 3034 children and teenagers interviewed, about 273 (9%) of them showed some symptoms of game addiction. Having a game addiction will lead to mood changes as frequently feeling unhappy and moody when not playing video games. Addicted gamers may isolate themselves from their families which can cause serious changes in family relationship such as failing to communicate with each other. Violence in video games lead to many parents being concerned about their children's behaviou... ... middle of paper ... ...games as it is proven to slow down the brain ageing process and improve short and long term memory. In conclusion, the benefits of playing video games can be very surprising and the hazards concerning. In my opinion, I find myself leaning towards the benefits of gaming as the concerns can be easily overcome if you play for the correct amount of time such as addiction, it can be easily prevented if you limit your time playing by finding something else you like to do such as going out with your friends and do some sports. Violent video games should also go through stricter age ratings to prevent younger people from playing these game. If one looks into it in detail, you will find that the advantages can be undismissable. Word count = 970 Total word count= 1112 Quotes = 142
“On Tuesday, November 2, while the rest of the country was voting, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Schwarzenegger v. EMA, the landmark case in which the state of California is petitioning for the re-instatement of a California law banning the sale of deviant or morbid violent video games to minors” (Macris). This case is a current example of the opponents of video games trying to prove video games are a bad influence on children and teenagers. Violent video game opponents have always tried to disprove the positive effects of video games. They also have been known to make up and mislead with tales of terrible side effects. This essay will prove to the reader that many of these various statements against video games and their creators are false. Contrary to opposition arguments, video games actually present benefits to gamers by reducing stress, providing entertainment, and helping to develop motivation that could not otherwise be achieved through conventional means.
...ysical condition and violence is just excuse given to the people by the media due to research laziness in research and unclear facts on the technology. Hence, playing video games is not only helpful and safe, but fun too!
In recent years, technology has developed very rapidly. This has led to many arguably both positive and negative changes in our everyday lives. One such change was the increased accessibility of personal computers and gaming consoles as well as the introduction of numerous video games. Due to their entertainment value, these games gained popularity among children and teenagers. Although many concerns have been voiced related to playing video games, especially those that are violent, [e.g., increases in aggressive behavior in children (Anderson & Bushman, 2001)], this paper will argue that certain video games also have beneficial effects. They should thus be played by children, teenagers and adults alike albeit with caution.
By far the largest concern of technology today is video games. There have been so many experiments and studies to try and figure out if video games have a negative or positive effect on our children. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognitive, attitudes and behaviors (D.A. Gentile, 2004). Video games can obviously be dangerous for our children causing aggression, bad performances in school and obesity. Although we cant blame all of these problems on the use of video game...
Thirty that is the average age of people who play video games in America according to the ESRB. Yet when people talk about video games as a bad thing the topic that always comes up is that video games are bad for children and is going to rot their brains. But if people looked just at the numbers it could be seen that if video games really did rot people’s brains there would be millions of average American’s that would not fit in with the average public in the slightest. Why does this not happen. Because Video games are not harmful because society still functions, video games are used for training and for teaching, and video games bring people together.
Since the Early 70’s video games have been giving a bad name. Parents state that video games rot the minds of children and are influencing them do be violent. These accusations are far from the truth. In my research I found that there are many positive effects of gaming. Some of these effects are increased skills, creativity, general knowledge, and also help those in need. Parents can also take proper precautions and look into a game before buying it to see if it meets the criteria discussed in this paper.
Video Games have been accused of making youth violent and aggressive, making people isolate themselves from society, and for lowering the attention span and the ability to concentrate in youth. These claims have yet to be supported by several well organized studies and have never been more than a correlation to any of these claims, and in fact have been disproven on several occasions. Adam Eichenbaum (2014), author contributing to the American Journal of Play, concluded a discussion on the research on video games say that “Today’s video games are much more than entertainment. They are also weapons in the fight against declining mental capacities in old age. They promote job-related skills. And they are a model of how to teach children complex and difficult tasks and abilities. As with any technology, video games are neither intrinsically good nor intrinsically bad.” (pg. 67) Video games are not the waste of time that they are accused of being, nor are they damping the development of today’s youth. If anything is to be said about video games is that in them lays a great potential for good; that video games serve as tools for people who want to make a change in society, whether the changes are positive or negative lie in the hands of those that choose to use video games as tools. These are not unrealistic or histrionic claims; video games, after all, are more than just
This being said, it can be proven that advancements come with positive and negative effects. The video games of twenty-five years ago have evolved into something different and in some cases something dark. Research has shown in many cases that video games have negative effects such as: increased aggressive behavior, desensitization, and poor physical heath on adolescents. Many researches also think part of the problem arises because adolescents do not receive enough parental supervision with these games. After discussing these negative effects it will be obvious that more vigilance and regulations are warranted.
Several years ago, technology and child’s play were not such as extremely developed as today. Thousands of teenagers have video game as their primary form of entertainment at home. The disagreement about violent video games is because they focus on several subjects such as violence scenes, pornographic content, racism and other resources. For many years, researchers have been debating if video games can cause dependence or not. However, an expert, Jack Flanagan believes video games have a really negative effect on a person’s life and even for children. Jack states that video game addiction exists, and can have the same effects as drugs and alcohol (Netzley 36-37). This shows that video game addiction can be like other addictions
Many people believe that video games change people and mislead them to do bad things, such as drugs and alcohol, but it is the opposite. Gaming prevents people from such acts and actually helps to keep them away from the substances. Lots of people, mainly parents, believe that video games harm people so they try to keep their children away from them. In reality, video games make your life better. Video games can provide many benefits to your lifestyle as “numerous academic studies indicate that playing video games has many psychological and even physical benefits” (Guarini). Gaming helps stimulate the brain and advances your problem solving abilities. There are disadvantages to gaming, which is true, but the amount of benefits outweigh them by far.
Video games have been argued about for decades. Some people have argued that video games are linked to violence. However, new research shows that video games can be used for therapeutic purposes, exercise, stress relievers, positive interactive learning, hand eye coordination, and different types of patient treatment for people all around the world.
Video games are not considered as a serious addiction amongst teenagers and adults, often being compared to severe cases of addiction, such as drug abuse or alcohol abuse that may result in the appearance of a decrease in the severity of the addiction. However, video game addiction is a serious matter and has unhealthy consequences for an individual 's life and their health; spending too much time playing video games can take a great toll on one 's physical and mental well-being. Continuing unhealthy patterns of video game activity for prolonged periods of time can result in mental health issues, physical health problems, and a decline in a social life.
Video games have both good and effects, but bad effects were greater. Limiting the time of playing video games and choosing the right type are the solutions of the elimination of bad effects on children. Thus, moderation between playing video games and playing sports or doing extracellular activities will benefit the child. Another important point would be avoiding violent video games because they influence children’s behavior in an aggressive way.
Video game have been claimed as addictive, a waste of time, and a distraction. While this does apply to some people, others have found the benefits to playing video games. These benefits include simulating working environments, helping people escape working environments, and giving great experiences. Although these benefits seems to be beneficial, it still stands that video games are a waste of time in which other things can be more productive.
Video games are often portrayed in a negative manner because they are seen as having an "addictive" quality. Addiction has been defined as "A primary, chronic disease, characterized by impaired control over the use of a psychoactive substance and/or behavior. Despite the wonderful benefits games offer as diversions, spending too much time, to the neglect of normal life duties, and social development with direct contact with others can and often does happen. Clinically, the manifestations occur along biological, sociological, spiritual and especially psychological. Some psychological effects that affect the behaviors are failure to play outdoor games, difficulties in work or school, telling lies to everyone, decreased attention to personal hygiene, decreased attention to family and friends, and disturbances in the sleep cycle. Many video game addicts have strug...