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Problems with Video Games

Written in: Grade 7 | Year: 2010

Have you ever heard about the incident in Barrie? There, a 15-year-old boy ran away from home. Later, he was found dead about four kilometers away. Why did he run away? It was only because his parents took away his gaming console as he had been playing Call of Duty a lot. That is one of the consequences of excessively playing video games. Good morning teachers, students and judges, I will be talking about the problems with video games.

You all know that video games are games you can play on electronic screens such as computers, TVs and even portable devices like iPods and cell phones. Many of you are already aware that games like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty were made for bored people to pass the time. You might have noticed that a lot of games include shooting, fighting, racist or sexual themes and plots. Video games have become extremely popular in recent years. They are played all over the world not only in homes, workplaces, and clubs, but even schools. Teachers, have any of you found students playing video games in class? I know I have.

Since video games are such a popular activity for children of all ages, we would like to think that they have many benefits. But the truth is that video games actually have many more bads than goods.

The biggest problem, video game addiction, has become a social issue. Playing video games for more than 2 hours per day is considered overuse by the American Medical Association. When this happens, children can easily get addicted. Once addicted, they use almost all their free time playing video games and not having many person to person conversations in the real world. That is a huge waste of time! According to a University of Michigan study, the average teen plays for an hour a day but does not learn anything useful. That is like 15 days wasted each year! This would have negative effects not only on relationships with family and friends, but also on their behavior in school. Addicts will find it hard to concentrate as they will often find themselves drifting back to a video game in class. Watching the screen too much often causes eye problems for them as well. Does any of this sound familiar? If it is, then you are definitely addicted.

Even worse, many video games have fighting and shooting in them. Playing these violent video games actually creates real world violence. In 2003, two teenagers aged 14 and 16, used rifles to shoot at cars on a highway. And guess what? They were inspired by Grand Theft Auto, a violent video game. Also, when kids play these violent games for a long time, they start thinking that the acts of violence in the game are actually real and will eventually get numb to the emotion of someone dying. Then, when something actually happens in real life, they do not have any emotional reaction to it. That is a real problem!

Video games generally have a negative effect on society as many addicts will have underdeveloped social skills from the lack of interaction in the real world. Violent video games may cause violent behavior like fighting and in extreme cases, killing. Racism and sexism are both huge in video games, calling up arguments from all over the world. If video games are a factor in causing violence and racism, then it is a huge social issue! When children spend more time in a virtual world, they end up neglecting real life social skills and might even get violent from these games.

But not all video games are bad. Certain video games teach good things, like how to solve logical puzzles, how to do well in society, and how to play certain sports. These games do not have violence and do not have as many risks. So everyone, why should we keep playing the violent ones? Yeah, they are fun, funny, and cool… but are they really worth it?