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.
A popular case of the effect video games have on an individual 's mental health is the death of a 17 month old child who was killed by her father, Tyrone Spellman, for breaking his Xbox. He was a "devotee of Xbox video games" (Matza), and upon his daughter accidentally pulling the cords out of the wall, instead of "ensuring her safety or just fix things and move on, Spellman cracked her skull repeatedly, killing her" (Criminal Justice Degrees Guide). Another case of unstable mental health is the death of Zhu Caoyuan, who was killed by Qiu Chengwei for selling an in game item that he borrowed from his murderer. The item was worth 1116 CAD, and due to
Physical consequences can also lead to social consequences, an article states, "an addicted gamer who loses sleep because he 's playing so much simply doesn 't have the energy to invest in relationships. Lack of sleep may also make him irritable and difficult to be around" (Video Game Addiction). The article also goes on to explain the long term effects that having a video game addiction can
According to Aviv Weinstein (2010), from the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, “Computer game addiction is excessive or compulsive use of computer and video games that may interfere with daily life” (p. 1). A survey done to measure the negative relationship between video games and addiction involved kids from the age of 13 to 17 (Brunborg, G. S., Mentzoni, R. A., & Frøyland, L. R., 2014). To no surprise, there was a relationship between depression, low academic achievement, conduct problems
For many years, many people have linked the increased violent and aggressive behavior in teenagers and children to violent video games for two main reasons. Video games are very addictive and gamers can become very violent and aggressive when someone tells them to stop playing and can spark the violence in people who already have aggressive behavior. Such examples of violence addictions were in the cases of Daniel Petric and a thirteen-year old that were very addictive to video games and had already aggressive behavior. Seventeen year old Daniel murdered his mother, Susan Petric, “after she being denied him access to Halo 3” (Massoud). If that didn’t sound horrifying, a “13-year-old boy murdered an 81-year-old for money to fund his online gaming addiction” (Massoud). We can’t deny the fact that these two cases of game addiction prove the argument, but everyone should ask themselves these questions. If parents did know about the viole...
All addictions can be dangerous and harmful to the addicted person and others around him; however, video game addiction can be particularly detrimental to children. Video games are becoming increasingly popular with children of young ages, which in turn may raise...
The second reason video games are an issue is that videogames have been linked to a variety of mental and physical ailments. The most common physical health problems tend to be arthritis from barely moving the fingers while using a keyboard or game controller, and a variety of eye problems due to constantly staring at the game screen. The most frequently occurring mental problems range from delusions to schizophrenia and becoming desensitized to violence. Keegan says that "repeated exposure to violent images can make people less sensitive to the effects of violence" (1). All of these ailments, both mental and physical, can and will occur in many people, but this statement only holds true if the player spends much of his or her free time playing video games. The essay “Violence and the Media: A Psychological Analysis,” shows how the number of hours spent watching a television program may be more influential than the nature of the program itself (Javier 4). While this statement refers ...
Violent video games and violent adolescent behavior, is there a connection? Millions of violent video games are sold around the United States, millions more are sold overseas, but the numbers of violent crimes, that could be associated with violent video games is low. Assault, robbery, burglary, rape and murder occur daily. The drug industry accounts for the majority of these crimes. The cases not related to drugs, fall into a number of categories, including Psychological Disorders. Disorders that can cause violent behavior are psychotic or anti-social behavior, depression, schizophrenia, delusion, disassociation, and any others recognized by a Psychologist.
There has been quite a bit of controversy concerning the real effect video games are having on teenagers. Numerous studies have been done to show both positive effects, as well as negative effects on the rising generation. Furthermore, the increased sales of smartphones and, in effect, apps or video games on your phone, have led to an increased use of games. This in turn, has raised the level of force that these video games have. However, some say this increased power video games have is good, others say they are bad. It is all a matter of perspective, and how someone looks at it. Although most everybody swings one way or another, many can agree that, albeit video games may or may not be bad, the overuse of these games can be, and is, a major force in the world.
Before we can begin to understand how video games affect student success, there must first be an understanding in what constitutes as problem gaming, or an addiction to video games. According to the article ‘Recognizing problem video game use’ the authors point out that these games often provide an alternative or way to escape everyday life and for some people being able to disappear into an alternate reality is worth the consequences associated with avoiding real-life socialization and responsibilities (Porter, Starcevic, Berle, & French, 2010) . According to their study, the criteria for problem use are characteristics such as having a strong need to play, playing when one knows they shouldn’t, playing for extended hours, interference with social activities and responsibilities, lack of sleep, physical pains as well as in increased consumption of caffeine most often endorsed by 70% of participant’s who reported problem game use (Porter, Starcevic, Berle, & French, 2010). Many mental health professionals have responded by suggesting that video game/internet addiction should be formally ...
"Today, in the United States, 91% of children between the ages of 2 and 17 play videogames, and a nationally representative study of U.S. teenagers found that up to 99% of boys and 94% of girls play these games" (Granic, Label and Engels 1). Video games have become virtually ubiquitous, belonging to almost every single modern day family. The market’s popularity, as well as its disapproval, has increased dramatically ever since they were invented. Many critics have been arguing for the past couple decades or so that these electronic games have destroyed the lives of children by making them sedentary and obese. However, recent studies support that video games are not harming children, but in fact are providing them with several benefits that they can incorporate in their everyday lives. Improvements have been found in cognition, social behaviors, emotional well-being, and many other areas that are necessary for a child’s growth and success. All children should use video games as an essential tool to make their worlds easier and more understandable.
The world we live in has changed dramatically over the last thirty years with the invention of the internet, smart phones, and video gaming systems. The world we live in now was unimaginable and the technology advances we have made are remarkable. Video game consoles and how we as a society play them has changed dramatically since the beginning of gaming in the 1970’s. Over the last decade there have been many arguments concerning video games such as too much violence, obesity, addiction, social wellbeing, and many other health related issues. Video games also have some advantages to include hand eye coordination, a strategic mind set, educational and teach life lessons to the players. However, video games do cause more harm than good because the negative outcomes out weight the positive aspects of playing video games.
They get attached so easily with the video games that they don 't realize their ability to concentrate in the studies is diminishing day by day. According to By Rebecca Hagelin (2013) children who played violent video games are involved in active shootings at school and other public places. "The impact of playing violent video games has drawn heightened scrutiny since the massacre in Newtown, Conn. Shooter Adam Lanza, troubled by mental health issues and his parents ' divorce, reportedly also played violent video games daily, for hours on end" (Rebecca Hagelin, 2013, p. 5). According to Anderson and Bushman (2001) lack of parental oversight has become the primary issue on children grabbing their attention more towards violent video games than studying for their test. As the researchers analyze the statistics most of the parents are irresponsible towards their children who are willing to purchase video games and children being more careless and making a habit of playing violent video
The average adolescent spends a major part of the normal week watching or interacting with some form of the media’s products. Video games are one of these media based mediums and have become increasingly popular since the 1980’s. According to a report in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, "Female gamers spent an average of 44 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and four minutes playing on the weekends, and male gamers spent an average of 58 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and 37 minutes playing on the weekends" ("Video Game Play Among Adolescents"). What can we understand from this evidence? The fact is that adolescents, male or female, are spending tremendous amounts of time each day sitting in front of a screen with a controller in hand.
I have been playing video games for as long as I remember. I started by playing the original Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System with my older brother and sister. I’ve stayed up way past my bedtime in elementary school playing Pokemon on my Gameboy. I continue to play video games even today, from the Wii to the Xbox and even on my computer. Being this avid and long-time gamer, I became curious about the effects that video games have on people like me. And so, I did some research
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...
Game addicts cannot go on about that day without playing a game. They will spend at an average of twenty-four hours a week on gaming alone. Many game addicts forget about the everyday basic necessity such as eating, bathing and sleeping and continue on their games. Seungseob lee, a gamer addict who did not take care of himself, “played Starcraft for more than fifty consecutive hours at an internet cafe before suffering a fatal heart attack” (DAnastasio). The game addiction’s danger to health is tremendous mostly among adults and teenagers that are not under adult supervision. A solution to the game addiction problem would be simply prevent the person from accessing the game, but that also causes major problems. Brett, a gamer addict, thought of suicide when he wasn’t allowed to play his video game. He states, “At the time [I] felt anything had to be better than not being allowed to play Counter Strike” (DAnastasio). Brett ended up getting depression and started failing his classes. Brett cut himself away from the world and won’t even come out of the room. Excessive gaming can also “. . . induce pseudo hallucinatory-like experiences” (Clark). It happens when the gamer gets off the game after a long hours of playing. The gamer feels as if he or she is still in the game. One game addict claims to see and hear the zombies out the window of his home. These hallucinations can cause serious psychological and
For example, regarding if video games cause aggressive behavior in children, in the opposite view think that violent video games should not be banned and sell it in everywhere because it is just a game that they will not be able to do in real life. However, David states "Although a link between video games and what the researchers define as “aggression” may exist, there is no causal link between violent games and violent criminal activity" (Willis 149). This mean that aggression does not have any relation with a criminal activity of an individual at all. In addition, there is another expert who believes there is no link between video games and people’s violent actions. Christopher, who is a professor assistant at Texas A&M University, insists that there is no correlation between aggression behavior and video games showing in his own meta-analysis that this theme was out of evidence and supporting that video games do not cause aggression behavior, that everything arises from the need to find a reason to blame after commit terrible acts of violence (Willis 175-179). However, while this view made some valid observations, this is not entirely base on facts. One of the best example is Andres Behring Breivik who decided to bomb a government structure in Norway, leaving eight people dead and several of them injured and affirming that a shooter game had helped him to do this massacre (Netzley 49). This shows that games are extremely damaging to society and violent video games cause violent actions. Another example is Jared Padgett a freshman student who killed a classmate and then suicide himself. Jared liked to play shooter games what left doubts about if this pastime can encourage children or adolescent to commit a violent act, and the idea that video games are violent in nature (Glynn