Essay On Pros And Cons Of Video Games

With all debates, there is a con side, but also a pro side. Video games are no exception. Including the skills honed and many other benefits that come with video games, some people believe that video games are a positive thing. In 2013, the video game industry rose in sales. Software sales jumped twenty-eight percent from 2013 to 9.5 billion dollars. (Wagner 2) During this time, new games and consoles were being released, thus making more sales. According to the Entertainment Software Association, (ESA), an average of nine games were sold ever second. (Wagner 2) With statistics like that, its hard to imagine how much of those sales were bought by youth, or bought for youth. In fact, within these sales of video games, four of the five best selling games were violent shooter titles. (McGrath 3) Although this problem is a

In some cases, video games are found to be detrimental to social skills. (Barenthin 3) Social skills are very important to the development to children. If adolescents experience social skill deficiencies, it could lead to emotional, cognitive, and behavioral problems. Going back to addiction, there have been many studies that have found addictiveness in children. In February of 2008, a team at Stanford University School of Medicine found that areas of the brain responsible for creating feelings of addiction and reward are activated during game play. (Barenthin 2) After realizing how addicting games could be, two professors from the University of Utah wanted to know the reason why people get into games. In 2008, these professors examined 152 high school students. When asked for reasons for why they played games, they all differentiated. These reasons consisted of excitement, mastery, having nothing else to do, having friends who play and also just to make them feel better. These reasons to play are relative to all level of