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Video games in children and development
Impact of video games on children
Video games in children and development
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The Dangers of Video Games
Many people think that video games are purely fun, and that no harm can come from them. For most people, this is true, but for others, an increasing number of others, it is a problem that has latched onto them and will not let go. Romans 8:6 says, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” But for those who are addicted, Romans 8:26 says “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.” Like all of the good things God created, video games have been twisted to serve an evil purpose. Not all video games are bad, and not everyone falls into their subtle trap, but some are under that trap and need help that is unavailable.
Video game addiction is recognized in other countries, such as South Korea, as a major problem. In fact, “South Korea and China have declared video game addiction their most pressing health problem “(Vd and Kids xiii). Two large surveys in South Korea show that one in ten adolescents run the risk of Internet addiction and one in twenty are already addicted (Online Cravings, 26). One South Korean couple immersed themselves in a game where they took care of a virtual infant while their actual child starved to death (Online Cravings, 26). This of course is the worst-case scenario and does not happen often, but it shows the full destructive potential that video games can bring. Governments in China and South Korea have helped fund treatment centers and hotlines for electronic game addiction; however, in America nothing is done. “For now game addiction is not recognized by the American Psychiatric Association…”(Play Turns to Trouble, 4). Even if one wanted to seek therapy, there are no set guidelines on what t...
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... said that ninety percent of youth play video games, and that excessive gaming has an almost definite impact on health, which could be obesity or hindrance of brain development. With such a high number of youth playing, it is important to monitor gaming and set guidelines on how much time one should play. Any addiction cannot be curtailed on its own, and needs to be replaced by a more healthy activity. At the very least, The U.S. needs to recognize video game addiction as a problem and form a set of guidelines on how to treat it. We can look at other countries such as China or South Korea for a guide on how to do this. As 1 Corinthians 10:23 says, “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. We as a people need to realize that everything has the potential for evil.
Video games have improved a lot since they were first introduced. They have also made a lot of impacts in our generation by making gamers more social, teaching children through educational video games, and how video games can improve our health. Furthermore, the articles show many different ways that proves that video games aren’t bad for you physically and emotionally. Since video games were introduced they have changed our society.
There are many views as to whether video game violence causes children to behave violently. Many children play violent games because that is what most people are playing and they feel that they need to do so as well. Violence is not only in video games but also in all other forms of media because that is what sells and what will make entertainment companies more money.
“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.
Lee, M., and Laura Finley. “Counterpoint: Video Games are Addictive and Promote Irresponsible Behavior.” Points of View Reference Center. 2011. EBSCO. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
Massoud, Justin. “Video Game Addiction – Five Extreme Cases.” Asylum For All Mankind. Aol Inc. 3 November 2009. Web. 5 May 2014.
Tommy scuffles through the front door, drops his book bag on the floor and plops down on the couch with a scowl across his face. As his PlayStation fires to life, he replays scenes from the day in his head of being shoved into the lockers by Billy, unable to form the words to impress Sussie, and sitting alone at lunch listening to the popular kids laugh and joke, ignoring him as if he did not exist. No one understands him. No one cares about him, because he is not strong, charming, or popular. All that is soon avoided as Tommy dives into a world where he controls everything and everyone either fears or loves him. If he fails, all he must do is reset. Here he can be anything he wants, and he can do and have it all.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
As the time passes, technology is expanding and developing many creative ideas. Unlike in the past, nowadays we have computers, TVs, internet, and many inventions that have bad and good effects on us. Children used to interact with society by hanging out and playing sports with each other, but now we can see a big percentage of children who play video games for many hours daily. Addiction controls the lives of people, there is addiction to drugs, cigarettes, alcohol or gambling, and there are some forms of addiction associated with modern life, such as the Internet and video games. Most people think that video games are harmful and a waste of time.
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...