Videogames Don't Have a Negative Effect on Kids

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Videogames Don't Have a Negative Effect on Kids

There are many things that today’s society worries about; television, role models, etc. The biggest ones are those that affect the children. One that many people overlook is video games, a national past time in almost every home. It is clear that they can cause changes in children, but are the changes good or bad? Do video games have a negative effect on kids?

Personally, I felt there was nothing wrong with video games. I play them for fourteen hours or more a week, and I’ve been doing “fine” in life. I made it to a fine college, I learned unique words when I was young, and I even won prizes in some video game contests. I still have that Star Fox t-shirt even to today. Still, I wanted more than just my input before coming to a conclusion.

There are hundreds of ways to get information, and the internet is not a reliable one, yet I still rummaged through it. At first, I merely found commentaries and opinions from people that were quite biased. In fact, most of them were trying to get me to buy what they were talking about, whether it was a new game or even a phone.

However, after a few hours, I struck gold. Studies have been done on video games before, but unless the children are in a controlled environment from birth, it is nearly impossible to find how video games truly affect people. Many of the independent researchers produced the same results that while placing an action game the child’s testosterone levels rose, along with heartbeat and breathing patterns. The same pattern is found in a person when involved in a fight, usually with adrenaline running through them, or when a person is doing an intense workout at the gym. This research can be taken in many ways, ...

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...s rummaging and questioning, I feel that there is no definite answer to this question, but rather only opinions due to personal experiences. There are simply too many variables and not enough research to make a clear judgment. And what is my view on the matter? I feel that videogames do not have a negative effect on kids as long as the parents are there to help guide them through. While there are clearly some bad things they can pick up from playing a videogame, there are also many good things to be taught as well.

Works Cited

Croal, N’Gai. “This is serious fun.” Newsweek 4 October 2004: 61.

Kellerman, Jonathan. “Violence Doesn’t Begin in the Theater” Wall Street Journal 9 Jun. 1999: pg. 1

Paul Gee, James. “Turning Games into Learning Machines.” Game Developer 10.9 (2003): 56.

“Videogames are bad for you.” Electronic Gaming Monthly September 2003: 68.

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