Document Against Video Games

International studies have shown that between seven and eleven per cent of gamers show some symptoms associated with addiction. Some teens are heavy users of online role-playing games (RPGs) such as World of Warcraft and multiplayer games such as Call of Duty in which they interact with other players in real time. These teens will often neglect schoolwork and other aspects of their daily lives when they become immersed in these games. The American Medical Association has identified “video game overuse” as ‘behaviour’.

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

Video Games cause social isolation, for example a 15 year old boy in Sweden pass out after playing World of Warcraft for 24 hours straight, he passed out because he started experiencing social withdrawal, the kid was lacking contact with other humans, and his body’s response to the problem was to pass out. On an extreme level, Ruya Cunningham, a college student spent twenty hours a week playing video games, she eventually “dropped out of school, stopped exercising, and even stopped bathing” (Marcovitz 70). Later on, Ruya Cunningham developed depression, but she kept playing video games because she was addicted to the game. When people are addicted to a game, there is a spiraling vortex sucking the gamer away from society and from sanity. As a consequence of playing violent video games, many teen gamers struggle with real world relationships, this is because they form close virtual relationships with people they meet online. A man in Wisconsin has formed a tremendously close relationship with a group of guys he plays online with, he discusses politics with them and they send each other Christmas gifts even though they do not know each other (Marcovitz 70-72). Video games can also affect the players mental and their physiological state.

Video Games have come a long way since their first introduction into the main stream. With video games becoming more sophisticated and using advanced technology, it seems as if video games are closing in on the gap between games and reality. However, as video games become ever so life-like it brings up the question of if the violence associated with video games is having a negative consequence. There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games are causing children and teenagers. Experiments have been conducted trying to associate a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Even the media has been known to point fingers at video games for the cause of children

Every generation has pointed a finger at the recreational pastimes of young persons, accusing that these activities lead our nations youth astray and induce violent or antisocial behavior. Novels, music, TV, movies, and now the finger is pointing straight at one of the newest and quickest growing youth pastimes; videogames. This particular pastime differs from others in their reality and scope for direct participation, therefore allowing the crusty old curmudgeons to conclude that playing them leads all young people to commit acts of violence.

A video game addiction is just like any other addiction. These addicts seek stimulus from their subjects and cannot refrain from it. It impedes on their daily lives, interrupts their way of logic, and has no real benefits. The major reason why addictions begin is because it helps them cope with their emotions. For them, it’s another world that is immersive and engaging to the point that they are entranced by it. Video games and the Internet provide a plethora of communities and people to meet. Since it is easier to remain anonymous on the Internet, there are opportunities to create alter egos. As harmless as it may sound, there are negative side effects that stem from their addiction.

For the past decades, video games have been accessible to varied kinds of groups all over the world, which are from children to adults. Meanwhile, problems of online games addiction are arising particularly rapid and evident, especially in Asia. According to the news “Gaming Addiction On the Rise in Asia” by Paul Gaita, nearly 1.2 billion out of 84 million of world wide online gamers are Asians, which has led Asia to be the chief of video game addiction. (Gaita) Also, Andrei Dinu, an author at Lerablog, points out that even though Asia is at the technological cutting-edge, it unluckily becomes the boss of video game addiction. (Dinu) With this fast growth of video gaming popularity, the public has voiced their concerns. For example, Mary Schlimme, in her research paper, she declared, “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.” (Schlimme) In other words, computer games indulgence hurts people with no boundary, but especially to children. Even though a lot of researchers put forward their argument that violent video games could release one’s desire for acting violently, there is an increasing number of evidence proving that excessively playing video games can lead to a higher level of poor physical health and aggressive behavior on teens and pre-teens.

People are interested in the potential for video game addiction in children and young people. In the article “Addiction to Video Gaming Is a Problem,” reporter Jennifer Seter Wagner highlights the growing concerns among parents and mental health professionals about the potentially addictive qualities of computer and video games. She cites an Iowa State University study that indicates that 8.5 percent of teen gamers can be considered addicted. The viewpoint also cautions parents to be aware of a number of behaviors that may be warning signs of addiction. Wagner contends that although gaming addiction is not currently recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a mental disorder, it falls under a broader category of “behavioral addictions.” On August 3, 2005, a young South Korea man in his twenties named Lee Seung Seop played a video game, StarCraft, at an Internet coffee shop for almost fifty hours, with only minimal breaks to eat or sleep. His friends found him on the third day suffering from exhaustion and dehydration. He soon collapsed, was taken to the hospital, and died, presumably of heart failure. His friends said he was addicted to gaming and had recently been fired from his job because he had missed work in order to play games. Lee is an extreme example, illustrating the dangers of excessive video gaming. Playing violent video games is like a drug. Once the child reaches a certain level of violence and becomes bored, what is known physiologically as

For this reason, a lot of research has been done on the consequences of online gaming, however, there are only a few longitudinal studies that mainly focus on the excessive online gamers. Lemmens, Valkenburg and Peter (2011), for example, researched whether psychosocial factors such as loneliness and a low self-esteem were a cause or a consequence of pathological online gaming. Their first main finding was that lower psychosocial well-being was an antecedent of pathological gaming. Specifically, declined social competence, increased loneliness and lower self-esteem predicted an increase in pathological gaming six months later. The second main finding was a complementary relation between loneliness and pathological gaming, indicating that loneliness is both a cause and a consequence. Nevertheless, the authors say it is important that we do not overstate the dangers of playing computer and video games, as this study also indicated that adolescents’ time spent playing video games was not related to their psychosocial well-being. Therefore, playing games does not decrease well-being, nor does lower well-being necessarily lead to increased use of games. (Lemmens, Valkenburg,& Peter,

Murders, suicide, lose of employment, detachment from reality, and relationship failures are just a few repercussions of an online video game addict. But ultimately, like any other addiction, it’s the addict’s willpower and self-preservation that keep them alive or from committing a crime. Online video game addictions may not be as wide spread or have the numbers of other addictions, but it continues to grow and rear its ugly head to the general public. As the addiction becomes more known, we can hope that more research can be collected and addict’s can get the help they need before it’s too late.

Since the creation of Spacewar in spring of 1962, video games have dramatically improved along with technology. It has become the most popular way of entertainment in modern civilization, but it also has become a subject of public concern regarding to its negative effects on peoples psychological and physical problems, especially in children and teens. Video games are now recognized by a study as an addiction according to the journal Psychological Science: “Researchers used data on 1,200 children and teens taken from a survey. About 8.5% were addicted to video games and showed at least 6 of 11 signs of addictive behavior. For example, skipped schoolwork to play games or ‘escape’ bad feeling” (“Video Games Addiction Is Real”). Studies made in South Korea have concluded that video games are indeed a real problem for society and their government took action on the matter by passing a law known as “Gaming Shutdown Law” as reported by Sun Carolyn: “ Two big surveys--one by Seoul 's National Information Society Agency, the other by Korea 's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family--found that more than one in 10 Korean adolescents are at high risk for Internet addiction and that one in 20 are already seriously addicted.” Even though, the compulsive use of video games has caused adverse effects on people, being children and teens the more exposed to, there are some solutions that can help overcome this type of addiction.

violent video games especially teenagers. Lots of teenagers have internet addiction and most of them play violent video games and it make lots of problem such as increase crime rates, effect peoples’ emotions and easy to get internet addiction but sometimes internet can also help us in our daily life. As we know, almost every teenagers are using internet and because of internet are better and better and can make life convenience and the video games can help people relax so that more and more people have internet addiction.

The empirical review in this study shows first how much children and adolescents have put into gaming over time. In 2010, both video and PC game software retail sales amounted to approximately $15.5 (US) billion (as cited in Johnson, 2011). Games now have the ability to create massive worlds that let players develop their own alter egos and avatars as they see fit. Having the whole world to join into with anyone one at any time at any location that the user sees fit; making extremely massive committees that grow day to day. Making these games fully immerse in a virtual reality setting, in which the world can be shape as those deemed it to be shaped. A recent systematic literature review suggests that it is particularly excessive engagement with “Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game” (MMORPGs) that can

Douglas Gentile, an Iowa State University associate professor of psychology conducted research to identify gaming addiction among youth ages 8 to 18. Gentile summarized his research, stating, “We’re starting to see a number of studies from different cultures—in Europe, the U.S. and Asia—and they’re all showing that somewhere around 7 to 11 percent of players seem to be having real problems to the point that they’re considered pathological gamers” (qtd. in “Risks”). As a result, gaming addiction is attracting attention; however, more action must be taken to raise awareness.

Online gaming is affecting people’s health and physical ability. It is also causing negative affects in the gamers’ mental state of mind, both socially and emotionally. These are just a few of the negative psychological affects that online