Essay On Video Game Addiction

Everyone enjoys the sweet taste of victory and the feeling of accomplishing a goal, especially in a video game. However, video games are not just about winning. Video games are a good method to enhance our educational experience and create a career pathway for us to take. By creating a video game course within schools around the world, we are able to create a whole new generation and future that incorporates the advanced technology that is constantly improving.

The videogame addiction may seem funny or ridiculous, but in reality it is a dangerous obsession that truly exposes several needs that have yet to be addressed within the afflicted. Addiction is a damaging problem, and the impact of varying sorts of addictions, such as illegal and

In today’s culture, people who regularly play video games have been stereotypically viewed as overweight, lazy, slobs, who can’t keep a job and never leave their homes. However, a majority of the population plays video games or owns a console. These stereotypes mostly apply to PC gamers, and MMO players in particular. While most people don’t develop such severe addictions to the game, there is a group of people who suffer. These people are usually imagined as overweight men in their parent’s basements, sporting acne and greasy hair. There are most definitely people that fit this profile, however, video game addiction can claim many different people from many different walks of life. It is most definitely a serious issue, but some people don’t see the degree to which it affects everyday life. Personally, I feel that I can elaborate on the matter with a different perspective, as I have been closeup and personal to video game addiction.

Whether gambling, alcohol or shopping, it is surprising to find video games being a part of this growing list. Video game addiction is a growing epidemic that is running rampant through the world, including parts of Asia. Death from video games is becoming more common and sounds like a horror story (Flanagan). Contributing to the increase are illnesses and social disorders, two well-known conditions being social anxiety and depression. By shutting themselves out from the real world, the only light being the screen of their television or computer and eyes glued to the screen, their basic needs are ignored.

Video game addiction is not yet recognized by the American Medical Association as a diagnosable disorder, but addiction has become a very real problem for many video game players. An addiction is when the person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep them going, and if the person does not get more, they can become irritable and miserable. Compulsive gaming meets these criteria, and there have been many studied instances where severe withdrawal symptoms in game addicts are seen when parents take away the child’s electronic gaming system. According to chapter three of the book, a study in Singapore of 3,000 middle schoolers found that the

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’.

In life, you learn that certain things just don’t mix: Diet Coke and Mentos, cereal and water, drugs and good grades, and picnic tables and dancing, just to name a few. That last example might seem a little bizarre to you, but to me it hits very close to home. Throughout my childhood, we had this picnic table that sat on our back patio. We would have tea parties on it or use it as a place to color or do homework. Sounds pretty fun, right? Sure, as long as you were using it the way it was intended to be used. Throw in my sister and her aspiring dreams to be a dancer, and suddenly our story gets a little messy. So grab a snack, sit back, and listen to the story of how my sister drove me to start taking drugs.

“Electronic games are now an everyday part of childhood and adolescence” (Olsen, 2010). Considering children and adolescence are our future, parents need to consider and monitor how these electronic games are affecting their child. There are more studies afloat that report the negative affects of video games over the positive effects until recently. Children and adolescents become addicted to video games easily so it is important to monitor what they are playing and how it is affecting them and their character. A recent study on many boys and girls reported why they are

Advances in technology have forever changed the way that children play, communicate, and view the world. Have you ever told your child that it was time to turn the video game off, or to put away the cell phone? Of course you have. Did they become upset, aggressive, or even depressed? These are warning signs indicating a potentially dangerous addiction. Addiction is characterized by the intense need for a substance and the experience of withdrawal symptoms when that substance is taken away (Rauh). Video games fill the player with strong feelings of pleasure and fulfillment. When considering the effects that video games have on your social, academic, and financial life; when do these fun technologies morph into a dangerous addiction?

CNN, Samantha Bresnahan and Will Worley in their article, “When Video Games Become an Addiction”, argue about how and why video games become an addiction. They support their claim by first talking about video game addiction in the US, then about who mostly get addicted and in what age it is more popular, and finally why video games are addictive. Bresnahan’s purpose is to explain video game addiction in order to find a solution for it. They establish a hopeful tone for the readers.

Teen violence is a term used to define collective behaviors by teenagers that are not acceptable by the society. These behaviors range from slapping, bullying, hitting, assault and even armed robbery. Teen violence has been affecting many societies and has destructive history to communities. Although many factors have been pointed out to cause teen violence, studies show that modeling behaviors are the most common causes of teen violence in the society. These include behaviors as seen in the movies, on the streets, on the video games and at home. Social engineering factors and psychology behind teen violence are some of the main challenges contributing to teen violence. Video games, in particular, have caused the prevalence

Research started in 1983 aimed to discover how this addiction starts, the prevalence, as well as the risk factors associated with this behavior. “The studies on Internet gaming addiction in the new millennium reported prevalence estimates which vary significantly and range from 0.2% in Germany25,26 to 50% of Korean teenagers.” (Kuss, D. J.) In fact, South Korea views this addiction as a public health concern. So much so, that up to 24% of children diagnosed with internet addiction are hospitalized. As a growing number of studies appear, the psychological consequences are becoming better defined. These consequences include, “Sacrificing real-life relationships, other pastime activities, sleep, work, education, socializing, and relationships, obsession with gaming and a lack of real-life relationships, lack of attention, aggression and hostility, stress, dysfunctional coping, worse academic achievement, problems with verbal memory, and low well-being and high loneliness.” (Kuss, D.

The controversial topic of video game addiction is what I have decided to focus my multi-genre research project on. Although a multitude of people do not even know of the existence of such a problem in today's society, I can assure you that this is becoming an increasingly greater problem effecting people around the world of all ages. Through my multi-genre project, I intend on proving the uselessness and detrimental qualities of playing video games, and I am going to explore some healthy alternatives to such a problematic habit.

Many young children and teenagers have heard their mother’s incessant plead to get away from the screen and to go outside or pick up a book for once instead. The urge to play “just one more level” before starting that homework or doing those chores can be quite distracting. But are video games really as awful as Mom exclaims or as brutal as those TV ads depict? It turns out that video games can have a strong impact on participants’ lives in both positive as well as negative ways.

Excessive video game playing has been a problem with today’s youth they have had more influences over the youth than ever before. That brings to my attention a question, how do video games affect the youth of our society? Excessive video game playing, especially violent video games, can lead to youth violence, a decrease in academic success and many other negative things. I realize that some parents believe that they can be good for children, I agree but I also disagree in some cases. Some parents allow their children to play video games to keep a social life and to learn how to use strategies. This is true in some cases but not in all cases. For instance, other children that play video games alone and are in their rooms constantly can