The Vice of Video Games

Adrenaline pumps as you round the corner. Just in case, you raise your gun, ready to shoot. Before you know it, bullets are flying all around you and in a panic you begin shooting.

As the chaos calms, you find yourself standing alone, your opponents laying motionless on the ground. Yes! you yell in your head, knowing you had to have won this round with how many people you killed.

The screen pauses for a second, and the scores appear. 18 kills and in first place. You celebrate your achievement as the most skilled killer in the game.

This might seem overly graphic and harsh, but is it not what really happens much of the time? Disconnecting from the world and plugging into video games has desensitized users to reality.As technology continues to advance, so does the popularity and widespread use of video games.

Advances in technology combined with a parallel rise in the entertain-me-now attitude of society has led to video games becoming a staple in nearly every home in America. According to research released by the Entertainment Software Association, four out of every five houses in the United States have a device that is used to play video games (). The rapid growth and spread of video games brings with it negative consequences that has yet to be fully confronted.

Video games clearly provide a source of entertainment, but often lead to wasted time, stunted development of social skills, obesity or other unhealthy lifestyles, and aggressive behavior. It is important to note which type of video games will be the emphasis here. This will focus on the type of games that are most commonly found in the 4 out of 5 houses that have video game consoles.

These are games that are developed, sold, and played purely for entertainment purposes. Just shooter, sports, action, and role-playing games make up over 70% of the video games that are played (Press Releases: More Than). There are many other genres of video games such as educational and exercise, but these other non-entertainment genres are certainly the minority.

There are certainly ways that these genres can be used in very helpful and productive ways, however, it is important to look at the effects that the most commonly played games have on their users. A growing area of concern in regards to these games is the impact that they have on youth because of the increasing number of games that target this audience while they are in their critical stages of development and maturation.The amount of time spent, or wasted playing video games disservices its users.

It is ironic that with controller in hand, many players lack the self-control to put the controller down, turn the console off, and do other things that are more important and fulfilling. Unfortunately for many, these games control them instead of them controlling their use. Many of these games are designed in such a way that it is difficult to stop playing.

They involve levels, checkpoints, and other steps of progression that bring heightened excitement and energize users to continue playing until the next step is reached. The average gamer over age 13 spends over six hours per week playing video games, and we can imagine that children younger than that likely spend a similar amount of time as well (Multi-Platform Gaming). The price of six hours is hardly worth whatever virtual accomplishments are achieved for these youth.

They are in a critical time of development and learning and for how much time is spent playing video games, very little is received in return. Studies have shown that video games can improve spatial and problem-solving skills (Granic, Lobel, and Engels). However, these are skills that can be learned in other ways and are not as important in comparison to activities that video games replace such as developing relationships with others, learning, exercising, and other activities that bring crucial positive returns.

The time spent playing video games cannot be discussed without addressing the very real and harmful potential for video game addiction. Addictions of any kind restrict ones ability to make correct decisions and can severely interfere with normal life responsibilities like work, school, and family relationships. About 1 in 5 regular gamers (4-10% of school-age children and young adults) seem to meet the medical criteria that would define them as 'addicted (Bavalier et al.

). That is an alarming percentage that can be classified as addicted. As mentioned previously these games are designed to make you want to keep playing.

Doug Han and Perry Renshaw shared some eye-opening examples of the effects of video game addiction. A teenager killed his mother because she accused him of playing video games too much. A couple was so enveloped in their gaming that they neglected their 30-month old baby to the point of starvation and death (Bavalier et al.

). Certainly these are more extreme cases of video game addiction, but these examples magnify the clear destructive potential video game addiction has. Video games often result in excessive time spent playing, cutting into the time that should be spent doing more essential and life-enhancing things.

Video games have the potential to stunt the social development of youth. The ability to interact and communicate with others is one of the most essential skills for humans to develop. Not much can be done without these skills because we are always around other people and need to be able to socially interact with others.

Video games require no social skills in order to use or be successful. The more time that is spent playing video games, the less time to develop those skills. In a study published in Computers in Human Behavior, researchers found that youth who eliminated technology for one week improved in their social skills more than youth who continued to use technology at their normal frequency.

In this study, half of the participants were randomly chosen to give up their technology, including video games, while the other half continued to use technology as they usually did. They tested all participants at the beginning of the week in their ability to pick up emotional cues, and then those who gave up technology participated in various activities throughout the week that involved frequent social interactions. At the end of the week all participants were tested again on their ability to pick up emotional cues and those who had given up technology improved significantly more than those who did not.

The authors concluded: While digital media provide many useful ways to communicate and learn, our study suggests that skills in reading human emotion may be diminished when childrens face-to-face interaction is displaced by technologically mediated communication (Uhls et al.).Playing video games doesnt weaken all areas of social interactions, but besides diminishing the ability to read human emotions, video games particularly damages the ability to have small talk with others.

These conversations may seem unimportant, but they play a big role in our interactions with others because of how often our conversations with others consist of small talk. In video games, any dialogue or conversation is very purpose-driven. Those who play lots of video games become accustomed to this type of communication and as a result, players often struggle with the ability to converse about things that might not seem to accomplish any purpose.

The inability to have small talk creates social awkwardness and even tension at times. This often makes others uncomfortable interacting with them and further reduces their opportunities to have meaningful social interactions.Obesity is another problem that has increased with the rise of video games and digital media.

Time spent playing video games takes time away from physical activity that keep youth physically fit and in-shape. Our society has become so entertainment driven and because we have so much available to us at the click of a button due to electronic advancements, a lazy culture has developed. Video games feed perfectly into these problems.

They allow the user to be entertained quickly without any effort. Researchers in India tested the hypothesis that watching TV and playing video games increased the likelihood of becoming obese. They found that there was little correlation between watching TV and obesity, but their results indicate that video game use, which has been much less studied, is strongly related to childrens weight status (Bhadoria, Kapil, Kaur).

This is an area that needs further research, but what information we do have clearly supports that an increase in time spent playing video games generally leads to a higher chance of obesity. There have been a lot more games developed recently that involve active movement from the players such as Xbox Kinect and Wii Fit games that certainly can help in this area, but even these cannot completely replace traditional exercise. The majority of games dont require and even discourage active physical participation because of how little effort they take to play and how easily excessive time is spent.

One area of research that has been heavily studied and analyzed is the negative effect violent video games can have on the aggressive behavior of youth. The nature of these games raises red flags before any tests need to be done. The whole premise of these games is to fight and even kill in order to win.

Players are not only not punished for these violent acts, but in many cases rewarded for their play. Competition encourages more violence and more skill in these virtual, yet malicious, actions. These are some of the games that are most harmful and are not good regardless of whether or not they are used in moderation.

Some would argue that because it isnt real it isnt the same, but any crime starts with some type of seemingly small and innocent thought that eventually escalates to seriously harmful behavior. Not all users of violent video games become violent in real life necessarily, but it desensitizes them to a degree to death and violence which can lead to violent acts.There is an ongoing debate in the research field about the real impact that violent video games have on aggressive behavior in youth.

Beyond ten years ago almost all of the studies showed the negative impact of video games, but in recent years more people have attempted to refute those claims. However, a meta-analysis published in 2010 combined several studies to reinforce how violence leads to aggressive behavior. They concluded "this much larger meta-analysis, with over 70 independent effects involving over 18,000 participants from multiple countries, ages, and culture types, yielded strong evidence that playing violent video games is a significant risk factor for both short-term and long-term increases in physically aggressive behavior (Anderson et al.

). While these other studies that refute the harmful effects of video games on aggression gained some momentum, there are too many studies that have shown the relationship between violent video games and aggression to discredit them. The connection is clear, these games encourage and desensitize players to violence, leading to a higher chance of acting it out in real life.

Video games can waste time, stunt social development, increase obesity, and lead to aggressive behavior. The rapid rise of technological advancements has no decline in its foreseeable future and we can expect that as a result video games will continue their growth as well. Recognizing the problems that come from video games should lead to a shift in the video game culture.

Put simply, these games take too much time away from more important activities and responsibilities and have other negative effects that make them not worth the entertainment they provide.Works CitedAnderson, Craig A., et al.

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