Negative effects of video games Essay

The US video game market reached nearly $ 21 billion in sales in 2008. On an average an adolescent spends about 10-13 hours per week playing video games. The cause may be attributed to the fact that video games today have become a necessity more than a luxury. They are a unique form of entertainment because they encourage players to become a part of the game. However, video games have both positive and negative impacts on players. While some of them are fun and entertaining, others have drastic effects on children. On one hand, video games are a source of leisure. People play video games because they want to get away from their everyday stressful life since these games are fun and interesting way to spend time. Another major advantage of playing video games includes improving children’s computer literacy since most of the games nowadays require internet. Also research studies show that video games tend to increase one’s hand eye coordination as well as their ability to make quick and reasonable judgements. Educational games provide practice in problem solving and logic and are thus becoming more prevalent as teaching tools for youth in primary and secondary schools. However this is just one side of the coin. Video Games with violent content have far reaching effects on children. Research studies suggest that violent video games increase aggressive behavior among youth. Since violent acts are often rewarded and continually repeated in a game, it highly influences them. Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view violence as an effective way of settling conflicts and are more likely to assume that violence is acceptable behavior. Also, if one buys an intriguing game, he may get addicted to it, which may lead to drastic consequences. An addiction may lead to physical problems like obesity, headaches, damage to eye, decline in schoolwork productivity, spending problems and confusion between real and unreal. Over dependence on video games could also foster social isolation, as they are often played alone.