Essay on Gaming: Life Beyond the Screen

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Words: 1298
Pages: 6

Gaming: Life beyond the screen

Faith Tripp
ENC1101 College Composition
Policke, Cornelia
October 1st, 2013
Word Count – 2,517

The notion of video games must bring a crinkled nose to your face, however what is your facial expression to the thought of a world with less conviction and more conception of a huge interconnected and intercontinental network of like-minded people. Many studies and experiences have shown that video games of all likes and kinds have produced more than worn chairs, a few extra pounds, and medical diagnoses of sleep deprivation.
As parents keep buying the children keep playing which of course will cause the companies to keep creating (Gillette); it is a circle of supply and demand. Now the economy is riding on the sales of video games. Since 2006, there was a forty present increase in video games sales because an astounding number of over one hundred and sixty million people that play video games (Gillette). A long with this it has been said that there was an increase in violence throughout the nation since 2006. “There is no ‘one shoe fits all’ answer to media,” Dr. Pamela Rutledge, Director of the Media Psychology Research Center (Gillette). Rutledge’s meaning behind this is that she knows there is no single cause to the growth of violence and she cannot say for certain that video games are even a part of the increase in recent violence. Studies have shown that playing a violent video game as shortly as fifteen minutes can affect the judgment of one by stirring up hostile and mildly aggressive urges (Benedict). This being said there is no strong empirical evidence that a person that plays violent video games will actually be more likely to become a serial killer, rob a bank or sexually assault someone. Darcia Narvaez, Ph.D. in Moral Landscapes and writer on Psychology Today does know that the video games associate violence with pleasure by rewarding the player for injuring or even killing another player. There is a disorder that is created in a person’s mind called impulse control disorder that is an addiction illness, just like gambling. Another mental illness is the Tetris Effect. The Tetris Effect is when a person transfers the game content into everyday life.
Along with the mental troubles with video games it shouldn’t be a surprise that there are an abundant number of health obstructions to go along with it all. The endless hours of sitting can cause stiffness in all of the muscles and hunching over will cause stiffness in the shoulders particularly. Stiffness in the shoulders will result in poor posture and shoulder displacement. The risk of obesity is higher in people that play video games than it is in people who only watch T.V. In comparison to television, video games have caused more “bags” which are also known as black rings under the eyes. Those “bags” under the eyes originate from sleep deprivation from children and adolescents choosing to play longer making them lose sleep and get the recommended 8 hours of sleep. Can you see the cause effect going on here? Well it does not stop there. The consequence of the lack of sleep is the lack of focus. Students have harder times paying attention in school compared to student that do not play video games. A more than common payoff given by video games is decay in vision. The bright light from the screen starts to burn the retinas in your eyes. Eye straining from the intense focusing on a screen for hours at a time is connected to glaucoma, condition that leads to damage to the optic nerve. Aside from the eyes there is a great **** with the muscles, “Nitendenitis” or “Wiiitis” two of many epithet for tendinitis, injures to the tendons specifically in the hands and wrists. Tendinitis is very closely related to Carpel tunnel. Carpel tunnel is caused by the tension on the median nerve that creates a numbness and lack of use in the hand and wrist. We do a lot with our hands and the more we do the more damage we do to them.