Dominic Hicks
Professor Luanne Williams
College Writing
10/13/2103
The Impact of Video Games
Video games have been around for the last three decades. From its early years of Galaga and Mrs. Pacman at the arcade to Super Mario for Nintendo and Sonic the Hedgehog for the Dreamcast. Those historic games have been games have paved the way for the newer and more advanced video games that now surface the earth. Video games are no longer just in the arcades, but they have transitioned to being at-home game consoles and potable hand-held devices. These games provide a world of fantasy, no matter the genre, for its players. Unfortunately, nowadays, most games are full of violence. It is said that these violent games are effecting the children of today. Kids and teens are being brainwashed into mimicking the games they play. However, not all games are bad, in fact, in many ways video games can have a positive impact on children. Too much of anything can be dangerous for anybody. Because there are negative and positive effects on playing video games, parents should take a better role in teaching and guiding their children as well as limiting their video game activity instead of blaming video games for their children's mishaps.
Can a game really influence a child's mind? Of course it cab, children can be easily influenced. Unfortunately, the video games being made are not exactly the best role models for kids and teens. Games like Grand Theft Auto are the perfect example of bad influences, especially since the name of the game is a real crime. A game series about a man who steals cars, carries and fires guns, kills, curses, runs from the cops, and other dangerous and serious crimes. The main character in these series is no one you would bring home to meet your parents. The game is rated Mature, and just like a rated R movie, you have to be at least seventeen years of age to buy the game. So, how exactly do kids get this game? Gamestop and Best Buy, two popular retail stores who sell the game, asks for proof of identification. There can only be one other option, the parents buy the game.
There has been a study that proves violent content video games make teens more aggressive. The more a child plays these games, the more aggressive they can become. These violent video games can cause a child's anxiety and stress levels to increase. Their behavior becomes more violent and uncivil. It is up to the parents to monitor their children. The parents of teens do not impose a time limit on the number of hours they allow their teens to play video games. Most parents are also unaware of the content or the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating of the video games their children play. Parents need to know what they are paying for. If a child asks their parent for a game, that parent should research the game, or at least find some basic information. There are various ways to research a game, through magazines, video game retail stores, and the internet. When buying these games, Parents should ask questions, for the safety of their children, then they should make the decision of whether their child can handle playing the game.
Video games are partially responsible for an increase in childhood obesity. In the 1990s to the early 2000s, kids loved to be outside. There was great disappointment to see the sun go down because that meant kids had to go inside for dinner. Nowadays, the amount of physical exercise kids endure have clearly decreased because they are stuck playing video games and sitting in front of a television screen too often. Kids are practically obsessed with playing video games and become lazy. They do not want to do chores, or even go outside to play. Children and teens are less social because all they want to do is play video games instead of interacting with friends and peers. Kids barely have time for homework because their minds are stuck on playing a game whether it is on the gaming console at home, a computer