Video Games

Owning a video game console has become almost as essential as owning a television. With all the features consoles now have, it's not just for hardcore gamers anymore. But those that game often and play the most violent games seem to be creating the most concern. And according to research, those concerns aren't without some validation. Those that had significant exposure to violent and aggressive video games tended to be more aggressive in real life. Also, violent video games can create a sort of desensitization to violence in general. Those that were exposed to the violence in video games seemed to care less about other violence they saw in real life. This can be quite concerning, especially for a parent. What seems to be most important to keep in mind is paying attention to the rating label on games and checking the games your kids play for yourself. I grew up playing video games with my brother, but our mother never let us play games that were out of our aged rating range.

The second issue gamers face is controlling how much time they actually spend gaming. Video game addiction has become a real problem, and it's not just in the US. It has become such a serious problem in South Korea that they have included it in an official category of addictions and have video game addiction camps for those who can't control how much they game to go to. Researchers even found that problem gamers had lower grades and showed more anxiety than non-problem gamers. More than that, other significant health problems including pain and sleep problems have been associated with addicted gamers. Although I consider myself a rather casual gamer, I certainly have known those who can't control their gaming habits. My brother would always rather play his games than do his homework growing up. WoW (World of Warcraft) is among what I think is one of the worst games for addictions, I've personally known people who have failed out of college because of it, my ex-boyfriend included. It made it really difficult to be in a relationship when he could never leave the computer. Because of this, I worry for addicted gamers social lives. Although I know they meet a lot of friends while gaming in their virtual worlds, what does it do to their real lives outside of those virtual worlds? It leaves me to ponder what people's social interactions will look like in some years from now.