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Braden Chinn
Nathan Cole
ENGL 2010
23 November 2015
Too Much Video Gaming
If you were to ask an average American child or teenager what the first thing they would do if they had an hour of free time, what are the chances they would say they’d play their favorite video game? I’d say more often than not. Video games are great time fillers, and are always great to enhance a boring rainy day. Unfortunately, the world has seemed to make video gaming more of a priority rather than using video games as a last resort activity to fill in the remaining hours of an empty schedule. Video gaming is one of the most popular hobbies around the world and especially in America, but the question is: should we be proud of that? Video games often find their way over more important things like health, family, school, and jobs.
Virtual reality consumes the lives of millions of children, teenagers, and even adults throughout the world. Douglas Gentile, a research psychologist from Iowa State University says about “ 8.5 percent of Americans between the ages of 8 and 18 (that's roughly 3 million people) are addicted to video games” (McElroy). Video game addiction is a very real and should be treated just as any other addiction, such as an addiction to drugs or pornography. Most addictions come with real problems and consequences, and video gaming addictions are no exception. Although video games can be seen as a good and fun form of entertainment that offers multiple benefits to those who indulge, the negative effects of heavy gaming greatly outweigh the positives because video gaming can destroy physical health, mental health, social life, and marriage and family status, if played too much.

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We live in a society today where two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese
(Marks). The biggest factor in that statistic is the overall inactivity of Americans. Inactivity simply means the lack of exercising, and the lack of moving the body to burn calories. Certainly being addicted to video games, which implies sitting on a couch twiddling your thumbs and mindlessly watching a screen for multiple hours a day or more, doesn’t help Americans become more physically fit. I do have to say though that it is very fortunate that the video game world has developed game consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, and Xbox Kinect to help force people to get moving and to stay active while playing video games. But, these games are merely just a small fraction of the many video games that are out there, with the majority of video games only requiring the movement of your thumbs. More often than not, those who are addicted to video games will play while consuming high calorie snacks and drinks, promoting weight gain. It’s no wonder that two-thirds of Americans are overweight. More negative physical effects for a video game addict include: poor personal hygiene, losing sleep which could lead to a sleeping disorder, carpel tunnel syndrome, and diet related health risks from skipping meals in order to keep playing, among other things. (Video Game Addiction Symptoms, Causes and Effects)
Not only does video gaming affect addicts physically, but also it definitely affects them socially, and arguably academically. Those who are consumed by playing video games detach themselves from having any sort of relationship with friends, and may not have any friends at all as a result of over-gaming. They miss out on family time, going out with friends, dating, and other forms of social interaction, as they may see that a relationship with their avatar or character as more important to them than fostering a real-life relationship. It’s also safe to say that video gaming can take up valuable homework and study time to get good grades, receive degrees, and ultimately become more intelligent. In one study using a sample of American adolescents, ages

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10 to 19, gamers spent 30% less time reading and 34% less time doing homework than nongamers (Cummings and Vandewater).
To go along with the negative social effects that video gaming has on those who are addicted, it can also destroy marriages and other relationships. “
A recent study of divorce petitions found that nearly 15 percent of them cited video game addiction as a major factor in the decision to get divorced” (Everything You Need to Know About Divorce – Facts, Studies, and
Statistics). Fifteen percent is a staggering number, considering how many divorces there are in a given year and for how many different reasons there are to divorce. It’s reported that there are roughly
2,419,196
divorces per year in the United States (Everything You Need to Know About
Divorce – Facts, Studies, and Statistics). Do the math, and you’ll find that about 363,000 marriages end every year because video game addiction is a major factor. That’s a lot of families that are ruined. It is very common to find a relationship where the man or woman will pay more attention to his or her games than his or her spouse. This is very detrimental to a relationship as you can imagine. It’s been said that the ‘secret’ ingredient to a strong relationship is time spent between husband and wife, not husband and Pikachu. When video games become more important to the spouse than his or her spouse, job, or even kids, it’s safe to say there is a big problem that needs to be addressed.
After covering the physical and social effects that being addicted to video games can have on a person, let’s go ahead and look at how video games can affect addicts mentally. There is a strong link between playing violent video games and depression, says the University of
Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “
In the study, children who played violent video games for more than two hours a day showed significantly more depressive symptoms than those who did not… Depressive symptoms were described as a lack of pleasure, lack of interest in

Chinn 4 activities, concentration difficulties, low energy, low self-worth and suicidal ideation over the past year” (Rhodes). Not only are violent video games linked to depression, but they are also linked to aggression. Rick Nauert, Ph.D., an Associate Professor in the Health Information
Technology Program of the University of Texas – Austin explained, “ Past research revealed that exposure to violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiological arousal and aggressive behaviors, and decreases helpful behaviors. Previous studies also found that more than 85 percent of video games contain some violence, and approximately half of video games include serious violent actions.” This fact not only contributes to the argument of addicts picking up aggressive behavior leading to potentially violent acts, but also can contribute to the previous argument that it can destroy relationships, perhaps through spousal abuse. We live in a world full of violence, aggression, terrorism, abuse, and war. I’m not so sure that we need more and more potentially dangerous human beings in this world. Those who are addicted to violent video games pick up aggressive behaviors that increase the likelihood of future violent behavior, although, according to the American Psychological Association, there is insufficient evidence to prove that violent and criminal behavior can be directly caused by violent video games.
There are many that argue that there is no harm in playing video games, and that they are all in good fun. Many even argue that there are many positive benefits to playing a lot of video games such as increasing hand-eye coordination, becoming more creative, having good friendly competition, and to even escape the outside world on a bad day. There is also a plethora of educational video games that can improve cognitive abilities and enhance learning. These are valid arguments that can be made in saying video games are a benefit. I would only agree if the user played video games in moderation. When the user takes it too far, and is sucked in by the

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As you can see, there is much to be said about the detrimental effects video games can have on a person and even a society. There are many physical, social, and even mental effects virtual reality has on an addict, as well as detrimental effects on his/her marriage and family.
Although video games can be seen as harmless, innocent, and fun entertainment, there is hidden behind the temporary fun, long-term detrimental effects to physical health, social health, and mental health making the fun not worth it in the long run. These long-term effects make me, and many others, see video gaming as a complete waste of time and not worth the temporary pleasure. It would be a help to mostly everyone to keep video games reserved only for those boring rainy days, and away from interfering with the things that truly matter, such as your physical and mental health, social life, and marriage and family.

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Figure 1: “Video Game Addiction” mgculture.wordpress.com
Work Cited
"APA Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video Games and Aggression."
American Psychological Association . American Psychological Association, 13 Aug.
2015. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
Cummings, HM, and EA Vandewater. "Relation of Adolescent Video Game Play to Time Spent in Other Activities." NCBI . PubMed, 1 July 2007. Web. 17 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17606832>.
"Everything You Need to Know About Divorce – Facts, Studies, and Statistics." Wilkinson &
Finkbeiner Family Law Attorneys . Wilkinson & Finkbeiner LLP, 2014. Web. 16 Nov.
2015.
Marks, Jennifer. "Obesity in America: It's Getting Worse." American Diabetes Association .
American Diabetes Association. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
McElroy, Griffin. "8.5 Percent of U.S. Youth Addicted to Video Games, Study Finds."
Engadget . Engadget, 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 16 Dec. 2015.
<http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/20/8-5-percent-of-u-s-youth-addicted-to-videogames-study-finds/>.
Nauert, Rick. "Video Games Desensitize to Real Violence." Psych Central . Iowa State
University, 28 July 2006. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.

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Rhodes, Hannah. "Playing Violent Video Games Related to Depression in Preadolescent Youth."
UT Health . The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 22 Aug. 2014.
Web. 16 Nov. 2015.
"Video Game Addiction." MGCulture . MGCulture, 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
<https://mgculture.wordpress.com>.
"Video Game Addiction Symptoms, Causes and Effects." Psychguides.com
. America Addiction
Centers. Web. 24 Nov. 2015. <http://www.psychguides.com/guides/video-gameaddiction-symptoms-causes-and-effects/>.