Video Games are Bad Influences on Children

Introduction:

Did you know that one-quarter of children ages 11 to 16 identify a game rated M as among their favorites? It’s true, and the bestselling video games such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Doom, etcetera all include killing of some sort. That is one reason that we firmly believe that video games are bad influences. Some other reasons include that they ruin your health, waste resources, and cause addiction, and thus neglect of real world responsibilities.

Argument:

We think video games are bad influence for children, and there are many reasons for this. To start with, video games cause kids to become more violent. The opposing team may say that not all video games are violent, and that non-violent games are also very popular and played a lot. However, the truth is, the most played games such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto, Halo, Doom, etcetera all require violence and a violent mindset to play. When you play them too much, you may begin to become desensitized towards violence. This is a positive thing in the military, and thus video games are used to train soldiers. One combat engineer who fought in Iraq, Sergeant Swales, constantly played Halo 2, and when put in a real combat situation, he was able to react well, shooting enemy soldiers without a thought. He later remarked that it was just like in the game, and it even felt the same. This shows how games can really desensitize people towards violence.

Secondly, true to the beliefs of parents and teachers, video games ruin health. They may say that there are active games, such as Dance Dance Revolution, Trazer, Sportwall, J-Mat, or Wii Boxing, that burn calories, but the truth is, they are played not nearly as much as the violent games, and burn few calories in comparison to real exercise.

Third, video games waste electricity, as well as your time and money. According to homeenergy.org, video games use an estimated 16 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. That’s the equivalent of annual electricity use of the entire city of San Diego! Furthermore, they waste time that you should spend on making money by having you go into the nearest shop and buy a video game at 100 dollars a pop. Also, time spent on video games is time spent increasing the electricity bill and decreasing your paycheck or grades.

Finally, video games cause addiction, and thus neglect of real world responsibilities.  Even after the screen goes blank, the game goes on in gamers’ heads. They can’t concentrate, and become inefficient. They are more or less wasting their potential! Furthermore, a study by the Minneapolis-based National Institute for Media and the Family suggests that video games can be addictive for kids, and that the kids’ addiction to video games increases their depression and anxiety levels. Addicted kids also exhibit social phobias. Not surprisingly, kids addicted to video games see their school performance suffer as well.

Those are the reasons we think video games are bad influences.

Conclusion:

According to a scientific study by Anderson and Bushman, children who play violent video games, which are by far the majority, are more likely to have increased aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It also shows that social and school life is affected by video games as well, as violent video games teach kids the wrong values. Violent behavior, aggression, and skill in the art of destruction and law breaking are rewarded.  Furthermore, time, money, and electricity as well as health is sacrificed for this pleasure.

That is why we firmly believe that video games are bad influences. If you are a parent, please pull that plug, before it’s too late! Hurry, before your kids can become corrupted! Thank you.