Video Game and Young People

It is known that we are living in technological era. Video games have become one of the favorite time-spending of young people all ages, and even some adults. Moreover, video games are unbelievably complicated and that shows just how deep the connection between people and technology. (Cooper, 2010) However, addiction to video games, one of the main problems has been brought by modern technology. According to Byron Review (2008), a government-commissioned study, it is clear that even in the lack of a diagnosable addiction, many children and young people do show excessive game plying behavior. This essay will present some solutions in order to solve that problem and then evaluate the solutions in a proper way.

Video-games designers have produced different kind of games for different ages. It is generally agreed that some of those games have violent, so parents should make sure to select right games for their children to avoid violent problem. In other words, there are label out side each video-game box that shows containment, it is called the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). Young gamers who feel depressed with their lives are expected to behave aggressively. Besides addiction, aggression and violence form part of the ongoing debate about the influence of gaming on impressionable minds.
When two students killed twelve pupils and a teacher in the Columbine High School shooting in the US in 1999, many believed that their common interest in playing violent games had helped to trigger the massacre. (Maguire, 2008) In addition, there are online games, which allow the player to play and communicate with other people around the world by connecting to the Internet that my cause isolation. For instance, some young people would rather communicate through the internet than communicate face-to-face in real live.

The main problem in this essay is addict young people to the video game and the consequence for that destroy their live. According to Gentile (2009) surveyed that shows, approximately 8% of 1,178 American youth ages 8 to 18 selected randomly are considered as signs of addictive behavior. Furthermore, they wasted most their time playing, as a result of that they received lower grades in school than others. However, many parents have suffered from worry about their children when they become addict to video games. It is widely believed that, when children or teenagers spent much time playing video games and they do not respond to their parents when they speak to them or ask them to do something that means they are addicted. Bakker (2010: 43) “I have seen guys who have played for two, three, four days straight. I have been in the rooms of 17-year-old kids who have had three screens set up and bottles of piss next to their chair – they do not leave their PC”. Furthermore, all generation has grown up surrounded by sophisticated technology. Addicted people coming now into the healthcare system with deferent problem do to their gaming such as weight, relationship and financial problem as well.(Smith,2010) However, the following is suggested solution.

One possible solution to this problem may be to do outdoor activity, which makes many benefits for young people to stay a way form electronic games by doing sports such as football and swimming. Enjoy playing with children in neighborhood and local parks make them sociable. Furthermore, make them also, to communicate face-to-face with other people in real live, which is very important to avoid isolationism.

This kind of solution has many advantages such as keep young people a way some hours from video games and media, also feel self-confident by communicating with other people. Improving their hobbies in sports or other activity in order to achieve some awards. There is also a health benefit when they do sports to avoid eating disorders such as obesity, which increased recently in childhood. There were 41 responses in a survey shows that, 20 per cent of them believed that, playing video game might cause a risk that youth would not go out to play or join to other recreational or outdoor activities. Therefore their physical well-being and health could be affected. (Byron, 2008)

In conclusion, video game addition has a serious problem especially with a young people in every society. However, not all gamers are addicted, someone who plays five hours a day but he can walk away at any time is not addicted. In contrast, someone who loses their family, job and social life duo to their gaming is absolutely addicted. However, this essay aims to find the beast solution possible to address the problem supported by some evidence.

Reference

A Summary Report of the Byron Review Call for Evidence, 2007 : 7-10.[Online]. Retrieved on 1 May 2010 from: http://www.brookes.ac.uk/brookesnet/environment/sustainabilityinpractice/fairtrade/fairtrade_report2008.pdf
Bakker,K.(2010) ’Screen games’ Sunday Times .pp43

Copper,R.(2010)’Screen games’ Sunday Times .pp40

Gentile. Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18, 2009 : 594-597.[Online]. Retrieved on 1 May 2010 from: http://www.drdouglas.org/drdpdfs/Gentile_Pathological_VG_Use_2009e.pdf

Paddy Maguire. 25 November 2008, Compulsive gamers 'not addicts'
.[Online]. Retrieved on 2 May 2010 from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7746471.stm

Smith,P.(2010) ’Screen games’ Sunday Times .pp41