Video Games Have Negative Effects on Kids

Gregory Weathersby
Wagner

Some critics are saying that video games have a negative effect on children by messing with their sleeping schedule, school work or performance, and the way they interact with each other. Based on video game addiction, it is a fact the children who make the decision to sleep past bedtime, turn in late school work and avoid their friends should change their habits; thereby video games are the blame for these actions. The first negative effect video games have on children is causing them to stay up past their bedtimes to play games. In this article it compare children watching TV to children playing video games to see which one would the child stay up the latest on. “On the first night they had the children playing call of duty black ops. On the second night a week later they spent an equal amount of time watching March of the Penguins, the award-winning French documentary which follows the yearly journey of the emperor penguins of Antarctica across vast swathes of ice to their breeding grounds. Three fell asleep while watching the film, while none dozed off while playing Call of Duty. The majority of the teenagers did take longer to fall asleep after playing the video game, but most were asleep within seven-and-a-half minutes - only four minutes longer than when they watched March of the Penguins.” In this example it seems like the children enjoyed playing call of duty over watching March of the Penguins. Video games have more effect on children then watching television. Three of thirteen kids fell asleep while watching the documentary shows that kids will stay up later then they have to continue playing their games rather than watching television. This proves that video games have more effect on our children sleeping habits than anything else. The second negative effect video games have on children is their school work and performance. “When the other areas of a child's life begin to suffer, parents may have cause to take corrective action. Kimberly Young, director of the Center for Internet Addiction Recovery in Bradford, Pa., points to several common warning signs of pathological behavior: fantasizing or talking about game characters or missions when offline; lying about or hiding how much time is spent playing or disobeying parental limits; losing interest in sports and hobbies; and continuing to play despite plummeting grades, loss of a scholarship.” In this example it shows how video game takes effect in children lives by making them act negative to their parents it also show how it effect their school work. It seems like children are pushing their school work aside to able to play video games. While children continue to do this it is having a negative effect on their grades. It does not only have an effect on their grades it is causing them to disobey their parents and lie about how much time they been on the game. Although, video games cause students to miss out on scholarships because their grades drop below average, children still decide to play video games after seeing how much of a negative effect it has on them. The last negative effect is video games have on children is by making them choose the game over their best friends. This is causing children to have a bad relationship with other people, making it feel like it is the other person fought. Here is an example on how video games are causing children to ruin their relationships with others. “My son hasn't come out of his room in days. Ever since the new Grand Theft Auto came out, I never see my best friend anymore. Video games have done far more than change the way we entertain ourselves. They have changed how we communicate, how much time we spend with friends and family, and how much time we invest in active, real-life pursuits.” In the example above it shows that video games are making kids stay inside the house more than to go outside with friends. If video games are having a negative effect on a child and their parents and they live in the same house. How would it affect a child and his/her friend? One of the friends said they never see their friends anymore because of video games. The causes of video games are making a child lose one of his closes friends. It is like video games are changing the way they friends communicate with each other. After will the only friend the child is going to have is the video game because he is going to end up losing touch with his real friends. Critics found that video games are having a negative effect on children. The negative effects video games on children are causing them to stay up later, falling behind in school work, acting different to others and the last thing is causing them to lose their relationship with their friends. In the examples above shows that the critics was right about how video games have a negative effect on children.