Are video games harmful?

To all the parents that say video games leads to violence, you can certainly blame “Grand Theft Auto”. I found this information online at CBSNews.com. Back in 2005 an 18 year old named Devin Moore was accused of killing three police officers, and that the video game “Grand Theft Auto” was to blame for the Alabama Shooting. Within this game you have absolute freedom, to stealing cars, arson, murder, even starting fights with anyone walking streets, the list goes on. In this day and age I guess you can say that video games contradicts what goes on in the real world, and their telling us what to do, like we don’t have a mind of our own. Through personal experience and scientific studies I know there’s an upside to video games. News.bbc.co.uk states that; U.S. scientists have found out that people who play video games such as “Half Life, and “Medal of Honor” or 1^st person shooter games have better visual skills than those who don’t.

Most parents believe that video games actually make your eyes go bad; saying things like you’ll go blind playing those games. But do they really make your eyes go bad or do they improve your eyesight. Remember Bill Nye the Science Guy, well on the online website Kotaku.com there is a clip of Bill Nye indicating that “computer vision syndrome (CVS) can occur when you hold a video game system to close to your eyes.” He also states that “this can cause you to become tired, make your brain tired, and causes long-term vision problems.” But, Bill Nye does not state that you can actually go blind from playing video games, which means that CVS is not a major eye problem, and that it can be prevented. All you have to do to prevent this is to “keep the handhelds elbows length away”, which was stated by Bill Nye himself.

So what about the improving of the eyesight? Well, there were several studies conducted that I have found online. One website that caught my attention was News.NationalGeographics.com, and the author of the article “Video Games Boost Visual Skills, Study Finds” by the name of John Roach; declares that “spending hours in front of the computer trying to single-handedly win World War 2 in the shoot-‘em action video game Medal of Honor may serve more purpose than killing time.” At a University up in Rochester, New York, a couple of researchers say that playing games like this your brain is able to process certain visual information. That means you can see things that most people are not able to see, this is like training for the brain. This is also good for some of the drivers to help them with their vision, to see certain things to avoid accidents. Who would have thought that video games could become a good teaching process?

What bothers me is that some people say that you can’t learn a thing from playing video games,

It’s all a fib. Through personal experience I have taught myself to coordinate my hands and eyes even better than before, that’s right video games teaches hand-eye coordination. Even some doctors that operate on you play video games. Verena Dobnik of the Associated Press writes an article on MSNBC.com stating that “Researchers found that doctors who spent at least three hours a week playing video games made about 37 percent fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery and performed the task 27 percent faster than their counterparts who did not play video games.” Not only doctors play video games, Firefighters also play video games such as “HazMat: Hotzone” to learn to respond to a chemical-weapons attack, which was reported by Andy Sullivan of Yahoo! News. Even the U.S. military plays apart of this and, Andy Sullivan also states that “The U.S. military is by far the largest buyer of game simulations, accounting for roughly half of the $20 million to $40 million market.” Though this action games can teach us a lot they can be pretty violent, but that doesn’t mean that they can lead to violence.

Are video games making the youth of the world violent? It’s hard to say with the things going on now, and how their linked with violent video games. Just like the “Alabama Shooting” in 2005, this was stated in my opening paragraph. Thanks to Henry Jenkins a MIT Professor who indicates on the PBS.mht website that “Researchers find that people serving time for violent crimes typically consume less media before committing their crimes than the average person in the general population. It's true that young offenders who have committed school shootings in America have also been game players. But young people in general are more likely to be gamers — 90 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls play. The overwhelming majority of kids who play do NOT commit antisocial acts.” People that say what go on in the world are acts of video games are trying to find something to blame. What they fail to see is the revolution of video simulation, and that it can bring people together around the world.

Many of the video games today are multiplayer and accessible to online play, which is very addictive. These games are so addictive that most people sometimes forget to eat, sleep, or even their work, which can become unhealthy to some. Patty Oh has pointed out the same thing on the AssociatedContent.com website .This may be one of the most sustained reasons why parents do not allow their kids to play by themselves for along time. They can become isolated from others by playing alone, but that has declined dramatically in the past years with the cooperative game play. The single player games are sometimes seen with two people playing, while one is playing the game and the other is helping. Most kids have gained friends through online play or play with their friends. Last time I checked having friends, having fun, and being competitive was healthy.

To get really healthy with video games I would suggest the “Nintendo Wii”, it’s not high priced liked the other systems so it is affordable, it’s good for the kids and parents but hard to come by. The games that the “Wii” offers comes in a variety of categories, such as sports, 1^st person shooter, adventure, and puzzle typed games. In order to play these games it is a must to stand up, because you have to perform certain actions to each game. Say if I was playing boxing, I would actually have to punch to make the character punch on the game. Or if I was playing baseball an actual swing of a bat would have to be performed. This is possible because of the motion sensors in the “Wii Remote” (that’s what they call the controller) and the console reads the actions and accepts them if done correctly. Now if a real hardcore gamer was playing the boxing game don’t you think this person would get some exercise in while throwing countless punches like the real boxers, this person can become very tired afterwards so I don’t see to many hours being spent on this game. This could make many parents happy in do time.

In all of my years of playing video games I have never been acclimated to being isolated, nor becoming unhealthy, but have become more aware of my environment or wherever I am at. I truly encourage more adults to let their children be active in the field of video games, and also to keep an eye on what they play at all times. And can someone please tell me what is really wrong with video games? Are they just too violent for little kids; or do you not know what you are buying?

Works citied

Ashcraft, Brain “Dses can screw up kids vision.” 14 Aug. 2007

says/dses-can-screw-up-kids-vision-289171.php>.

Dobnik, Verena. “Surgeon may err less by playing video games.” 7 April. 2004

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4685909.html.

“Grand Theft Auto Under Fire.” 14 July 2005

http://cbsnews.com/stories/2005/07/13/earlyshow/living/parenting/main708794.shtml

Jenkins, Henry. “Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked.” 12 Feb. 2008

http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html

Oh, Patty. “Online Video Games Are Bad For Your Health, Says Study.” 18 Oct. 2007

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/419162/online_video_games_are_bad_for_your.html

Roach, John. “Video Games Boost Visual Skills, Study Finds.” 28 May. 2003