Video Game Essay

Are video games bad for you? Sure, parents and adults will tell you they are bad, but how are they bad for you? Many will tell you that video games hurt your eyes and damage your nerves. They may even tell you video games make you more violent, but they cannot provide any evidence to back up their opinions. Nor do they realize the real problem—which is not video games themselves—but the addiction that drives many gamers to play video games to the exclusion of all else. In this essay, I will show that video game addiction is the real reason why video games are bad for you. Video game addiction leads to poor performance in school and insufficient physical inactivity.

Video game addiction can have a negative effect on academic achievement. For example, a study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology indicates that the more a student plays video games, the worse their academic performance is in school. A second study by Argosy University's Minnesota School on Professional Psychology found that video game addicts argue a lot with their teachers, fight a lot with their friends, and score lower grades than others who play video games less often. As these sources suggest, video game addicts' obsessive gaming comes at a cost to their academic performance and relationships with those around them, ultimately leading to poor performance in school—and life.

Video game addiction also leads to physical inactivity and related health problems. This occurs because obsessive gamers sacrifice a balanced lifestyle so they can spend all their free time playing video games. Instead of going out and rollerblading, playing hoops, or hanging out with friends, they sit in front of a screen for hours and hours. Consequently, they do get the exercise they need. The Center for Disease Control recommends 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day. When these gamers do not get this exercise, they are abusing their bodies and risking developing