ENG 102: A Double-Edged Sword - Video Game

Wang Xingran Professor Marnie Bullock Dresser ENG 102 April 18, 2018 A Double-Edged Sword- Video Game With the development of the internet and electronic devices, video games have rapidly developed around the world. Video games have become a new way of entertainment and are favored among people especially in the younger generation, and it has a significant influence on people’s work and life. On the one hand, video games are truly a great way to relax and reduce stress. In addition, video games involve the interaction with both computers and teammates, so it strengthens reaction ability, expansive social circles, and tight connection with friends. On the other hand, video game contains more or less violent content, and people who long time contact violent content can do some aggression behavior in real life. College students are in a physical and psychological growing stage, so whether and how video game affect them has become a debatable topic for students themselves, their parents and their teachers. Long-time playing video game has a negative impact on students’ health, social relationships and academic performances. The paper begins building on both positive and negative effects of video games on the students and incorporates reputable facts and sources which bring out a convincing argument hence it successfully employs logical appeals. The systematic arrangement of the paper helps to create credibility. Therefore, as much as video games are a form of entertainment, it comes with negative effects which can have long term effects on an individual. Video game addiction brings about poor mental and physical health in individuals. There are very strong sources throughout the paper which play a role in strengthening the credibility of the paper and builds the argument together with appealing to the ethos. First, the beginning of video game addiction is related to both poor mental health and physical fitness. Addiction to video games has huge harm on students’ mental development. As we all know, video games appear to be a new form of entertainment and it involves interactive activities by the players and extensive concentration by players when playing. If students play a video game for a long time, it is easy to be addicted to a video game. Loton finds that “Our analysis found a direct effect between video game addiction and symptoms of each condition measured, with anxiety showing the largest relationship followed by stress and depression. This is in line with several other studies which have found associations between video game addiction and poorer mental health” (575). This indicates long- time video game playing even video game addiction has an extremely negative influence on players’ mental health and emotional changes. Video games have been connected with the rise in aggressive behaviors and a decline in prosocial behaviors among the youths. Moreover, Loton states, “A Dutch study of 13 to 16-year old also found that video game addiction was associated with higher levels of depressed mood” (567). Because Video games are filled with fighting, shooting and competition, students who are trapped in the video game’s world are usually surrounded by the emotion in games, such as, nervous, anxious, helpless and angry, etc. These emotions are often negative, and long-time immerse even addiction in video games finally damage the mental world of students. As the time goes on, students who are addicted to it become pessimistic and introverted, and playing a video game is the only way to displace themselves. Good health is a foundation for all activities, but long-time contact with video games and electronic devices leads to poor health. Eyesight which is stable in a student who does not have lengthy interactions with video games can gradually become destroyed due to the constant focus on the screen and become irreversible. In addition, electronic devices have radiation, and unrestrained playing video game exposes players to little radiation, which may have adverse effects in the long run when a player is continuously exposed. Radiation is not only bad for students’ normal physical development, but also increases the risk of illness in the later stages of life. Furthermore, Turel states that the risk of illnesses can happen through possible increased sedentary time, regardless of sleep and consequent reduced physical activity” (3). Students’ body functions are still developing, and students need a large amount of time to do sports, however, becoming obsessed with video games can occupy their exercise and sleep time. Unlimited time playing video games can directly result in “over the healthy/recommended weight”, which “increases the risk of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and insulin resistance” (Turel 2). We can see that playing video games for a long time can cause a series of health problems and affect students as they grow older. Secondly, playing video games for a long time leads to bad academic performances. Students’ primary mission is to study and develop the ability. Burgess points out that “we found a pattern of significant negative relation between time spent playing and watching video games and academic performance in college students” (385). This finding clearly states those students who play video games have a low school performance, and I think good school performance should include positive motivation for study, good grade and harmonious teacher-student relationship. However, long-time playing video game can damage students’ performance from weakening learning motivation, reducing learning time results in lower grades, and increasing aggression to destroy the relationship. There are two main reasons for why video games correlate to low college students’ preference. According to Burgess, the first one is “time displacement”, and this hypothesis means the time students playing video games will take up the time students using to studying or do other learning-related activities, because video games are more attractive and addictive than school works (384), and this means students lose motivation to engage in study activities. In addition, compared with other forms of entertainment, a video game needs more skillful and focused (Burgess 377), so this diverts attention from the study and causes schoolwork incomplete. If students don not have enough time to finish their homework and review their exam, they are impossible to get a B above GPA. In addition, most of the video games are “violent in nature” (Burgess 384). Many video games include bloodiness, terror and wars, so Burgess points out that “exposure to violence in video games increases aggressive thoughts, aggressive behavior, and angry feelings among players who may become more likely to engage in hostile interactions with peers and authority figures such as teachers. These interactions could result in lower school attendance, increased suspensions, and poorer interactions with peers and teachers” (378). Video game’s violent content is a serious problem for students, and it can directly cause the increase of students’ aggressive behavior to classmates and teachers. Students are unwilling to talk and play with others and become weary of studying and school. In other words, bad interpersonal relationship leads negative effect on s...