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Luis Berumen

Jennifer Rodrick

English 115

September 24, 2018

Children and Games

Since the very beginning of me learning what video games were as a kid I quickly learn

that they were bad for you and to stay away from them because they make you stupid or

something along those lines. However being the I was child I never listened to what adults had to

say and started playing video games around the age of ten and haven’t noticed anything

negatively impacted because of it. I love to play video games and I do not believe that they bad

for anyone to play. But what I say to most people is not very important so to the people others

actually listen to say that video games causes weight change, mood swings, and behavioral

issues. If fact these are all true but that does not mean that they are meant to be negative they are

just portrayed that way because of what the media decides to put out into the world.

Laziness is the most common thing I hear when people talk about someone's weight

mostly among bigger people. Weight gain has been associated with playing games because it

makes you sit down for a number of hours instead of being outside staying active. Children today

have screens all around them every day for most of the day and is one factor in child obesity. In

the article by Health and Medicine Week it states that “one in five have obesity” (New study

shows) and these kids often stay obese which can lead to showing early signs of diabetes and

heart disease. Playing video games can help these kids lose weight if they are taken on the right

path and playing the right games. Today there are many games that get you engaged within it and
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make you exercise while having fun playing a video game. Games aren’t just used for enjoyment

these days anymore it is a way for people to enjoy exercising and being able to due so in the

comfort in your own house. However, some might say that just because those games are out

there and can be played in your own home does not mean that you will go and do just that. Of

course not everyone will do that if that were the cause there would not be a single obese child out

there and with growing technology like virtual reality which requires movement in order to play

the game there are going to be more ways to exercise while playing video games.

As a person who used to play video games I can say that they do cause mood swings.

Most see playing video games to be fun as it should be but that is not always the case because it

can cause someone to be angry and frustrated at a game that they can’t beat. This feeling can be

the opposite when you beat a game it can make you feel happy and accomplished. Certain games

have different effects on people that can last anywhere from a short period of time to a long
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period of time. Video games that get you moving for exercise which is not really favored in

children makes it enjoyable and changes their mood towards it while they play a game. In a study

conducted where they had kids exercise then a following day play a video game for exercise they

concluded “there would be an increase in positive mood and decrease in negative mood” when

the kids would exercise. Other games such as strategy games have been proven to help with

self-regulation skills which is important for one's health and being able to succeed in life.

Another study conducted had people play strategy games and found that “the prolonged use of

strategy video games… can function as a self-regulation training center for self-regulation in

life” (Gabbiadini). From my own viewing of a child playing games would be my brother which

plays the most popular game today called Fortnite. I have noticed that he usually gets happy or

angry when ever he plays alone and that changes when he plays with friends but instead of

getting happy or angry at the game he throws those emotions at his friends as he says either

“you’re a god dude” or “how are you so trash.” However all of this is only during the game and

after he logs off it is almost as a reset for his mood which goes back to normal. Some might say

that someone’s mood can not be change in any form from playing video games but mood is

affected by everything we do and experience in life video games is just a part of the big picture.

The first experience I had with video games would be in middle when we talk about them

during a class discussion saying how violent games make you an angry and mean person the

more you play them. There has been so much research done on this subject of violent video

games causing violent tendencies as an article discusses that “a sizable amount of this research

has focused on aggression, for example, playing violent video games results in short-term rises in

aggressive behavior” (DeCamp). As I was doing research I found many articles talking about if
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violent video games cause violent tendencies in children and found that with all the studies done

they could not conclude on anything but since they had enough data that there is “proven

scientific connection between virtual violence and real-world aggression” (DeCamp) so they

concluded that if you play violent video games with your child or if they play them on their own

the likelihood of them being more violent is increased. In my own experience I feel that playing

video games does not make you a more violent person but there are some cases were this is true

and parents need to not allow their children play violent games. If children develop violent

tendencies it is on the parents to step in and put a stop to what their children are doing you can

not expect them to solve it by themselves. Violent games are still under debate they only got

approval of it having a scientific connection to making children more violent but has yet to be

significant enough to say it is a direct cause for it. You can not say for certain that violent video

games can cause a child to be more aggressive and angry just because they play them there needs

to be more research done on the subject.

Many people may not agree with what I wrote about video games not being bad because

they aren’t perfect for kids but nothing really is nowadays. Video games can help kids lose

weight in many ways from games that make you move around and the new rise of virtual reality

that makes exercise in order to play the game. Games now are not just about sit and play but

actually encourage you to get up and play them. They can also be used to change the moods of

children's towards activities they do not normally enjoy doing like exercising. Certain games can

be even better for improving your self-regulation skills which help you with controlling mood

and behavior. Violent games being the most associated with making kids having behavioral

issues is not yet be proven completely so it can not said that these types of games truely cause
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kids to be more violent. Video games nowadays are much more beneficial than just a means of

having fun.
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Work Cited

Crisp, Simon. “View-Master VR review: A great first taste of VR for kids.” ​New Atlas​.

https://newatlas.com/view-master-virtual-reality-kids-review/42040/​. Accessed 25 Sept.

2018.

DeCamp, Whitney. “Who plays violent video games? An exploratory analysis of predictors of

​ ersonality and Individual Differences.​

playing violent games.”​ P

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.06.027​. ​Volume 117​, 15 October 2017, Pages

260-266.

Gabbiadini, Alessandro. Tobias Greitemeyer. “Uncovering the association between strategy

video games and self-regulation: A correlational study.” ​Personality and Individual

Differences​. ​Volume 104​, January 2017, Pages 129-136.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.07.04​. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

Gao, Zan. Jung Lee. ​Ping​ Xiang. “​Acute effect of active video games on older children's mood

change.”​ Volume 70, May 2017, Pages 97-103. ​Computers in Human Behavior,​

https://csun-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_proqu

est1932135684&context=U&vid=01CALS_UNO&lang=en_US​. Accessed 24 Sept.

2018.

"New study shows video games can improve health in children with obesity." ​Health &

Medicine Week,​ 10 Aug. 2018, p. 267. ​General OneFile​,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A548991583/ITOF?u=csunorthridge&sid=ITOF&xid

=79c1ca51. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

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