How Online Games does affects Teenagers’ Lifestyle in the City of

Valencia, Bukidnon?

Eliel Joy T. Talidong

Delegen Hope D. Macua

GE3: The Contemporary World

October 12, 2019

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1

Review of Related Literature ..................................................................................................... 2

Methods...................................................................................................................................... 5

Respondents ............................................................................................................................... 5

Procedure ................................................................................................................................... 5

Results ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 9

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 10

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Introduction

The gigantic online games companies have been growing quite fast in the recent

years. They have many personnel who are employed to design innovative games, which

attract the attention of teenagers.1 These companies have raised a red flag for parents

and school decision makers, because of the public health hazards they have caused. In

addition, they have raised public concern since online games have attraction for many

people The online game companies have begun to target children and adolescents in the

recent years. These companies spend remarkable time and afford to design attractive

online games to draw people to spend a tremendous amount of time for reaching the

final levels in the games. There are many reasons that teenagers get attracted toward online

games; the most influential ones are the addition of new communication technologies;

and astonishing2 features and vocals, which are both amusing and fun.3

Unfortunately, these programs have made, teenagers spend their leisure time playing

games instead of studying, and working. The aim of the present study was to assess the

relationship between using online games and the effects among teenagers aged 13 to 19.

We focused on the responds of the two genders.

1
See www.zippia.com for the examples of gigantic Online Games Companies.

2
Astonishing - extremely surprising or impressive; amazing.

3
Sohrabi Mohammad-Reza, researchgate.net,
www.researchgate.net/publication/306955174_The_effect_of_online_games_on_teenagers'_behavior_and_perf
ormance (accessed September 2015).

1
Review of Related Literature

Effects of Online Games

Because of its great popularity, online games have exerted far-reaching impacts on

today’s teenagers in many aspects, such as their physical and mental health, as well as their

comprehensive abilities and the cultivation of their characteristics.

Firstly, playing online games can affect teenagers’ health directly both physically and

psychologically, which will have big influence on their lives. According to The Positive and

Negative Effects of Video Games, video games may have bad effects on some children’s

health, causing obesity, video-induced seizures, and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders,

such as tendonitis, nerve compression, carpal tunnel syndrome (cited in Positive and Negative

Effects of Video Games). Besides the bad effects on the physical health, there also exits some

bad effects on their psychological health. The most evident network personalities are”

loneliness, tension, fear, indifference and anti-social”. In addition, too much video game

playing makes kids socially isolated (as cited in Positive and Negative Effects of Video

Games). In conclusion, excessive online games will harm teenagers’ bodies and psychologic

seriously if they are out of control.4

Second, the online games can help teenagers to develop many important abilities

which are indispensable in their social lives. To begin with, video games can make teenagers

can learn to think, analyze and make decisions in a short time. Teenagers can practice these

abilities in almost every second during the game. A research from the University of

Rochester, such as a scientists called Daphne Bavelier, some stressful games such as those

4
The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games.,
www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of- video-games,
(accessed October 8, 2019).

2
found in action games or battle can teach teenagers how to deal with unknown situation in the

reality. （Raisesmartkid, The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games The study

shows that action video games can help the brain to make quick decisions. Raisesmartkid,

The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games） Besides, video games can teach

teenagers how to manage. Management simulation games let the players learn how to make

quick management and make most use of the infinite recourses, and some games such as Age

of Empires and Civilization even simulate controlling the whole country. Last but not least,

video games can improve our memory. Other games such as Call of Duty help the player to

effectively select the useful information to the brain. According to a study which published in

the Psychological Research, the online gaming is a virtual world where adolescents have to

use many abilities to survive. （Raisesmartkid，The Positive and Negative Effects of Video

Games） All those abilities will be quite beneficial for their study and lives with proper

application.5

Last but not least, different online games will have different influence on adolescents’

characteristics. According to Wallace, P. (2014), people who are addicted to different kinds

of online games will have different characteristics, because some games will have violent

elements but others may emphasize completely different aspects like cooperation. For

example, violence, which is blamed most among the bad effects of online games (as cited in

The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games) can be indoctrinated to adolescents by

some games filled with killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting. However, other games like

Farmville of Facebook, will help players learn to cooperation and some other social skills by

5
The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games.,
www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of- video-games,
(accessed October 8, 2019).

3
virtual gift-giving (Wallace, P. 2014). If teenager spends much time on online games full of

violence and aggression, he will surely be influenced by games and will easily form bad

characteristics. On the other hand, playing games which emphasize good qualities will benefit

them.6

As one of the most important parts of many teenagers’ lives, online games are

affecting their health, abilities and characteristics in different way which will cause different

effects. The proper use of online games can make teenagers relaxed and gain many useful

skills, but if the use of the Internet is out of control, teenagers will suffer from many physical

and psychological disorders. Teenagers is nearly the most important stage when both

teenagers’ bodies and mentality are developing and their values and characteristics are

forming. While as an important way of communication and entertainment, online games take

much of teenagers’ time, and it is influencing their lives in many aspects. It is important for

them to tell the virtual world from the reality, and not only play the role in games well but

also make their real lives wonderful. Only when teenagers can make sensible use of Internet

and play online games with strict self-restraint, will they be able to benefit from the Internet.

6
P. Wallace, “Internet Addiction Disorder and Youth.”, 2014
www.mediapost.com/lublications/article/105117/the-growing-popularity-of-online- games.html?edition
(accessed October 8, 2019).

4
Methods

The research sampling method 7that will be used in this study is random sampling to

obtain a more scientific result that could be used to represent the entirety of the population.

Respondents

The Respondents in this research are teenagers and will all be coming from one

location- Valencia City, Bukidnon, specifically the randomly selected barangay of Poblacion

because of the modernization in the area is higher than other barangays of the City. The

location is more relevant to study and also as it fits the time frame and resources of the

researcher, where there is more teenagers hanging out in group and also more advance in

technology especially in online games. The researcher went to different area in the city like in

Robinson’s Place Mall (food court), Gaisano Mall (food court), NVM Supermarket (food

court) and Alkuino Emporium. The randomly selected respondents will be asked by the

researcher for consent and approval to answer the questionnaire and short interview until the

desire number of respondent which is 30 is reached.

Procedure

In gathering the data the researcher provide questioners to be answered by the

respondents and ask some questions related to the research topic. The researcher conducted

most of the survey questionnaires and interview in a group of teenagers hanging out in the

city. The upper part of the questioners contains the name, gender and age so that it is easy for

the researcher to collect and arrange the data. Also, the questionnaires contains the negative.

7
“A sampling method is a procedure for selecting sample members from a population.”

5
and the positive effects of online games that need to be check by the respondents according to

their experiences. The prepared questions for the interview are how many hours they

consume playing online games, what online games they always played.

Results

There are 30 respondents (teenagers), 15 boys and 15 girls. Most of online games that

the respondents answered are Mobile Legends Bang bang, Warcraft III Dota, League of

Legends, Dota 2, Dragon Nest, Counter Strike, Cross fire, Special Force, Clash of Clans,

PUBG Mobile, Garena Free Fire, Minecraft, Rules of Survival, Candy Crush Saga, Temple

Run, and Piano Tiles.8

There are 5 boys and 4 girls in total of 9 respondents consume 6 hours and more

playing online games; 15 respondents, 8 boys and 7 girls consume 3 to 5 hours playing

games; 6 respondents, 2 boys and 4 girls consume 1 to 2 hours playing online games through

their mobile phones, laptop or PC daily. Based on the result, boys tend to spend more time

gaming than girls and may be more likely to display lower levels of social competence; boys

spent gaming did not affect their social development, teenagers from less advantaged families

may be at greater risk of problems that influence social competence; higher BMI in girls is

associated with more gaming and teenagers with higher BMIs tend to have more problems

with social competence, and amount of time teenagers spent gaming with friends, since those

who play games with friends have more opportunities to practice social skills than youth who

play alone or online with strangers.

8
“See http://pinoytechsaga.blogspot.com for more list of all-time favorite online games of teenagers.”

6
Table 1.

The positive effects of Online Games in Teenagers’ Lifestyle

Positive Effects
Gender Problem
Stress Improve Incremental
Relaxing Solving
Reliever Moods Intelligence
Abilities
Boys 15 10 7 11 9

Girls 14 11 10 9 5

As of 30 respondents in the study, there are 15 boys and 14 girls in total of 29

admitted that playing online games is relaxing; 14 respondents, 9 boys and 5 girls admitted

that playing online games can improve the Incremental Intelligence of an individual, and so

on. Most of the respondents stated that playing online games can reduce stress from school

works and activities, family problems, even in heartaches.

Playing online games can relieve your stress, reduce your depression, and make you

feel better. There is a reason so many teenagers turn to gaming, it’s because online game

provide a tremendous vehicle for stress relief in anyone’s life. Plus, they’re fun and can make

you laugh.9

Online games are great for showing you that there are a variety of problems with a

variety of solutions. You not only have different types of games that teach you everything

9
Ryan Dube, “Science Proves that Playing Online Games Reduces Your Stress”, 11 September 2015
www.makeuseof.com/tag/online-game-stress-reduction-need-start-playing-right-now (accessed October 8,
2019).

7
from algebra to memory, but you also can solve these problems in a variety of ways. This is a

great flexible approach to problem solving in real life.10

Table 2.

The Negative effects of Online Games in Teenagers’ Lifestyle

Gender
Negative Effects
Boys Girls
Sleepless/Restless 8 5
Unhealthy 8 8
Changes in Mood 12 11
Skip Meals 7 5
Lower Academic Grades 13 11
Skip Homework 9 7
Skip Household Chores 13 8
Stealing 4 3

As of 30 respondents, 11 girls and 13 boys in total of 24 admitted that playing online

games can lower academic grades. Most of their responds during the interview, they got

lower academic grades because they consume their free-time playing online games than

studying, making assignments, and doing good in school projects. 7 respondents, 4 boys and

3 girls admitted that they steal money from their family members for them to pay for their

internet charges. 21 respondents 13 boys and 8 girls admitted that they skip the household

chores and leave their works that lead to misunderstanding and closeness to the other

members of the family. And, so on.

10
Agents of Geek, www.agentsofgeek.com/2017/07/how-video-games-can-help-to-improve-problem-solving-
and-creativity (accessed October 8, 2019).

8
Conclusion

Online games are affecting teenagers’ health, abilities and characteristics in different

way. The proper use of online games can make teenagers relaxed and gain many useful skills,

but if the use of the Internet is out of control, teenagers will suffer from many physical and

psychological disorders. Teenagers is nearly the most important stage when both teenagers’

bodies and mentality are developing and their values and characteristics are forming. Online

games take much of teenagers’ time that affects the way of their communication and

entertainment, and it is influencing their lives in many aspects. It is important for them to tell

the virtual world from the reality, and not only play the role in games well but also make their

real lives wonderful. Only when teenagers can make sensible use of Internet and play online

games with strict self-restraint, will they be able to benefit from the Internet.

9
 Bibliography

“How Video Games can Help to improve Problem Solving and Creativity.”, Agents of Geek,
11 July 2017 www.agentsofgeek.com/2017/07/how-video-games-can-help-to-
improve-problem-solving-and-creativity (accessed October 8, 2019).

“
The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games.”,
www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-
video-games (accessed October 8, 2019).

Dube, Ryan, “Science Proves that Playing Online Games Reduces Your Stress”, 11
September 2015 www.makeuseof.com/tag/online-game-stress-reduction-need-start-
playing-right-now (accessed October 8, 2019).

Mohammad-Reza, Sohrabi, researchgate.net, September

2015,www.researchgate.net/publication/306955174_The_effect_of_online_games_on
_teenagers'_behavior_and_performance (accessed October 8, 2019).

Society for Research in Child Development. "Playing video games generally not harmful to
boys' social development. ScienceDaily.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190423113956.htm (accessed October 7,
2019).

Wallace, P., “Internet Addiction Disorder and Youth.”, 2014

www.mediapost.com/lublications/article/105117/the-growing-popularity-of-online-
games.html?edition (accessed October 8, 2019).

10