Are Video Games Good Or Bad For You?

By Matthew Sebastian

Video games are played by many people. Video games have been around since the early 1970’s, according to How Stuff Works

But the question is - are video games good or bad for you? Well, it can be both.

Many people say video games are bad for you. Some parents say that video games are a waste of time and some people say that video games make people become violent. However, video games can actually be good for you. 

Why Video games are Good For You

Some video games can improve many skills. According to Kids Health video games can improve hand-eye coordination, problem solving skills, and the mind’s ability to process information.

Another reason video games can be good is because it helps with decision making. According to GAME DESIGNING, Shawn Green from the University of Rochester had two groups and they each played a game. One group played an action game and one played a strategy game. After he studied them he said, “Action video games are fast-paced, and there are peripheral images and events popping up and disappearing. These video games are teaching people to become better at taking sensory data in and translating it into correct decisions.”

Additionally, games can help us in school. In HPCMS, in 6th Grade Science, we have class craft. Class craft helps us behave in school because if we do we can earn gold or exp. Exp helps you level up and when you level up you can unlock different things such as, shields, pets and clothing. In science if we have a good grade on a quiz we get exp. Also another example of classcraft helping us is in classcraft there is a volume meter. If students are too loud the volume meter stops and you lose hit points. If you are quiet for a certain amount of time you gain gold.

Why Video games Are Bad For You

Video games help us a lot, however video games can also be bad for us. According to Kids Health if you keep playing video games you won’t get exercise and you can become overweight.

Playing games too much can also affect other things like friendships if you spend too much time playing. Video games can also affect how well you do in school and if you play violent games you might act aggressive.

Furthermore, why video games are bad is because according to Credit Donkey video games can interrupt a person's sleep and shooter games may damage the hippocampus area of the brain. “The caudate nucleus takes grey matter from the hippocampus, which can lead to illnesses like depression and Alzheimer's (progressive mental deterioration that can occur in middle or old age, due to generalized degeneration of the brain). Grey matter is involved in muscle control, and sensory perception such as seeing and hearing, memory, emotions, speech, decision making, and self-control because grey matter is involved it emotions if it gets taken away you can be depressed.”

Another reason why video games are bad is because according to credit donkey playing for more than three hours can cause computer eye syndrome, eye pain, issues with focusing, and even headaches.” This shows video games are bad because it can hurt your vision.

Also, according to the same site, children who play video games for hours a day might have underdeveloped frontal lobes. The frontal lobe is the largest part of the brain and it is in charge of problem solving, memory and language.

Video games also impact sleep. Electronics emit blue light according to Evening Screen Time Can Sabotage Sleep from Ashley Yeager Exposure to that blue light can keep us from getting a good night's rest.

In addition, video games can be very addicting and I asked an HPCMS student how much time they spend on video games. One anonymous person said they play for a few hours and another person said they play for three hours each day.

In conclusion, video games can be good and bad for you. It’s your decision whether or not you want to play video games; it’s all up to you!