Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Blog #8- Video Games: Corrupting our Youth

I want to begin this post by saying that, yes, I do occasionaly play video games. It's a good way to kick back from reality, veg, and not have to think about anything; its one of many ways to relax. But the problem with the world these days is that people, especially our youth, is oblivious to the many ways of relaxation, and has turned to video games as their sole form of relaxation (and strangely enough for some, their primary hobby...if it can be called a hobby). When I watch television every once in awhile, there is about a 40% chance I will see a commercial either promoting a certain video game, or promoting a store selling exclusively video games. In my opinion, it's gotten out of hand.

Parents need to realize that the good ol' XBOX360 and PS3 are pulling their children away from the world; they are being deprived of life experiences that everyone should have. It's a shame as everytime I drive home less and less youngsters are outside playing; sure, it may just be that they're not home, but to notice that the numbers of outsiders are dwindling after such a long period is saddening. Because of video games, children are starting to develop eye issues (minor, but still), health problems (obesity, anyone?), psychological problems (social awkwardness), etc. From the rate video games have risen in popularity, I find it will be a HUGE uphill battle to bring
children to understand the importance of socializing, playing outside, and having actual hobbies. This goes for some adults as well; it's sad when i'm shopping for some CDs at Best Buy and see people in their 30's and 40's looking through the video game racks (you can tell the ones obviously buying games for themselves and not their kids).


3 comments:

(1-x^2)y''-2xy'+L(L+1)=0 said...

That babys head shotin' like a pro

Todd Jacobs said...

I agree with this post and also think that video games have become a true problem with youth in society these days. I also think it is true that many kids are getting away from the days of wandering around outside and finding friends to play with while bored, and instead resort to playing video games for several hours a day. I realized the size of this problem the other day when I was waiting in line at Qdoba. Ther was a man with two of his kids who were about 3 and 5 years old who were playing games on their ipod touches while waiting in line. The dad could barely get their attention to see what they wanted to eat, and the kids were truely hooked on there electronics. Viewing how attached they were in the restaraunt, I began to wonder how much of their lives at home were dedicated to playing theses games also. I think with the improvement of graphics to make these games become more and more like real life, I believe the problem will continue to get worse, and kids will become more and more at a social disadvantage.

Elizabeth said...

I completely agree with this. Growing up, my family did not have a game system of any kind. I only knew what a Nintendo 64 was because of friends. I enjoyed playing outside with my friends all day during the summer, but ocassionally they would just want to sit inside and play Mario or Duck Hunt. I never understood the interest in these games and still struggle with this. Why do people, especially young kids, want to spend hours staring at a tv screen doing something that isn't real? They may be a good distraction every now again as adults, but children should be encouraged to play outside or read a book, which offers more imagination than a video game anyways.