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Are video games that bad for teenagers?

  • Le Tran Huy
  • Oct 5, 2020
  • 3 min read

Playing video games has been a popular hobby among the youth for the past decades. This form of entertainment has seen a tremendous growth like never before. But a number of adults are blaming it for their children’s poor performances at school and decreasing social interactions. In this article, we are going to take a look at both sides of the coin and discuss the effects those video games have on teenagers.

Video games have bad effects on your physical health, if the playtime is too long. The visual system strain from frequent video game use over extended periods may result in headaches, dizziness and in some cases, nausea and vomiting. Irregular ways of sitting are linked with pains in the hands and wrists to back and neck. Lack of physical activities and a big amount of junk food consumed in the process leads to severe diabetes. It is even widely suggested that sudden seizures might occur as a result of over-using electronic devices.

Video games can not just damage a person's well-being but also damage the connection of one’s self with people around. In certain games, individuals are bonded to the daily and enthusiastic engagement by constant notifications, tasks and rewards for achievements. These methods of encouraging make the dedication to the game highly valued. Moreover, some developers have managed to produce and design graphics, soundtracks, and story plots that are so convincing, they have created a virtual world which could be much more interesting and exciting than the real one, yet without immediately posing any physical risk. Exposure to such factors in a long period of time can eventually cut any ties of the addicted with the rest of the physical world.

Video games help gamers escape from stresses and struggles. With the ever-advancing technology and continuously changing society in the early 21st century, teenagers face new forms of sufferings that have never appeared before. Boys and girls might experience emotional crises, relationship difficulties or family conflicts, and some of them could fall victim to mental illnesses. Thus, those colorful screens, though with a danger of negative dependency, still successfully divert a kid’s vulnerable mind from the horrible situation he or she is dealing with. A different experience in a parallel universe makes people forget about the tension or just blow the boredom away. In other words, a temporary escapism from reality is not that worthless and useless to every teenager, especially those struggling with their lives.

And not just that, playing video games with just an appropriate amount of time can improve your logical thinking and vision. In a study published in the journal Nature, a group of adults between the ages of 60 and 85 were recruited to play the game for 12 hours over a month. Six months after playing the game, the older adults were better at multitasking, retained more information in a short period of time, and had stronger attention skills. And in terms of eyesight performance, video game players, as implied from a study led by Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester, are able to distinguish slightly different shades of color.

There are quite a number of reasons for video games to always come into mind of many adults as the #1 enemy of their child/younger relatives. Firstly, their judgments are based on what they had experienced and got used to during childhood. Those electronic devices are surely not part of their times growing up. Secondly, the virtual world is the latest platform for businesses, communications and entertainment. It is quite a challenge to adapt for some and a considerable portion of middle-aged men and women has failed to comprehend. And thirdly, the online chats that are heavily favored by the current youth are lessening the number of conversations in real life. The accusation, eventually, is just a very reasonable and natural reaction of your parents.

In conclusion, there are many pros and cons of this contemporary but sometimes quite controversial kind of hobby. A young person, no matter the opinion towards this matter, should respect the adult’s thoughts and be sympathetic with the gap between the two generations.

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Author: Le Tran Huy, Foreign Language Specialized School


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