Impact of Video Game Addiction on Individuals and Societies

Running head: IMPACT OF VIDEO GAME
VIDEO GAME ADDICTION
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1IMPACT OF VIDEO GAME
The aim of this essay is to discuss the ill effectsof video games on the individuals and
societiesaffecting the whole generation. It not only affects the children physically and mentally
but alsoleads to their affectedbehavioralgrowth. Video game in this technological world has
become the favoritepastimeof the adolescents, which ultimately affects the individuals, societies
and might even affect the future generation. Secondly, the effects of the video games have been
both positive and negative. Thirdly, it also can be a non-issue if seen to have positive effect on
the individual and societiesbut as an addiction this can never be supported. The essay thus aims
to argue that video games have affected the contemporary virtual world of the children and
adults in several positive and negative ways as the creativity of the children is hampered.
As mentioned by Zastrow (2017), the adolescentsandthe children are the most affected
groupin the increasing rate of addictiontowards different types of video game in the
society.Theirvulnerabilityisclearly visible as their development is highly influenced by their
environment and they are considering video games as an influential story teller for their
generation (Bourgonjon et al., 2016). This may be the reason for the technological advancement
that has motivated this particular vulnerable group to indulge in excessive video games. This
dissuades the vulnerable group to take part in any type of extracurricular activities other than
gaming (Jalink et al., 2014). As mentioned by Adachi and Willoughby(2017),this addiction is
reducing the social participation of the children and younger people. In addition to this, the
destructive video games are increasingphysical and verbal aggressionamong these people,which
is affecting their moralities, values and increasing violence in the society (Velez et al., 2014).In
the extensive studies about this behavioral change among the young generation, the critics have
pointed out that frequent exposure to the violent video games in childhood, leads to display of
aggression in life like spouse abuse and physical assaults(Nuic et al., 2018).Crimes, in particular

2IMPACT OF VIDEO GAME
mass shootings have been heavily influenced by violent video games as many real-world
examples suggest. The shooter of the February 2014 Stoneman Douglas High School shootings
in Florida had confessed being addicted to first-person shooter games. Further, the case of the
18-year old shooter of Munich in Germany also adds concern to the issue(Scutti, 2018). Through
these games, the children are being given magnetic resonance imaging directly to the
brains,which ultimately increases the emotion arousal factors anddecreasesthe activity in brain
areas,which basicallyresults in inhibition, self-control and attention (Jalink et al., 2014).This
scientific fact must be made public and parents should be made aware of the ill effects of the
video games.Some of the video games send a negative message though the portrayal of large
aggressive characters and promote destruction to be the answer of negotiation and petty matters.
The generation therefore, has been imitating scenes from the games and applying in the real-life
situationsas has been evident from the instances discussed in above sections.Their aggressive and
violent behavior shows this.With changing time and progress of technology, video games are
becoming more likereal life and engaging which is affecting the physical and
psychologicalhealth of the victimsof the negative influence of video games (Zastrow, 2017).
Due to excessiveindulgence in the video game, the children stop taking part in the social
activities or sports. This reduces their ability of communication and personal interaction and
directly harmstheirstudies and reduces theirability to be creative (Granic et al., 2014). Addiction
of video games affects the heath of the children. Obesity is one of the most important effects of
video game (Zastrow, 2017).According to Calvert, Staiano and Bond (2013), obesity amongst
children in the US between 6-11 years of age has “increased from 7% in 1980 to 20% in
2008”.Playing video games for longer duration, also hampers the sleep cycle of the
individualsresulting in insomnia. As pointed out by Jalink et al. (2014) this ultimately leads to