By Eva, Blog Ambassador of Youthoughtism
Introduction
In October 1958, Physicist William Higinbotham invented video games. Video games have been popular worldwide since then. Teens LOVE to play them… But have you ever thought of what benefits or negative impacts video games bring you? Let’s find out!
Benefits
Some benefits of video games you usually hear are: Helping you develop problem-solving skills and improving your critical thinking. Have you ever thought about what other advantages video games bring you?
Accomplishment: In a game, your goal is to win or to earn something. Once you achieve your goal, you will feel successful and accomplished, which improves your mental health!
Social interaction: Through video games, if you are in teams, you can improve your social interaction and communication skills, which improves your mental health!
Learn to accept: When you fail in a game, you may feel sad or angry. Video games help you learn how to cope with failure and keep trying and working harder to achieve goals, which improves your mental health!
Negative impacts
Video games can also be bad for us if we play excessively, leading to addiction to video games.
Addiction: Addiction means “sticking” to the video game all day long without moving or stretching. Addiction can lead to a poor sleeping schedule, a poor diet, dehydration, physical health, etc.
Poor concentration: Since playing video games occupies most of your time, you might not have time to focus on your schoolwork and daydream about video games during class.
Escape from reality: The worst excessive use of video games impacts is escaping from reality. The longer you play video games without real-life interaction, the more you think the video game world is more realistic. By then, you will believe that the video game world is the real world. And as you fail more in the games, you will feel unsuccessful. Many people at this stage have committed suicide.
Conclusion
Video games have both positive and negative results. You can play video games, but overplaying might cause addiction and even worse, escaping from reality. Then what should you do? You should make a timetable for yourself, stating how long you play video games. This way can prevent you from excessive playing. Just always remember, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!