By Jocelyn Anderson
Are video games a waste of time, or are we gaining more than just entertainment while playing? Have we been wasting hours and hours of our lives on pointless, meaningless games? This is a question that many people wonder, and often don’t find an answer to. Some argue that all video games are a waste of time and we could be using our time for better things. Others say that video games are the same as other forms of entertainment, and are not a waste of time at all.
People that argue that video games are not a waste of time often play video games themselves and are likely biased. Although, they do bring up some pretty good points. One point that gamers put out is that other forms of entertainment and pleasure could be just as much of a waste of time as video games. Things like art, reading, watching TV, or scrolling on your phone also take up time that you could’ve used to do something productive. Many studies have also shown that there could be real health benefits to playing video games. The “Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study,” supported by the National Institutes of Health, shows that children who played video games for 3 or more hours a day had better cognitive skills and impulse control than children who had never played video games. This shows that playing video games does not have all negative effects and could actually be helpful and good for adolescents’ brain development.
There are also many people who argue that video games are a complete waste of time and have many negative benefits. It’s been said that this specific hobby of video games is a waste of time, while other hobbies and entertainment are not. Some make the argument that video games are not using your brain as much as another hobby would. While this has been proven untrue, there are other risks and cons to playing video games. Harvard Medical School has studied the risks of gaming and has found many negative effects of too much gaming. They stated that gaming can cause stress injuries and overuse injuries from activities that involve repeated use of a muscle or tendon, which many video games require. A common injury that results from gaming is carpal tunnel, which causes inflammation, pain, and numbness in the wrist and hand. Another health risk associated with gaming is obesity. Gaming does not involve much physical exercise, and requires a lot of time sitting inside. The obesity problem is also thought to be due to the food intake while gaming. Mental stress involved in video gaming has been shown to increase food intake in adolescent males.
Overall, there are both positive and negative effects from video games. One side, pros or cons, might be more important to one person than the next. It’s up to the individual to decide which side is more important to them and whether they want to play video games or not because both sides have strong points, arguments, studies, and facts that back them up.
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