Headset, on; knuckles, cracked;
lights, off. Yup, its gaming time. A whopping 91 percent of U.S. kids age 2-17
are playing video games according to the NPD (Camp). This means that the 9
percent of Americans who aren’t gamers are actually the minority. Gaming is a
modern day epidemic that should not be looked over as it could have serious
effects varying from hours on end in front of a tv to a loss of money in game.
Imagine doing the laundry and calling your son to come get his clothes only for
him to not come so you call again and again and finally he hears you through
his headset. Kids not only make their parents pay for their games but also for
in game items that cost real world money, these are known as
micro-transactions. Although gaming is a serious epidemic, it is not an
unsolvable one.
Gaming wasn’t always really as big
of a problem as it is now, it mainly changed due to the introduction of high
capacity gaming consoles being released for the first time. The PlayStation 3
and the Xbox 360, these would be the consoles that would push gaming down a
snowy mountain, creating the unstoppable snowball know as gaming. This would
mainly be due to the release of two big features: online voice chat/party chat
and online multiplayer. While voice chat had already been a thing on PC, it
wasn’t a reliable way to have fun on console until pioneered by the Xbox 360, “
On Xbox 360 it was so simple – just open the dashboard, go into the friends
tab, and join a party...Before Xbox 360, online voice chat was the domain of of
PC gamers with endless patience – now it’s just normal” (Sillis and Dreyer) and
while 2000’s DreamCast had a crack at the online voice chat, no one could
compare to Xbox’.
If you think of online voice chat as
the perfect topping, then online multiplayer was the perfect cake. Online
multiplayer was groundbreaking as not only could you play with your friends
when they come over to your house but also when they went back. It was simple,
load up a game and invite them to your session, “As the Playstation Network
(PSN), Xbox Marketplace, and Wii Marketplace begin to gain traction, the way
games are purchased and updated changes. Halo 2 is released for Xbox to an
eager audience. As a result, Xbox live usage quadrupled...Playstation 3 is also
released in the same year with internet capabilities and the Playstation
Network (PSN)” (Rivenes). With this you could slay zombies or capture the point
with your friends or with complete online strangers who would soon become your
new online friends. Gaming was now at a turning point and with the popularity
of smartphones on the rise mobile gaming would become the next craze. From this
point onward gaming consoles would only get better whether it be graphics,
online support, or even design gaming had finally found its place in society
and it’s here to stay. This brings us to today with the heavy juggernaut of an
epidemic on our hands.
While
gaming can bring about many positive things to those who play them, the same
cannot be said about how it affects the world around them socially. Ever since
gaming became the epidemic it is today, it has shown effects in gamers’ inner
circles and in this specific nation, the United States. After having hooked on
to gaming, gamers tend to isolate themselves and will stay in their room or wherever
the video games are at. This is the case because if all they do is talk or
think about games then they are naturally pushed out of their circles due to
their narrow mind solely focused on games. Not feeling as if they can relate
with others or that they are not part of the group anymore causes them to
remove themselves from the social relationships they once had. The neglect on
their relationships whether it be family, friends, or any loved ones causes
strain on that relationship especially when they would rather enjoy their video
game instead of going outside, hanging out with friends, or even spending time
with family, “Relationships with friends and family members may suffer if your
child is spending more time gaming than he is talking to or going out with
loved ones. The On-Line Gamers Anonymous website notes that gaming may be
negatively affecting your child's life if he only wants to talk about video
games, lies to cover up the amount of time he spends playing, and argues with
you over his excessive gaming.” (Christopher).
Another effect of gaming took place
in other places in the world as well but hurt the most in our nation, the
United States. In the year 2018, the game Fortnite became so popular that it
transformed the way young kids and teenagers would act at school or in public.
These kids would now instead of playing outside or do their homework would play
Fortnite instead, hurting their performance in school. This could attributed to
many reason whether it be the lack of sleep, lack of interest, or mainly
thinking about Fortnite throughout the school day, “In addition to sleep loss,
some other things can be pushed out by their gaming that start to take their
toll. For instance, they’re not getting enough physical activity, they’re not
exercising, they’re just sitting, playing the game. Maybe their in-person
interactions are taking a hit. So, they’re not hanging out with their friends
or interacting with family members. It could be that all their other interests
have dropped off, all their other hobbies, like music or sports, [to the extent
that] that they are dropping off the radar. Or perhaps they are not attending
to their academics anymore and their grades are really slipping, and we know
they are going to pay for that later on” (Brooks). Fortnite had gotten kids to
do their silly dances any place where they could get attention even prompting
the creation of the Fortnite Boogie Down contest, a contest which made many
fans create their own dance in hopes of landing it in the game. Fortnite dance
competitions held at gaming conventions also became a thing due to its amassed
popularity.
Some
examples regarding the epidemic known as gaming can be seen in public or even
in your household, one of which will be a personal example and the other a devastating
real world example of what gaming can lead to. The first example which is a
personal one involves a younger relative of mine who had gotten into the very
popular game, Fortnite, which spread like wildfire. What was believed to have
not been a problem at first slowly grew into a plague that would infect his
life unlike any other hobby could. Their life consisted of get home, eat, play
Fortnite, and sleep. One problem that arose from their gaming addiction is the
“sleep” part in the cycle mentioned before. Fortnite or gaming as a whole
rather had gotten his life in a vice grip that he couldn’t escape. He would
play the game like crazy and use his mother's credit card to buy a ton of skins
or weapons and to top all of that off, not sleep until three or four in the
morning. Of course this affected not only his grades at school but also his
social life as he had no interest in anything that isn’t Fortnite. This
personal example comes from how the game affected a kid in the sixth grade,
this could possibly create a bad habit that could stay with him even until high
school and hurt worse then.
Another
example of this epidemic is the tragic story of Sarang, one of the first to
bring a awareness of the gaming epidemic to a worldwide scale. “Kim Jae-beom
told the police he wasn’t sure what killed his daughter...The baby had died of
malnutrition as a result of her parents’ online gaming addiction. So begins the
tale of Kim and his wife, Kim Yun-jeong, a South Korean couple whose
all-consuming video game habit led them to neglect their 3-month-old baby.”
(Strochlic) gaming, an escape from reality and a passport to fun and
entertainment could lead to one of the worst reality checks if left alone
without any limits or repercussions. The magnitude of this couples gaming
addiction who decided that they would rather play a video game and live that
life instead, cost the them the life of another. Gaming had gotten to the point
of leading someone to death. While some may refute the fact that this was due
to gaming neglect, that is not the case, “Last September after a 12-hour
gaming-session the couple came home in the morning to find their daughter dead.
The baby's malnourished body aroused police suspicions of neglect that were was
confirmed after an autopsy.” (Tran). The death of this poor baby was purely due
to gaming and the fatal addiction that comes with it.
When looking at the epidemic known
as gaming, addictions and obsessions are not a hard concept to wrap one's head
around. Do not fear however, as scientists and psychologists around the world
work to find possible solutions to cure or at least help suppress this
epidemic. According to Addiction Experts, when talking to 7,000 gamers, 12%
were addicts (Addiction Experts). In other studies done on gaming, it was found
by Dr. Chiu that students who were addicted to video games showed lower
performance in their grades when compared to treir non addicted peers (Chiu).
One solution for dealing with video game addiction that was offered by American
Addiction Center was therapy. This includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, to
help reduce the addicts obsessive thoughts and patterns and group therapy to
help addicts who have lost contact with friends and family gain motivation
around others with the same issue (American Addiction Center). Another solution
is offered by Mikalee Byerman which states, “Like any form of screen time,
parents and guardians should set time limits on how long children are allowed
to play video games. It’s also imperative to monitor your child to ensure they
don’t exceed the time limit you’ve agreed upon” (Byerman). Out of the two
solutions listed above both have the possibility to work. This is because
offering therapy and giving the addicts of gaming a chance to figure out for
themselves what they are losing because of gaming and to have each other while
doing is what gamers need, human interaction along with a reality check. Along
with therapy, monitoring how much gaming is being done by the addict would also
allow for removing the problem slowly and ensuring that the addict is doing
anything besides gaming.
Camus’ beliefs relate to this topic
because of what absurdity is and how gaming is a representation of it.
Absurdity is nothing and anything at the same time, it doesn’t have to make
sense or be explained. Video games relate to absurdity and Camus because they
are fictional worlds created to be either realistic or completely out of this
world , it is what want it to be.
Because they are games no one questions anything except for the creators
decisions as to why they made it rather than of how the game works, not
questioning the world itself but instead appreciating and enjoying it. Camus
would encourage the epidemic and believe that nothing is wrong because gaming
allows for the absurdity in all of us to come out and be free, the players
could control what they do in game and do things they couldn’t do in real life
and the creators could create the world that they envisioned in their minds
with no restraints. Camus would also not care however for the results of my
epidemic because it would result in a world where everyone is looking for
solutions to a problem where the problem could or could not even be a problem.
The “problem” is either a devastating end of human interaction or an opening to
a new world with a new way for humans to interact.
My topic is important because it has
drastically changed the way that kids nowadays are brought up and raised. Back
before the era of gaming became mainstream the way kids grew up was different,
simple, kids would hang out together, go to parks, play outside but that all
changed after gaming became more and more prevalent and became integrated into
modern day society. This epidemic not only costs parents a large amount of
money but takes away their kids too, to an extent. Through this however the
scariest part of gaming as a whole is the loss of human interaction, the core
of what makes a society a society.
Works Cited
Bresnahan, Samantha, and Will
Worley. "When Video Games Become an Addiction." CNN, 6 Jan. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/01/06/health/video-games-addiction-gentile-feat/index.html.
Brooks, Mike. "403
Forbidden." 403 Forbidden,
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/tech-happy-life/201809/is-fortnite-ruining-your-kid.
Byerman, Mikalee. "Gaming
Disorder: Symptoms and Solutions | BestMEDICINE News." BestMedicine by
Renown Health, 18 July 2018,
bestmedicinenews.org/childrens-health/gaming-disorder-video-games-addiction/.
Camp, Jeffrey V. "91 Percent of
Kids Play Video Games, Says Study." Digital Trends, 11 Oct. 2011,
www.digitaltrends.com/computing/91-percent-of-kids-play-video-games-says-study/.
Christopher, Drea. "The
Negative Effects of Video Game Addiction." LIVESTRONG.COM, 8 July 2011, www.livestrong.com/article/278074-negative-effects-of-video-game-addiction/.
Rivenes, Logan. "The History of
Online Gaming." Datapath.io, 17 Jan. 2017,
datapath.io/resources/blog/the-history-of-online-gaming/.
Sillis, Ben, and Pete Dreyer.
"10 Ways the Xbox 360 Changed Gaming." Red Bull, 27 Apr. 2016,
www.redbull.com/us-en/10-ways-the-xbox-360-changed-gaming.
Strochlic, Nina. "'Love Child?
Game Over: Internet Addicts Let Their Baby Starve to Death." The Daily
Beast, 21 July 2014,
www.thedailybeast.com/love-child-game-over-internet-addicts-let-their-baby-starve-to-death.
Tran, Mark. "Girl Starved to
Death While Parents Raised Virtual Child in Online Game." The Guardian, 11
Dec. 2017, www.theguardian.com/world/2010/mar/05/korean-girl-starved-online-game.
"Video Game Addiction."
Addiction Expert, addictionexperts.com/types-of-addiction/technology-addiction/video-game-addiction/.
"Video Game Addiction Symptoms
and Treatment." American Addiction Centers,
americanaddictioncenters.org/video-gaming-addiction.
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