Risks and Video Games: Are Those Hours Behind the Screen Hurting Them?

Who doesn't love modern video games? Show me someone that claims they don't appeal, and let's stick them in front of a screen for a few hours and see how hooked they get—it's no secret that we are in a video game renaissance at the moment. But just because something is tons of fun doesn't mean it is doing us any good, and in this case, I think it's safe to say there are some real potential risks involved.

It's easy for parents to brush the possibilities to the side because we are so busy these days that we really just need a way to keep them entertained and out of our hair, but let's sit down for a moment and look at some of these potential risks once again.

A Propensity for Violent Behavior

Some video games, even these days, are no more harmless than Bugs Bunny was for us as children. Others seem to have taken a much more sinister turn—with a level of realistic violence and sketchy morals being promoted that is rivaled by no other medium in history.

Some parents, and even experts, may debate about whether or not violence in video games and on television can spill over into a child's life, but for me there's no question about it. Put a kid in front of a screen five hours a day, letting him run down the streets, pumping civilians full of bullets, and there's bound to be some strange things going on in their brain. I'm not saying all these kids will be the next school massacre, but the fact that those horrifying incidents are so prevalent now is very troubling—at the very least, be conscious of what you allow your kid to expose themselves to until they have the wisdom to make these choices on their own.

A Minute Spent is a Minute Gone

No matter how you feel about the role modern media plays on our child's behavior, brain activity, and sense of reality, you cannot deny the fact that time spent on the Internet is not the most productive in the world. We start out giving them a little time here and there to keep them entertained while we're busy, but before you know it, playing these games is all they want to do.

What else could all those hours upon hours have gone towards? How about learning to play the guitar or piano? How about learning to love what reading can do fro the growth of the human mind—or even for older, "wiser" minds, for that matter? How about developing a love for painting? Or, gasp, their homework? Sports?

I think I've hammered my point to death here. There is an endless list of other things children could put energy into that would have a much more positive lasting effect on their life. So why spend all that time playing vids?

Poor Health

I touched on this one a little bit in the last point when I mentioned sports, but let's look into a little further. Not only is all that time glued to the screen preventing the development of healthier habits, like shooting baskets or learning ballet, but it also negatively affects their health. Humans need sunshine, activity, fresh air—all things robbed from them by days in a room with a control stick in their hands.

What your kids really need is to get outside and play—just like you used to do when you where knee-high. Look, I'm not saying the video game is the end of the human race or going to turn your child into a human monster. In fact, many games even have positive mental and hand/eye coordination benefits. But what I am saying is that you need to strike a balance, and perhaps even tilt the scales in the direction of extracurricular activities that require bodily movement.


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