Video Game Addiction

There is nothing like the thrill of beating the final level of a video game that you have been playing. Figuring out all the tricks and shortcuts in a difficult game is a challenge that most of us enjoy. What happens, though, hen the gaming starts to take over! When you dream the game" When your fingers start mimicking playing the game hen you are no here near it! When you are dying to get back home so that you can continue here you left off" Welcome staff, students, parents, and honorable judges. Video games are a multi#billion dollar industry. $o as you can imagine, there are a lot of people making a lot of money from it. They are not all bad ne s, some games are educational and used for purposes like improving eyesight or teaching medical students ho to perform surgery. %ut the majority of video games are strictly for entertainment. &ere's here the problems arise. ( think a lot of us have, at one time or another, gone overboard ith the game playing. )ou can imagine ( had family members ho suggested ( look into video game addiction. ( as resistant but afraid if ( said no it ould make them think that ( as addicted. Video game addiction happens slo ly. According to the *ouncil on $cience and +ublic &ealth in the ,$, addiction to video games seems to occur more likely in children ho start playing video games at younger ages. -ifferent studies have sho n that up to ./0 of video gamers can be considered addicted. That means that out of .1 of your friends that play video games, one or more may be affected. 2veruse of gaming is considered to be more than 3 hours per day4 To do that, video gaming has to push other things out of your life, home ork, hanging ith your family and playing ith your friends even eating less4 5ot to mention that it ill give you sudden behavior changes. 2ne second, you can be jollier than $anta *laus, and the ne6t second you're angrier than the &ulk4 5o , ( don't think anybody ants this to happen, so here are 7 signs to tell if you're addicted, and need help. For starters, you 82V9 your game hen you're on it, but hen you have to get off, let's just say everyone else should clear the room. 5e6t, you're al ays thinking about it. 8ike at the dinner table, the only thing you talk about is your latest adventure in digital orld. *onversations become limited and people get bored listening to you. 5umber :4 )ou spend WA))))))) too much time on it. )ou'll be on cell phone games at school, console games at home, and computer games at the library4 And if some of you are already orried, here's the clincher; 5,<%9= 74 )ou can't sleep at night, so you get up to play video games. $ome of you are probably still asking, >What's so bad about that!? Well, it can get very e6treme.

Take the follo ing cases for e6ample; 2ne man as so addicted to a particular video game that he left his .1 month old t ins in a bathtub for :1 minutes". And they dro ned. &e ent to jail for manslaughter. Another case e probably all remember happened not far from here. A ./# year#old ran a ay from home on thanksgiving in 311@ after his parents took a ay his Abo6 :B1 due to falling grades and e6cessive play of *all of -uty 7. &is body as found eeks later, about : miles a ay. Gaming addiction interferes ith common sense and can hurt other people too. There are support groups all over the internet here people chat about their loved ones ho are addicted to video games and try to figure out hat to do. (n some countries, like *anada, *hina, The 5etherlands, $outh Corea, and the ,nited $tates clinics have been set up to help those in need. Treatment for the patients, most of ho have been forced to attend by parents or government officials, includes various forms of negative reinforcement. (magine ho effective it could be if instead of getting digital coins, you get an electrode shock. This is a global problem. All of these countries have decided it's orth the time and money to correct and prevent Video Game Addiction. 9ven if you don't fulfill criteria for addiction but you are routinely annoying your parents or siblings hile gaming, think ho it could be changing your personality. -o you get angry hen your parents ask you to stop! Why is that! Are you angry ith them! <aybe you're angry about not getting to the ne6t level of the game. Why should e allo a game to frustrate us! -on't let a game take over your life. The ne6t time you're feeling angry hen gaming don't get mad at bystanders or your parents, get even ith the game. The solution is only the push of a button a ay.