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Nicko Mabanta

Professor Rodrick

English 115

29 September 2018

Are Video Games Shaping Us in a Bad Way?

As technology improve over time, it helps us in many ways. Online calendars helps us

organize our schedules everywhere, online payments make paying bills more convenient, and

online documents reduce paper use. Video games reduce boredom and let players interact and

play with or against other players through wireless servers. Technology has also improved our

health. X-ray machines, ultrasound, MRI, and CT scanners help doctors in diagnosis, medicine

cures our illnesses, and vaccines keep us protected from diseases. Technology is both convenient

and necessary in our lives. While technology makes our lives much easier and more convenient,

it also shapes us in a bad way through video games. Video games can increase aggression,

change the way our brain functions, which results in addiction, and reduce physical activity and

sleep, causing obesity.

Shooting games, racing games, fighting games, and sport games are some of the types of

games that involve competition. If a player loses a game to another player or computer, it can

cause frustration or even anger. Players feel this way because they feel that they have no control

over the outcome of the game. Paul Adachi, author of the article “The Association Between

Competitive Video Game Play and Aggression Among Adolescents and Young Adults,” believes

that exposure to competitive video games for long periods of time can increase aggressive

behavior. Adachi States, “Playing competitive games… may lead to elevations in trait levels of
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aggressive affect, and in turn, people with elevated trait levels of aggressive affect may be more

likely to behave aggressively.” Adachi’s point is that if a person plays a competitive game for a

long period of time, he/she will have a more aggressive affect. Once the aggressive affect

becomes elevated, it will eventually result to an aggressive behavior. For example, if a player

gets killed in a shooter game, the player may become frustrated. If that same player gets killed

over and over again, it would cause the player to rage and probably shout obscenities to the

player who killed him. This aggressive affect also applies to non violent competitive games. For

example, if another player bumps you and made you spin out in a racing game, that player would

be very angry. This kind of situation happened to me too. I was in the first place in a racing

game. There was a slow corner ahead, so I naturally had to brake. The other player behind me

decided to not brake at all. My car went off the road because of the hit, and it make me really

angry. Non competitive video games, such as puzzles, story driven, and platform, can also cause

aggressive behavior but not as much as competitive games. Adachi said “Consistent with the

frustration–aggression hypothesis, however, competitive video games may be more likely to

induce anger and hostility than noncompetitive video games, because only competitive games

involve the threat of deliberate goal blocking from one's opponents (e.g., other vehicles trying to

overtake the player in a race), which may feel like a personal attack. Aggressive behavior caused

by video games can negatively shape one’s identity because not only it makes the player behave

aggressively, it would also cause problems to the people around him/her.

Video games can be addicting. If someone plays video games most of the time, that

person could become addicted. Repetitive use of video games can change the way someone

thinks. The article “GAME OVER: HOW VIDEO GAMES AFFECT A CHILD’S BRAIN AND

BEHAVIOR” by Vibrant Life explains how video games can manipulate a child to become
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addicted. “When we pursue a hard-won goal, the brain is flooded with dopamine, the reward

neurochemical, and serotonin, the self-confidence neurochemical.” These chemicals in our brain

are the sources of our happiness and satisfaction. The problem with this is that video games only

give children small amounts of dopamine and serotonin. “The desire for more quick, pleasurable

hits of dopamine and serotonin and unlimited access to gaming ultimately primes the brain for

addiction.” In other words, children will want more and more small doses of serotonin and

dopamine by playing video games because it makes them feel happy. Dopamine and serotonin

can be obtained in many ways. You could go on a hike, go to amusement parks, play with

friends, watch movies, go on a date, eat your favorite food, or play mini golf. These types of

activities makes us feel happy, and we want to feel happy. However, these activities are not

easily accessible. Hiking takes time, amusement parks cost money, friends might always be

available to play, movies cost money, dating costs money, and mini golf cost money. If we don’t

do these types of activities, our dopamine and serotonin levels will go down. Video games,

however, is easily accessible. Easy access to video games keeps our serotonin and dopamine

levels from going down. It works the same way as alcohol or drugs. When someone drinks

alcohol or uses drugs, they will become psychologically dependent to that alcohol or drug. They

think that they need to drink more alcohol or use more drugs because if they don’t, they will not

feel good. Video games can shape one’s identity in a bad way by manipulating their brain and

turning them into video game addicts.

Video games can also shape our identities literally. When someone plays video games all

of the time, his/her personal time of interaction with the world is greatly reduced. Gamers would

often skip any physical activity, sleep, and even human to human interactions. This means that

the amount of sleep is reduced also. As they play more and more video games, their personal
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time will be reduced more because video games steals that time. Reduced physical activity and

sleep can cause someone to become overweight or obese. This kind of situation happened to me

too. I used to run and play outside when I was a kid. Then, my parents bought me a gaming

console. As I play more and more video games, my time to play outside has been replaced by

video games. Because of that, my physical activity is greatly reduced also, and I soon became

overweight. However, I have corrected myself and restricted my time to play video games to

make up for any physical activity that I lost. I’m not overweight anymore. Targeted News

Service’s article, “Can Video Games Make Adolescents Obese?,” believes that video games can

cause obesity through lack of sleep. The article states, “links between video game addiction and

reduced sleep, and from sleep to obesity and its associated metabolic issues were found. This

may manifest itself as elevated blood pressure, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high

triglycerides and high insulin resistance ... that can lead to heart disease, hardening of the arteries

and diabetes.” In other words, video game addiction can reduce sleep, and lack of sleep can

cause obesity. There is no direct link between video game addiction and obesity. You can’t

become obese by playing video games, however, video game addiction can cause lack of sleep,

which is linked to obesity.

While technology can make our lives more convenient and safe, it can also shape us

badly through video games. Video games can shape us to become aggressive, addicted,and

obese. Repeatedly losing to a competitive video game match can cause aggressive behavior.

Video games make our brains want more and more serotonin and dopamine, causing addiction.

And, video games can reduce sleep, which is linked to obesity. Although video games can be fun
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and interactive, they can cause aggressive behavior, addiction, and obesity.
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Works Cited

"GAME OVER: HOW VIDEO GAMES AFFECT A CHILD'S BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR."

Vibrant Life, July-Aug. 2018, p. 26+. General OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A547989021/ITOF?u=csunorthridge&sid=ITOF&xid

=e2334133. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.

Adachi, Paul JC, and Teena Willoughby. “The Longitudinal Association Between Competitive

Video Game Play and Aggression Among Adolescents and Young Adults.” Child

Development., vol. 87, no. 6, 2016, pp. 1877–1892. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.

"Can Video Games make Adolescents Obese?" Targeted News Service, May 18, 2016.

ProQuest,

http://libproxy.csun.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1789708999?acc

ountid=7285. Accessed 21 Sept. 2018.

“The Real Story About Video Game Addiction.” Ashwood Recovery Blog, 8 Nov. 2017,

www.ashwoodrecovery.com/blog/video-game-addiction/. Accessed 29 Sept. 2018.