Essay on Effects of Video Game Use on Young Adult Emotions

The industry of video games has experienced rapid growth over the years, as a result of the advancement in information and technology. The growth moved from a market volume of $100 million to $4 billion in a span of five years between 1985 and 1990. Since then, video gaming has expanded, and production has been sub-divided into various categories. There are casual games, serious and educational games. As a parent in the United States, there are high chances that one has a child who plays or has played video games at a certain time in the past. In the United States, 81% of young adults play at least once a month, with 8.5 % of them being addicted. Teens of between 13 to 18 years play for an average of 14 hours a week. These statistics show the extent to which video gaming has been integrated into the lives of our children and youths, and therefore, forms part of their development. According to Ferguson, (pp 309-316), the effects of this practice on the emotions of young adults are diverse, ranging from positive to negative.

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There are various emotional benefits associated with gaming as cited by Granic, Isabela, Adam Lobel, and Rutger, (pp 66). First, video games create an incremental understanding of intelligence. This is an understanding that the individual playing the game possesses certain skills. Most games are in stages with each step being more challenging than the previous one. A player is rewarded for accomplishing a task at a time, and only by overcoming the obstacle in the current stage is one allowed to move to the next. The player, therefore, has to devise tactics to master the game, through addressing the shortcomings and adjusting accordingly. These tactics will continually develop an incremental performance in these young adults and will eventually enable them to handle issues of life accordingly.

Educational video games such as Reach for the Sun help the young players in understanding the dynamics of life, and iterating relationships. The purpose of the video game is to assist learners understand how a plant balances its resources such as water and starch in a bid to photosynthesize. For the young adults who are more developed in their judgment, the game is more than just an educational tool. It triggers an understanding of how to adjust to the surroundings in a dynamic system and integrate with the environment around them. Just like the plant balances its resources in attempt to thrive, these players learn how to adjust the dynamics of life in order to achieve their goals.

All video games have incentives awarded on accomplishing a particular task. This aspect acts as a motivation to players to tackle the obstacles to acquire the reward. The reward could either be points, character advancement or progression to the next level. This motivation drives the gamer to think critically on how to combine the different variables in the game to hit the target. This skill of determining how variables affect each other can be transferred to learning institutions to assist in solving academic problems as suggested by Squire, (pp 1234). A learner who has mastered the art of solving puzzles in video games will have an easier time tackling a critical question in class as compared to a non-player.

Video games enable players to develop metacognitive skills. This means the ability of a gamer to criticize his or her thinking. These skills are like thinking critically, ability to solve a problem, innovation, and perseverance. Metacognition nurtured in these youths enable them to self-evaluate their thinking and act based on the analysis of their strengths and weaknesses. Strong metacognitive skills lead to the development of strong interpersonal skills which are essential in developing positive relationships, emotional intelligence, and resolving conflicts.

Gaming is considered a social activity as well as a learning experience (Papastergiou, pp 66). Games require taking up active roles and overcoming challenges. Many games call for frequent interactions between team members and demands cooperation during plays. In America, 60% of serious gamers play with their friends, 33% play with their siblings and 25% with either a spouse or a parent. Some games offer insight in areas like history, science, and politics, while others are practical, like the pilot training simulations. As a social activity, gaming boosts relationships between the youth and the people around them and this improves interpersonal relations.

Video games also improve brain activities such as the hand-eye coordination. In shooter games, the player has to monitor their position, speed, direction and aim to score. The brain has to process all these information and coordinate it with the hands which control all the actions on the keyboard. These activities improve the efficiency at which the brain processes information as well as relaying it to the other body organs. These coordination skills can be adopted in real situations such as in surgical procedures, (Papastergiou, pp 603-622).

Gaming cultivates the skill of multitasking. As one move from a lower level to a higher one, the game becomes more intricate, and the player has to juggle between different tasks. Frequent gaming will create and improve this skill of multitasking. This ability is often accompanied by quick thinking. The player has to think fast on how to combine the different tasks in each level, and at the same time keeping with the speed of the game. Daphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, claims that people accustomed to video games can maneuver better and with ease in daily activities. This is to mean that these perpetual players are in a better position to make correct judgments when faced with real-life situations.

Video games improve concentration levels and the ability to pay attention, (Granic, Isabela, Adam Lobel, and Rutger, pp 66). All the games are played in a particular set pattern and following laid out instructions. For example in shooter games, the goal is to shoot. To achieve this, one must follow a particular direction, speed, and has to aim accurately to make a score. This calls for absolute concentration. Frequent gaming creates this skill in children and young adults. Concentration is a value that is applied in other real-life situations and can be of use in grasping important information that can be used in making sound decisions.

The value of perseverance is another advantage of video games. For starters, one usually fails in the first attempts but keeps on trying again until they move forward. Each succeeding level is more challenging than the preceding one. Only through perseverance can a player complete all the levels of the game. In the real-world, perseverance is a virtue, and only the perseverant reap the fruits of success. For instance, a gamer who has acquired this trait will be able to overcome a situation of financial instability in comparison with a non-player.

Despite the many benefits of video games, the industry also poses some disadvantages on the young users. First, like many sources of entertainment, gaming can turn addictive. As discussed earlier, young adults in the United States are spending an average of 13 to 14 hours per week on video games. This can mean that most of their time is spent on these games, besides going to school. The number of gamers also keeps rising over time. There is a tendency of young people getting glued on their phones when in buses or even as they walk. Addiction of any kind is a disadvantage as it hinders one from performing other tasks which could be substantial. It also leads to an imbalanced life as the addict spends the most time in gaming and neglects other aspects of life.

The category of violent games has a negative impact on the psychology of the player. These games cultivate aggressive patterns on the behavior of the player as suggested by Ferguson, (pp 309-316). This category is very popular, especially with the male gender. Playing a violent game instills the spirit of the game on the player, which is violence. A study on group of students revealed that those who had played violent games exhibited a higher heart rate, experienced dizziness, and nausea, and portrayed more aggressive thoughts. This poses a possibility of these players causing violence with their friends or family in the event of a conflict. The aggression will also result in strained relationships between the victim and the members of the society.

Frequent gaming can be a key contributor to obesity and overweight cases in children and young adults in America. With the many hours spent seated playing on the machine, there is hardly enough time participate in extra-curricular activities that help in physical fitness. These children adopt a lazy mindset and would prefer staying in the house gaming, rather than go out and conduct a physical exercise. Other health issues could be muscular and skeletal disorders, video-induced seizures and compression of nerves. These health concerns will affect these people emotionally and in most cases generate low self-esteem.

Although there are studies that have claimed improved concentration as a result of gaming, other studies show that the concentration of these young adults is affected in the long run. Players may be able to concentrate for short periods, but long-term concentration is damaged. These kids may also have impulsive behavior and problems in paying attention.

Long hours spent playing games can affect academic performance. This is because less time is spent studying or doing homework. There are higher chances of frequent gamers to have constant conflicts with their teachers and friends and a more likelihood of poor performance in comparison with students who play less. Low grades in school will often stir arguments with parents or guardians who want an explanation. These conflicts with teachers in school and parents at home could be the beginning of an emotional breakdown for the youth. They may become withdrawn or turn into violence as a defense mechanism.

Some games instill the wrong values in the players. In most violent games, and which are very popular, acts of vengeance, aggression, and violence are rewarded as cited by Adachi, Paul, and Teena, (pp 55-62). There is no provision for negotiations or peaceful interactions. Some games portray women as weak and helpless or as being sexually proactive. These negative values may be adopted by the player and exercised in the society, thus damaging the perception of peaceful coexistence. On a brighter side, the acts of violence in the game might change the perception of the player to the better. They might be filled with guilt because of the acts they performed in the game and as such decide to treat people decently.

In conclusion, the industry of video gaming has gained massive popularity among children and the young adults. The industry has also expanded significantly leading to the development of numerous categories of video games. More and more young people are indulged in gaming especially in the United States of America. The gaming activities have both positive and negative impacts on the players, which help shape or damage their characters. Among the benefits include improved concentration, perseverance, develop metacognitive skills, improves the art of multitasking, creating an incremental understanding of intelligence, developing strong interpersonal skills, improve social activity and interactive participation. The negative contributions include propagating violence and aggression behavior among frequent gamers, poor academic performance, health issues suc...