Well not really, but this title sounds catchier to read. I had a brief discussion with the Vice President of Operations of the company I work for on the addictive effects of video games on today's youth. My input into the conversation was that video games, in my youth, helped me develop some of my motor skills, like driving. I am an excellent driver, not a professional or an expert, but good enough to be attentive and responsive in terms of maneuvering around the objects in the speed I accelerate without any accidents, ever, maybe a bump or two. I don't believe my motor skills or other balancing of visual responses were totally attributed to video games but using that remote to control the objects on the screen on my Nintendo could have helped in development. There's a notion going around in the media that today's youth are addicted to media like video games. I mean when I was a kid all I wanted to do was go home after school and watch television or play video games. Why would I want to pay attention to the topics of my teacher and come home to do homework or study some more? Of course every kid wants to come home and relax to some leisure of video games. A family member, which I will not identify relation, not my dad or mom because they were busy working, who was a part time guardian, limited my television watching to two hours a day after school. So what is there to do after school instead of television or video games, well how about socializing or other activities using your brain or sports?
There's a quote from the movie Lord of War that goes something or precisely like this: "I never understood what separated recreational drug users from habitual". Well, my view is now you have to balance the two, leisure and hard work-stress. In addition, the limit of stress on an individual from studying too much, meaning over strain from studying too hard can cause withdrawal symptoms because if the pressure is too great then the person will dislike and withdrawal. It's a chemical brain function thing.
The Vice President of Operations states it just doesn't apply to teenagers, it applies to us as adults as well; look at the way we text and drive which can lead to accidents and is now a law against texting and driving. It's true; my perspective on it is if there is no chemical addiction to it like marijuana, then it shouldn't be too hard to keep off right? But it's a joy sensation left on the memory taste buds that lingers in the brain that says that whatever/specific addiction, like to video games or media, something that brings us leisure pleasure, an escape from homework or work stress. Like chocolate, I already tasted how pleasurable, or whatever benefits chocolate provides, the sensation is in my brain from the first time I tasted it, so can I ever really lay off chocolate? I probably can but in my brain, I crave it. The issue I guess chocolate does not give my brain a chemical imbalance of being a downer and or upper with a stronger sensational crave as narcotics. The problem the Vice President of Operation states is "parents should have more control." I guess that law against texting while driving is the control. I totally agree, because I have texted in the past while driving and my focus is on getting a letter in to the phone and not the road. The law and fine for driving while texting is a good path on control, let's keep and enforce it in every state. In the bigger battle against a stronger addiction like narcotics instead of media, the topic is we in America do not have the budget (it's so large already) to fight the stronger force of usage (demand for the product). How do we create a program that will increase the budget to fight narcotics which will not take away from government health care or schools? Addiction affects America's economy.
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