Children and teenagers are part of the world population who have a lot of free time on their hands and have a desire to fulfill that time with entertainment, such as games that involve massive multiplayer online roleplaying (MMORPG), like World of Warcraft, or first- and third-person shooters, like Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Gears of War 3. These games cause kids’ social lives to take a turn for the worst, and lose interest in physical sports and achieving in academics. Also, their personality will change due to the strong addiction this will have on the child or adolescent.
The lack of exercise can cause weight gain and obesity among children. I think either the video game industry should limit the time played for their games or the parents should take control of their children’s free time and include them in activities other than looking at a screen. Parents these days don’t have a lot to do for their children since the media and computer game producers provide endless amounts of fun.
I was one of these kids. It started in the 8th grade when I took a huge interest in the computer game World of Warcraft. I played endless hours of adventuring within in the game, meeting new people and making new friends. I was hooked. I cut off all ties from my “real-life” friends, involvement with school and interests in what I used to do. I dropped from a ‘B’ average student, to a ‘C’ average student. On top of all that, I gained weight faster than I thought I would.
As well as declining in school, I ignored my parents when they told me to do something, like chores or going to bed. Above all, I used this game as an escape from the reality. Nothing mattered to me besides eating, sleeping and playing the game. If someone had asked me, “Do you regret playing it?” I would say yes. Now that I look back, I can see the ways in which it affected me. I eventually got bored of the game and started taking an interest in my life, putting it back on track.