We've all heard about or seen the video of the teenage boy who... let's say, gets a little more than upset when his mother cancels his World of Warcraft character. Although this may seem dramatic and far from possible, I personally have witnessed friends when I was younger throwing temper tantrums, screaming, crying, drooling, and looking more and more like the cartoon face on the wrapper of a "Warhead" candy, simply because his mother took away his favorite Nintendo game. I've heard stories ranging from people getting married because they met on an online game, to mothers and fathers neglecting their children because they had to get to the next level before passing out for two hours before having to wake up for work the next morning.
I had a group of friends in High School who basically lived on their computers and on their gaming platforms. If you walked into a classroom full of them, the only things you would hear would have to do with things going on in the virtual online world where they spent over half of their day.
From doodles in class, to playing hooky in order to play video games; these kids would entirely devote their lives to making their online character as "epic" as it could possibly be. I overheard a conversation between two of my friends one time where they both agreed that they were more concerned with how much gold their online character had, than how much money they had in their own wallet. Instead of going outside on the weekends, or going to parties, they spent their time in front of a screen.
What is it about these games that
make them so addicting? Could it be that the boy/girl needs an escape from a hard life at home? Or could it be that they need something to entertain themselves with at all times without having to leave their homes? Whatever it is; it sure seems to be working. Video game companies have grown so large that they can afford to pay well known celebrities to advertise their product.
The picture shown is from a commercial where Mr. T rants on and on about how incredible and fun World of Warcraft is. Who would have guessed that Hulk Hogan's partner at the first WrestleMania would be promoting a video game where people sit still for hours at a time to build a virtual person in a fantasy world. All I have to say is I pity the fool who neglects their life to further an online life. Am I saying video games are bad? Absolutely not; I'm a 19 year old boy.. of course I play video games. The main thing that I want to point out is the difference between playing an hour of video games a day, and playing 10 hours a day. Kids are losing out on time they will never get back because they're absorbed in a virtual world where the problems of the real world don't exist. You don't need to pay rent in a video game, or pay taxes, or feed your cat. Hell, you don't even need to shower in the virtual world. It's as if it's a perfect world where you can ride unicorns or shoot zombies wearing Nazi Uniforms without moving a muscle. The only problem is; it doesn't really exist. I worry for my friends and these young kids who spend over half of their day on video games when they could be out with friends or spending time with their families or working.
Video games becoming more realistic and the internet becoming more and more powerful is proving to be a difficult issue for parents who want their children to do anything besides stare at a screen all day. Technology will never stop improving and people will never stop being fascinated by it, which is obvious. The only thing I worry about is what the future will look like, when people don't even use a pen and paper to do anything, or when people rely on machines to the point that we digress evolutionarily. I just hope that my children don't grow up in a world where they spend more time in places that look like this, than outside enjoying being young.
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