Video games are part of the world we live in. However, there may be an enormous amount of negative effects of video games to our kids.

Today, video games and children go hand in hand. It is sometimes very hard to separate them from video games.

Playing video games can have a positive effect but also a negative effect on children depending on how much they play. Teens are not the only ones affected, but also some young adults. Statistics show that over 100 million people play video games. Technology advancement is also helping in the development of video games; helping it to gain predominance in society today.

This article will now outline the negative effects of Video games.

Negative effects of Video games.

• Sedentary Lifestyle

Even when video games are not played regularly, it can still cause players to lead a sedentary life. The most common feature of some video game players is being overweight as they are basically couch potatoes. Staying in one place can be harmful to the health of children. Leading a sedentary life can lead to obesity, skeletal, muscular and posture disorders and video-induced seizures.

You should try and get your children more interested in outdoor and real-life activities which can help exercise their minds and bodies.

Read this also: 30 Negative effects of technology

• Aggression

Research on the negative effects of video games has shown that it can cause aggressive behaviour in video game players. Some researchers claim that exposure to video games can cause desensitization to violence, less empathy, practised criminal behaviour, having pleasure in other people’s pain and also cause players to be antisocial.

An adult gamer can easily distinguish between real life and fictional life, they are not affected by this, children and teens are more at a risk. Children still have an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex which is the area of the brain responsible for decision making and can easily be affected by this negative effect of video games.

• Anti-social behaviour

Aside from video games causing aggression, another negative effect of video games is causing its players to be antisocial. Video games can give out a false sense of belonging especially to children and young adults who identify as social outcasts. These children and young adults are likely to find companions online which can, in turn, lead to depression when they have to face the real world.

Online abuse such as cyberbullying is also common among video game players. This can lead to losing their confidence and trust in those around them.

Read more: Effects of technology on Education

• Money misuse

Unlike in time past, there are plenty of video games that rely on in-game purchase to fatten their pockets. Many adults have yielded to the temptation to purchase all kinds of in-game tools and upgrades so it is much easier to deceive children and the case of money misuse is more higher in their case. A certain amount of parental guidance is needed.

• Addiction

Children and young adults can easily get addicted to playing video games. Some symptoms of gaming addiction are insomnia, anxiety, depression and social isolation. WHO declared gaming addiction as a mental disorder in June 2018.

Children addicted to video games display social phobias. Children and teens are more susceptible to video gaming addiction than adults due to their still-developing brains and this can also harm the final stage of their brain growth.

• Suffering Relationship

Relationship with families and friends suffer when children and young adults are addicted to playing video games. Relationships suffer especially when they prefer playing video games to talking to friends and loved ones and when they skip family gatherings and activities just to play. This can cause them to be far from family and friends and be involved in a fictional life than telling a life. Young adults can lose contact with their partners due to preferring of playing video games to interacting.

• False Sense of Security

Most video games need a constant online presence to function, children and young adults can easily be exposed to dangers lurking online. Danger ranging from scam artists looking for quick cash and online predators also posing as other children.

Technology advancement also helps bad people to be able to spy on others through gaming consoles. Children are more liable to put their all in technology without being aware of its dangers.

• Poor Performance

Children and young adults who spend lots of their time playing video games perform poorly in their academics.  A lot of video addicts argue a lot with their teachers and fight with their classmates and friends.

They often skip more important duties to play, this can lead to less productivity.  Playing video games can also reduce the attention span of children and stop them from having long term concentration. Children and teens can fail to work at optimum level because they are exhausted from long nights of video gaming.

• Less Productivity

Excessive video gaming can hamper overall productivity and performance at school and at the workplace. This is caused by spending the time that should be used in resting and sleeping to indulge in playing video games. Excessive video gaming leads to less concentration, therefore, leading to less productivity.

Some gamers spend the time that should be used in working in playing video games, this makes them to not be able to concentrate on their job and eventually lead them to be dismissed.

• Health

Excessive playing of video games can have a negative effect on the health of players. Some players spend 14 to 16 hours in front of the screen, this can cause damage to the eyes, some may skip meals and eat only junk foods which are bad for the overall health of an individual. Sitting in one place to play games can also affect posture, cause obesity and cause back pain.

The line between a healthy amount of video gaming and an excessive amount of gaming is blurred and can be easily crossed.  Video games can have a negative effect on the brain and in reasoning. Violent video games do not teach moral values but help to practice aggressiveness and violence.

Video games can also have a long term effect on players. We must also note that playing video games is not always harmful if done in the right way.