by Jonathan Jeffers

Created on: March 02, 2010

Video games can be a huge time wasting habit for many teens, but does that make them bad? Teenagers are known for being lazy, among other things, but does the fact that teenagers are prone to wasting the day away mean they should stay away from video games? There are many things that are bad for teenagers, but video games are not one of them.

Video games can be a waste of time, but out of all of the things that teenagers do waste their time on, video games are not the worst. Teenagers spend hours sitting in front of screens playing video games. They bring their friends over, order pizza, and just make a day out of playing video games. Games are a form of interactive entertainment, and while they cannot replace physical activity, they have become a large social activity.

If a teenager spends all of his or her time playing video games then the time spent playing becomes bad. That makes it possible for the teen to become addicted to gaming and other areas of the teen’s life will suffer. Playing video games should never get in the way of important activities, such as school or work.

While video games are not bad for teens, they can be easily abused. Teenagers need to balance their time between school, a job if they have one, physical activity, and then playing games. Many teenagers think that by playing games a lot will make then able to get a job working for a game company. However, they fail to realize that in order to make games you have to know business, writing, graphic design, computer programming, and a whole host of other things. Most positions that involve the development of games require a college degree of some kind, and sadly "X hours spent playing games" is not usually something the goes on a resume.

Video games are not just entertainment, however, they can teach teamwork (if playing with others or online), and they also can teach management (the “run the country” type games). While it is very unlikely to learn that much from playing video games, some historical type games can give the player a better understanding of the events the game is based on. The main purpose of games is simply fun, so using the few things that can be learned through playing a game as an excuse to play games excessively is not valid.

Playing video games can be a very fun, socially engaging, entertainment activity, and is a good way for teens to past the time. The key for teenagers is a making sure that all of their free time is not spent playing games, and that they balance playtime with frequent breaks while still keeping up with the important things in life.

Learn more about this author, Jonathan Jeffers.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.