Controlled by Those Controllers

Photo by Raven Hathcock / VOX Staff

By Tamara Patrick / VOX Staff

“Give me the controller!” I shouted at my cousin Omari.

“No, I know what I’m doing!” replied Omari angrily as he jerked his controller left and stared intently at the action on the TV screen.

“Tamara, you need to let me play!” my cousin Jasmine screeched, wanting it to be her turn to play right then and there.

I ignored her and continued my assault on Omari: “I done told you already, you need to give me the controller!”

“You guys make me sick!” Jasmine wailed as she picked up a pillow and began to beat Omari and me violently.

Funny how it was only real violence that could tear us from the violence of the video game. My cousins and I played video games all the time when we were young, and it almost always devolved into some kind of argument or serious fight. We’d all get in trouble for slugging it out or for inadvertently breaking something valuable in the process.

This is just one type of bad behavior kids, teenagers and even adults get into over video games. Perhaps even worse are those people who get so wrapped up into their PlayStations and Xboxes and spend so much time with them that they miss precious sleep, forget their homework, fail their classes, get fired from their jobs and upset their families and friends. Not only do video games result in violence, but they also create serious addictions that can take over people’s lives and even pose a threat to quietly and unknowingly end them.

To Play or Not to Play
I remember as if it were yesterday when I was about 10 years old and I got my first Sony PlayStation. It seemed like I was the last one I knew to get one, and I couldn’t wait to open it up and play until I passed out. Little did I know then that video game addicts did this everyday of their lives. To me, it was just a game like any other.

But soon that would change. On weekends and during long summer days, my cousins Omari and Jasmine would play with me from the time we woke up until it was time to go to bed, never realizing the harm it was causing us. We played Laura Croft: Tomb Raider, Pac-Man and many other favorites, but we constantly argued over who would play and who could play better. And sometimes it got violent.

As the years went on, I lost the urge to play video games — partly because of the fighting, but also because I realized all the things I’d been missing. The games also get very repetitious, especially after I learned how to beat the game or when I’d play forever and never seem to be able to make any progress.

Meanwhile, my cousins and other friends seemed to get more and more into them. Their addictions got worse as the systems and graphics and gameplay grew more advanced.

I remember one of my classmates constantly talked about his knowledge of and skill at video games, and he focused more on them than he did his school work. By the end of the seventh grade, he barely passed. He was lucky his addiction to video games didn’t ruin his life. Others I knew later became complete slackers, and some even dropped out of high school because they’d rather skip classes to stay at home and play Madden football all day.

Fatal Attractions
Recently in the news, this past October a grown man in Detroit killed his daughter after she mistakenly stepped on a cord and interrupted his video game. In a rage, he beat the girl severely until she died. He is now on trial for the crime and may face the death penalty — all because of a video game.

This may be an extreme case, but it illustrates how crazy people can get. Kids can get almost as violent. I myself have kicked and screamed and punched my own family members because a video game had taken over my mind for a moment.

Addictions to video games are even being looked at by licensed psychologists as legitimate mental and emotional pathologies. A recent episode of “Run’s House,” a reality TV show about the Reverend Run’s (of rap group Run-D.M.C.) family life, focused on just this topic. His son, Diggy, got so upset playing his GameBoy that he broke it in a violent rage, and Run took him to a psychologist to get to the bottom of the problem. One of the main things the psychologist said to Diggy was that he was becoming too dependent on video games for enjoyment and he should find other activities to participate in.

Video games are “very compelling with increasing complexity” causing children to play them longer than ever, said Dr. Charles Ungerleider, a media literacy specialist, on the TheParentReport.com. While wanting to improve a game isn’t a problem in itself, it can become a serious one if video games are “taking a youngster away too much from other activities,” Ungerleider said. “If a youngster becomes addicted to video games it can be a problem, and parents need to intervene and provide attractive alternatives.”

Revelation
Luckily, I realized that I needed to get involved in other things besides video games. My cousins, on the other hand, need intervention.

By quitting video games, I found many other things to do, such as reading and writing, which I found I had a passion for. Other alternatives for people can be singing, playing an instrument, playing sports or even shopping.

The new Nintendo Wii and games such as Dance Dance Revolution being the exceptions, video games cause youth to be couch potatoes and can affect our health. Recent studies show that kids more involved in physical activities have a less chance of having high blood pressure and other medical problems.

While video games aren’t necessarily a bad thing, I believe they should be played in moderation so that players don’t cross the line into developing an outright addiction that could damage their health, take their minds off more important things like school, friends and family, and potentially ruin their futures.

Tamara is a junior at Mays High and prefers to read, write and hang out with friends rather than play video games.