"The effects of video games on children: what parents need to know"

Gentile, Douglas. "The effects of video games on children: what parents need to know." Pediatrics for Parents. Jun. 2004. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0816/is_6_21/ai_n9772319/pg_2/?tag=content;col1


Gentile discusses how over the years America's video game industry has evolved. He recalls when people wanted to get computers in the classrooms of American schools, and how everyone assumed that it was a good idea. He explains that they in turn had positive effects on the children. However he states that as video games started to become more popular, kids started to spend more time on them than ever before. He then related this to the drop of kid's grades in school. He then started to talk about how violence in video games can influence the way that a young child acts. He stated that violent video games attributed to aggressive behavior, and that they had no positive effects on the child. To sum things up, he pretty much just said that the more time that you put into playing video games, the more negative effects it has on your academic performance, and that they also influence individuals in both positive and negative ways.

I found this article to be very true, because i too at one point in my life was addicted to video games. At that time I didn't really notice how much time I was putting into video games as opposed to my school work. I found that I was always procrastinating my school work, and that my grades were also gradually decreasing. For the most part I didn't own any violent video games. However I can see how violent video games could have a negative effect on children. Overall I found this article very convincing in its main points.