Video Games And Their Mental And Physical Health Risks

Video games are of course fun, but it is always possible to overdo a good thing. In fact, some video games are mentally and physically dangerous when played. Some of the pervasive problems with video games and their mental and physical health risks are covered here in this informative article.

Important voices online are telling us that the video game industry is growing. They say that by next year the video gaming industry will hit $68.3 billion dollars in value. Some say that is a good thing. But some also read the news. A boy in Philadelphia took a claw hammer to his Mother after she took away his rights to use a Sony Playstation. Three years ago Daniel Petric killed his Mother and tried to kill his Father for not allowing him to play the violent video game "Halo 3". Daniel was 16 at the time and snuck out of the window to purchase the game against the wishes of his Father. When found, the boy had the game taken away from him. The parents locked up the Halo 3 game in a lockbox with a 9 millimeter pistol of his Father. Around a month later Daniel found the key to the lockbox, removed the gun and the game, and shot his parents. His father survived, but the Mother did not. She was shot in the arms, head and chest. Microsoft is the maker of the Halo 3 video game.


Another event in Georgia is evidence of the overwhelming effects of the violent nature of some video games. A 14 year old boy killed his Great Grandmother with a sword and injured his Grandmother when they told him to stop playing his video game. The child had at least three previous events with the police over violence. He had cut his Grandmother on the foot before with a different sword. The police were already in possession of that weapon. The Great Grandmother was stabbed and sliced and was leaving the house for help when she was killed. It is not known which video game the boy was playing when he went berserk.


Sad events like these attest to the true nature of some video games and how they can affect young minds. The mental and health risks that a violent video game can produce are easily seen with games like "God of War III", "Call of Duty", "World at War", "Madden NFL 10" and others. Websites that promote video games envision them as tools of violence. The term, "Violence is oxygen to the modern video game.", is the thinking behind the savage video games of today.


It is said that a child's personality is basically formed at the age of three to five years of age. There are many children who are playing video games at five years of age. The CCHP ( California Childcare Health Program ) hands out warnings to parents of children under five years. They clearly state that aggression combined with a tendency to watch violent television or video games is a "red flag". It seems ironic that the same state with this health program that tells the world there is a mental risk for toddlers and video games is the same state making and selling some of the most violent movies in history.


Some countries are making laws against violent video games. Those who import or sell violent video games in Venezuela can get up to five years in prison. They do not have to be just games. Toys or images that promote or incite violence and the use of weapons are banned under the same law. Do you think Venezuela believes violent video games promote a violent society? The same country has bought tanks from Russia, 100,000 AK-103s, and 24 Sukhoi jet fighters. Now they are planning a factory to build Russian rifles yet will ban video games for violence. How is that for sending conflicting signals? Nevertheless, it seems someone in Venezuela is interested in the mental health risks of using video games.


The ages from birth to the teenage years are the most impressionable and vulnerable years of a person's life. Being exposed to video games that are less than what would be considered wholesome is a grave mistake on the part of parents. The mental and physical health risks are plain, as seen above. The moving screen has power over developing minds. That power should be used for good and not evil.