Playing Video Games Is Killing You
Video games are way more dangerous than you think
In early high school, most of my time was spent playing video games. Most of my memories from that time involve my ass on the futon and my eyes glued to some triple-A title (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Skyrim, or Far Cry 3). In the month Skyrim came out, I logged 160 hours of gameplay. Yes, you did that math right — 40 hours a week.
That much gaming was terrible for me. At fifteen, I couldn’t run half a mile, couldn’t carry a backpack long distances, because most of my time was spent sitting. I was lonely because girls can’t really make friends online. Why can’t girls? There aren’t a lot of girl gamers, and all the boys online would say was “hey, can you send me your tits” or “will you be my COD girlfriend.” My attention span was terrible. Anytime I wasn’t gaming, I was daydreaming about what I’d play when I could play next. Even if I had the attention span to study, I didn’t have the will.
Of course, I had no idea video games were to blame. I frequently defended video games to concerned parents. “They’re a great way to relax,” I said. “They’re just games. People who think video games are bad for you are full of shit.”
If you regularly play video games, that’s probably what you’re thinking now.
