The Game Epidemic

Andrew, Chuck, and Kevin played all night and skipped class the next day. They, along with thousands of others across the country, purchased Halo 2 at midnight the day the much-anticipated game was released in stores. Students and company employees called in sick that next day claiming the Halo 2 flu as their reasoning. Halo 2 is only one of a multitude of games distributed for use on Microsoft's Xbox, Sony's Playstation 2, and Nintendo's Gamecube. American society is experiencing an epidemic as a result of many young people spending hours upon hours playing video games. The National Institute on Media and the Family is one organization founded "to build healthy families and communities through the wise use of media." This institute wants to raise awareness of the harmful effects of playing too much. These effects include violence, lack of independent thought, and a false sense of reality.

Founded in 1996 by David Walsh, Ph D, NIMF works to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of the media. The organization does this through research, education, and advocacy, even though they are a non-partisan, non-profit organization. Its website provides information for parents to use when selecting games for their children and raises awareness about the effects that come with video games. One of these deals with the environment of the games. According to NIMF, "Game environments are often based on plots of violence, aggression, and gender bias." Additionally, women are often portrayed as helpless or sexually provocative. The number of hours played under these false settings can often give a false sense of reality. Gamers then have trouble distinguishing between what is real and what is not.

Negative effects exist as a result of the environment and storyline of a video game. According to a study referenced on the NIMF web site, violent video games may translate into aggressive behavior. The child's imagination is capture, and oftentimes he imagines that he is the character he plays on the game, which is another mesh of fantasy and reality. Questions have also been brought up in regard to children at a very young age being exposed to violent video games. It is true that violent behavior is also linked to abusive parents and siblings. However, video games are set apart from this influence because they are easier to regulate.

Another cause for concern comes from the storyline many