Handheld Gaming Consoles As Foes
While handheld gaming may be beneficial to us in some ways, you can also suffer from negative effects in terms of physical health, psychological health and behavioral wise should you develop an addiction.
However do note that we can easily tackle these detrimental effects of playing handheld games by controlling our habits such that they do not take control of us. Visit our Tips section to learn more.
On our physical health...
Excessive playing of handheld game consoles may hurt our muscles, joints, posture or even vision. As they run on relatively small screens, prolonged playing may hurt one's eyes as most players tend to hold them too close to their faces, especially under anxious situations.
In addition, because such handhelds are portable, you can play it while lying down on your back. This can result in minor or serious neck and back injuries, which in the long term may cause permanent damage to our spinal postures.
Finally, due to the layout of such consoles, your hands may feel strained after engaging in long games. It has been clinically proven that the PSP, at 170mm apart, can cause tendinitisInflammation of tendons which connects muscle to bone. at your wrist, bringing much pain and anguish which could persists for months or even develop into something more severe if untreated.
On our psychological health...
Aggressiveness. This has to be the most feared detrimental effect amongst others. Playing of violent games has been said to give youths an inclination towards violent acts. Certain studies conducted have found that college students who engage in violent game play possess more aggressive thoughts than those who play a non-violent game, while others have attributed violent games as the cause to teen handgun incidents. However, up to date, there is still no conclusive data regarding this relationship.
On a personal level, I feel that this may not always be the case. Perhaps it is violent thoughts that lead certain youths to violent games and not the other way round? For instance, myself, a fan of First-Person ShootersA game which usually involves battle, weapons and firearms whereby the player sees himself through the eyes of the protagnist., have no wish to shoot my teacher. Once again, there is no definite answer to this 'chicken and egg' question. On the other hand, several researchers have also reflected that video games can cleanse youths of violent desires.
On our behaviour...
To me, the most disastrous result of gaming has to be the addiction factor. As a student, your main priority should be studies and not video games. Seemingly a perfect getaway, it can deprive you of time to study and a shift of your priorities without your realization. Your results may take a nose-dive and you would not even care! Now, that's frightening. While video gaming may be a viable career, it definitely does not have a market large enough for so many players.
To quote an extreme case, a child from Singapore once took a bus to its neighboring country, Kuala Lumpur, just to borrow money from loan sharksAn informal term for a person or body which provide unsecured loans at exorbitant interest rates and often resort to threats in order to retract these loans. in order to pay for his game after his parents restricted his spending habits on games.
Acknowledgements:
1. Mary Schlimme on Video Game Addiction: Do we need a Video Gamers Anonymous? (8th March 2009)
2. Jeffery Ong on PSP health hazards. (8th March 2009)
3. Caren Franco on PSP health hazards. (8th March 2009)
4. Shermarc on negative aspects of video games. (8th March 2009)