computer games have no value

Playing computer games as a hobby is enjoying an upsurge of popularity among young teenagers worldwide. It appears to be a favourite pastime of kids that transcends both cultural barriers and national boundaries. However, in my opinion, these games have little value to them and produce a lot of harmful effects on their physical and mental development.

To begin with, one of the most obvious disadvantages is that these games are highly addictive, compelling children to sit in front of the computer for many straight hours. As a result, they have little time for sports activities and many of them start developing health problems. According to a recent survey, the obesity rate among adolescents aged between 15 and 19 is soaring in industrialised nations as well as in less developed countries, and one of the contributing factors is the lack of physical exercises. Also, intense radiation produced by an operating computer not only causes failing eyesight but also poses untold hidden health hazards in those young children.

In a similar way, the indulgence in computer games is detrimental to their mentality in various aspects. For one thing, an increasing amount of time spent in playing games means less and less time is devoted to their studies. No wonder that teenagers having this undesirable habit are finding it difficult to meet the deadlines of their school assignments. For another, being accustomed to the fast changing images that are inherent in every computer game, they can hardly concentrate on any serious subjects and their attention span is found to be increasingly short. Moreover, teenagers are exposed to sexual and violent scenes featured in many computer games.

In summary, from both physiological and psychological points of view, computer games are indeed valueless and may exert negative impacts on the development of young children. Therefore, it is high time that parents and schools should be alert to the problem, and restrict children’s access to those computer games. (323 words)