While many college students consider video games a healthy extracurricular activity, however experts, and possibly their academic performance, disagree.
Video game systems are a staple in many college dorm rooms, almost as necessary as a refrigerator. “When I found out who my roommate was, one of the first questions I asked him was if he played video games and had a system,” said Rob Janetschek a senior at Hofstra University.
But why are video games so necessary? To many college students they are a way to socialize with their peers, procrastinate, and even express emotions. “There have been times when I have opted to play video games over studying, or doing schoolwork. But I still managed to get everything done that I needed to get done, it just took longer,” said Chris Howard, a junior at Villanova University.
Bobby Townsend a senior at John Jay University believes video games are healthy, and even a social medium for students to communicate through. “It’s a way for people to relate, and a good discussion topic. They are a lot of fun to play with your friends, especially if you are competitive like me,” said Townsend.
Whether video games have an effect on academic performance is a topic of debate. “I have definitely played video games when I should have been studying for a test. I probably would have spent more time studying if I didn’t have the urge to play,” said Joe Daly a senior at Dowling College.
A survey called, “Video Game Usage Survey” of 87 random college students conducted by Stonehill senior Drew Iadanza produced these results:
-29.9 percent of students play one to two hours of video games daily
-25.6 percent of students do one to two hours of schoolwork daily
-61.6 percent of students have opted to play video games instead of studying
-75.6 percent of students do not believe video games hinder academic productivity
-67.5 percent of students said they would not spend more time studying if they couldn’t play video games.
The majority of students spend an equal amount of time studying, as they do playing video games. College students see video games as an acceptable alternative to studying, because they believe video games do not hinder their academic productivity.
Dr. Todd R. Stinebrickner, an expert on the topic of the relationship between video games and academic performance, believes video games have a negative impact on academic performance. Noting a study that compared the college transcripts of videogame users to nonusers, Stinebricker said that video game usage does have a negative effect on academic performance.
Still college students resist the expert findings.
“Video games could be a problem if you didn’t know how to schedule your time, or just ignored assignments and played them instead. I think most kids know what they have to get done, and play just enough so it doesn’t hurt their grades,” said Teddy Gurskis a senior at Elon University.
Chase Smiegiel a senior at UCLA echoed Gurskis’ point, “It’s all about planning, sometimes I don’t play for a week, and sometimes I play for a few hours a day.”
Doug Cammarano a senior at CUNY Baruch believes the fault is in the student. “It’s not the videogames that are the problem, it’s the individual student’s lack of motivation to study or do their work. If I couldn’t play video games I’m sure I would find another way to procrastinate,” said Cammarano.
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