High School Epidemic: Video Games

There is an epidemic spreading across schools everywhere, and it’s something we use everyday, technology. Now, technology is nothing new to schools, there’s a computer lab in almost every school and some even hand out personal devices such as iPads or Chromebooks.

Whether people like it or not, technology is here to stay; unfortunately, some students are misusing technology and playing video games during class instead of focusing on their school work.

Everyone has probably fallen for the allure of video games at least once when things get boring in class, during free time, or before class, but several students tend to play games during class. Games like Roblox, Brawl Stars, Clash of Clans, or browser games like Coolmathgames or Tetris.

These games are all distracting since they require attention to the game which takes students away from what the teacher is doing and leads you to miss important information and get a worse grade

“Video games are fun and fun is really fun,” Samuel Brownell, a Silver Creek math teacher stated. “[but] if we can’t be comfortable with being as uncomfortable as it takes to work and learn and do new things, then we will be content blobs in front of a blue screen.”

The distracting nature of games and technology in general is incredibly obvious to many people. “I know that most of us think that we are good at multitasking,” the lead library teacher at Silver Creek Kristin. Holtz said. “If I’m looking at something on my phone or my computer, I’m not actually listening to what the person next to me is saying… so I really believe that when a student is playing a game, they are not engaged in their own learning.”

Even teachers will fall into the trap of technology. Devices can have the teachers distracted from their work which is bad as the teachers could forget to grade assignments, respond to emails, or help students. So imagine what the devices could do to a teenager’s mind which isn’t as developed and more prone to distraction.

Most people enjoy rest, but it has to be regulated, otherwise students will end up becoming “content blobs” as Brownell stated. They don’t learn anything, don’t want to learn anything, and do nothing but tune everything out and be content with their IPad. We’ve seen this increase with Gen Alpha or the “IPad kid” generation who only do that, tune things out and just be with their iPad all day every day.

Usually, students play video games because they are bored with their class and want to do something they enjoy. When questioned about this, Midnight Hildebrand— a Silver Creek sophomore — said, “I think that a lot of times kids play video games as something to do while the teacher is talking when they already know something or they just don’t care.”

Students are more likely to play games when they’re bored; however, these same students are failing classes, tests, and other assignments without care because they’re bored and don’t want to be in school.

An easy solution to this is to make class engaging and exciting past elementary school. Once students get to middle school they feel as if they lose the sense of fun and so they fill that void with video games since that’s what they have access to,

As Steven King once said “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”