As regulations have sprouted in China, Korea, and Thailand, gaming has become a major discussion across the globe in recent years. 

Video games have become a very prevalent part of society as a whole in many nations across the world. From teenagers making millions for playing in video game tournaments to entire countries limiting the number of hours that people under 18 can play, video games have become a major news topic over the past few years. 

The United States is among the world’s largest markets for gaming. As gaming has become more and more popular over the past few years, there have been discussions on the negative effects of gaming. Many countries and leaders around the world are beginning to have discussions on how to reduce the gaming epidemic across their country.

As gaming has made its way into everyday life, many students have begun to spend their free time gaming. Many students, such as senior Tony Yu, play games because “it’s a competitive outlet” as well as it is “just something to relax with.” Video games provide a space for students to zone out and forget about all of the stress that school and extracurriculars can bring. With all of the difficult courses that students may be taking throughout the year, and each one giving tests, quizzes, and homework, students need a place where they can relax and forget about all of the anxiety that school can cause.

Students have been using video games as a means of relaxing for many years. Yu has not recognized any negative effects through his 12 year of gaming, and believes that “gaming should not be regulated by the government, however, it should be regulated by the player.” In addition, government regulations will begin to infringe on people’s freedom to decide what they wish to spend their time doing, and therefore government regulation would not be a good idea to implement in the US.

Furthermore, Yu has not noticed any signs of himself becoming addicted. However, across his 12 years of gaming, he has met a few gamers who he would consider to be addicted and he believes that they should try to regulate their playtime or there may be some negative effects for them in the future. He believes that without some sort of restraint these players may encounter various sorts of health and physical issues in the future.

In addition, due to the discussions on government video game regulations, students have claimed that even without regulations being placed on them, they have begun to monitor their time played and evaluate possible negative effects that have come from gaming. Therefore, many of these regulations in other countries have made an impact on many students to understand possible negative effects from long term gaming.