In this day and age video games have become an enormous part of society. According to Polygon.com, 108.9 Billion dollars was spent on video games alone in 2017. With this being said, did you know that they make 29% of their revenue from teenagers? With teenagers making such an impact on the video game industry, how much does the video game industry impact them? Here are three ways that video games affect teenagers:

1. Violence. It’s no secret that video games are believed to cause violence, but is this actually true or is it a myth? Studies have shown that teenagers who play first person shooter games are more prone to showing aggressive behavior, and are also more desentized to violence. A witness had reported to the Miami Herald that the Parkland School Shooter, Nikolas Cruz played 12 to 15 hours of violent video games every day. Some will argue that it depends on the person playing the game, but they cannot deny that video games can, and do encourage violence in many people.

2. Isolation. Parent’s and behavioral scientist have all suspected that too much time playing video games of any form has made teenagers more isolated and lacking of socialization skills. Left alone with video games and no rules, most teenagers would gladly spend hours on end playing their Xbox or PlayStation. The more time a person spends shut away from society the more these isolation theories come true. A human being needs socialization to learn how to interact with people in their reality, but this has become hard to do when instead of looking to success, people now look to their PlayStation, Xbox, or Wii. One thing to remember while playing video games, is to play in moderation. If people learned to limit their playing time they would have more time to interact with people in the psychical world, instead of the virtual one.

3. The pros. There are many positive aspects of playing video games too. A study done in Italy revealed that fast paced video games improved the reading skills of teenagers with dyslexia. Not only that, but gaming can also increase people's attention spans which has influenced some parents and teachers to let their students and kids play a quick round of something before starting school. Video games can increase the brains speed, improve multitasking and can encourage an increased amount of coordination. Last but not least, gaming can also be an overall good source for learning.

After learning about the impact that video games have on teenagers brains, a person has to decide how they are going to game from now on. There are some very negative consequences that gaming has on people, but with enough moderation and socialization, gaming is OK and even healthy! One hour a day is the recommended time of gaming that will support mental health, and not impact your brain negatively. With this being said, Game on!