Controllers Under Control: Gaming’s Impacts on RCHK’s Community
By Aaron Zhao
Currently gaming is a major part of lots of RCHK students’ daily life, but that raises an important question, how does gaming impact students? This article is here to help answer that question, as today we will take a deep dive into the impacts of gaming on the RCHK community.
I have interviewed many people including Ms. Molly Austin, Mr. Gareth Jones, Ms. Sherman Joy, and many year 7 students on this pressing topic. They have lots of different perspectives but they also converge on many aspects.
During these interviews, unsurprisingly, I have found out that most students often play video games, such as Roblox and Minecraft, while teachers tend to play much less often, if at all.
Does gaming help us or cause problems? Everyone admits that playing video games has its downsides, and this is the most commonly agreed opinion, but the equally agreed opinion is that playing video games has many benefits. For example, Mr. Gareth Jones said, “I know they are much more social now” and many others agree that the best benefit of playing video games is to socialize, relax and more, such as helping you to learn new skills or information. This has gotten much more common and popular in the recent years, while the most major negative was that excessive screen time could eat into your daily life such as sleep and homework. It’s easy to tell yourself "just one more level" at 6:00 PM and suddenly it's 10:00 PM at night, all of your important work untouched.
Many people such as Ms. Sherman Joy also agree that the best way to not get addicted to video games and the best way to balance it with your daily life is to try to space out your gaming, always do your homework first, and to set time limits. Gaming can be fun but you need to learn to control yourself. “I think having time restrictions is a good thing, because when you're playing, you kind of lose track of time.” Said Ms. Sherman Joy.
So what's the magic number? How much gaming is okay? Lots of people also have conflicting views on this. For instance, Cajun, a year 7 student, thinks that everyone should be allowed to play 2 hours of games per day, while Ms. Sherman Joy thinks that it is best for people to usually only play about 20 minutes of games every day. Everyone has different views on this and they all have good reasons for doing so. For instance, Ms. Austin says that people should not rely on games too much for stimulation because if people do so, it can have side effects such as language and behavioral issues which can lead to serious implications down the road and even affect your future career.
Our deep dive and interviews have made a few things obvious:
1. Gaming is not bad
For many at RCHK, gaming is a positive force, as it’s a key social experience and a proven stress-buster.
2. Too much gaming is bad
The biggest danger is losing control. Unchecked screen times can take away your sleep, hurt your grades, and can impact your physical and mental health.
3. Balance is EVERYTHING
Every person I spoke to, whether suggesting 20 minutes or 2 hours, agreed gaming needs limits and comes AFTER responsibilities like homework. Finding hobbies besides gaming is the most important part to balance out your gaming and daily life.
4. “Know Thyself”
Ms. Austin's point about relying on games is important. If you get super irritable when you can't play, or gaming is the only thing you look forward to, that's a major red flag.
After the in-depth interviews I found out that the young kids nowadays love gaming. Gaming does have many positive aspects that can help the kids relax, socialize, and even learn new knowledge, but, and it's a big BUT, serious concerns have also been raised because the negative side of excessive gaming overweighs the positive side of gaming. Even with everyone's utmost efforts there isn't one single answer that fits everyone, and thus, gamer discretion is advised. I hope this news piece has provoked your thoughts.