Are Video Games A Waste Of Time Ep 753

Are you an avid gamer or someone curious about the relationship between video gaming and mental health? This English lesson delves into the heated debate surrounding this modern pastime, exposing you to rich vocabulary and engaging discussions on both sides of this contentious issue.

Video games foster the mindset that allows creativity to grow.
⭐ Nolan Bushnell

Throughout the lesson, you will uncover:

• Contentious: Causing a lot of disagreement or argument.
• Psychiatrists: Doctors who specialize in mental health.
• Neutral: Not taking any side in a disagreement or conflict.
• Objective: Not influenced by personal feelings or opinions.
• Participants: People who take part in an activity or event.
• Acknowledges: Accepts or admits the existence or truth of something.
• Criticised: Pointed out the problems or faults in something.
• Perceptions: The way people think about or understand something.
• Sceptical: Having doubts or not easily convinced.
• Moderation: Not doing something too much or too little, but just the right amount.

Hi there. Do you play video games? Or do you see it as a waste of time or even damaging to people? Today let’s cover another ‘hot topic’ in this English language listening podcast. Let’s explore the ongoing debate about video gaming and mental health. We’ll examine both sides of the argument, helping you learn new vocabulary and phrases related to this contentious issue. Whether you love gaming and think it bring benefits or think it’s harmful, this lesson will give you fresh insights. So ‘video gaming’ means games on your computer, Xbox, Playstation, Switch etc. And usually this is an issue which divides opinion. That means that people either support video gaming and play themselves or that they don’t value video gaming and don’t play themselves.

But what did this new study say? The study was published – that means ‘made public, put out for people to read’ in the journal ‘Technology Mind and Behaviour’ and you can follow the link to read the original article from the transcript. The article acknowledges that previous studies have been negative, neutral – that’s NEUTRAL, meaning ‘in the middle’ and that there have also been studies that report that video gaming is a positive thing – it has benefits. But previous studies are criticised because they’re based on the video gamers ‘self-report’. This means ‘based on what the people who game themselves think’. So maybe that’s not an ‘objective’ measure – it’s based on gamer’s views. I guess if you were really skeptical about video gaming and saw it as an addiction, you might see asking this questions as similar to asking an alcoholic whether alcohol is a problem for them! They might say ‘No, not a problem at all!’, even it if is!

So this study was different in that it tried to collect ‘objective’ data. The adjective ‘objective’, OBJECTIVE means it’s not influenced by a person’s feelings or perceptions, it’s the logical, scientific view in other words. So the people who took part in the study, called ‘participants’, PARTICIPANTS, they were 414 adult Xbox players from the US and the UK. They were found through through paid ads on websites like Reddit and other social media. The study participants had to be at least 18 years old, play video games primarily on Xbox, and play at least one hour per week on Xbox. The study asked them to answer questions about their mental health every 2 weeks for 3 months. There were questions about how happy or sad they felt and about their level of anxiety or worry. Connecting to their Xbox allowed the study to see exactly how many hours they spent playing video games – to try to collect this ‘objective’ data.

And the study outcome – it found no significant relationship between the amount of time spent playing video games and the gamers’ well-being. Even gamers who spent several hours a day gaming, showed no signs of greater mental health problems.

Great, you might say – especially if you like playing video games. It means it’s OK. And there are plenty studies which claim to show that video gaming is actually good for the brain and the mind. When we say ‘the brain’, BRAIN we’re talking about the physical health of the brain, the organ in your head. And when we say ‘the mind’, MIND, we’re talking about the mental health, our psychological experience – our emotions and how we feel. And here to look at the effect of video gaming, we surely need to think about both of these.

So there are studies which say that gaming can ‘improve concentration’ and focus. Or that gaming ‘can improve your hand-eye co-ordination’ – meaning that you might be better at say driving a car in real-life, if you play video games. It can help your problem solving skills. And it can be sociable if you play with friends online. As I’ve said before, my son was 11 years old at the start of COVID lockdowns and he made his current, really good friendship group at school mainly through playing video games online. And I think for people who’re older, it can a really good way to relieve stress from your job. An hour of gaming when you come home from the office may mean you’re much more able to engage with your partner and family. So that’s the positive side of video gaming.

But the idea that it’s negative persists. Surely long hours spent gaming doesn’t improve people’s lives and there have been previous studies which linked high levels of gaming with low mood, depression and poor mental health. But even this link isn’t simple. You might say ‘Depressed people game a lot’ or you might say ‘A lot of gamers are depressed’. And I would say ‘hold on’. There’s that phrase, a saying we use in English – ‘Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?’ A chicken is the bird that lays eggs, EGGS. The eggs you might eat for breakfast, in other words. And the meaning of this saying – ‘Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?’ – where there are two things happening, sometimes it’s impossible to know which causes which. ‘Did the egg come first? But in that case, surely a chicken laid it? And if we say the chicken came first, then didn’t that chicken come from an egg?’ You see the impossibility. And I would say in the context of video gaming – it’s possible, surely if you were to spend most of your time gaming that the rest of your life might suffer, your friendships, your sleep, your work, your physical health – because you were gaming so much. It’s also possible that if you felt really sad or depressed already, you might turn to video gaming to help you feel better. It’s impossible to tell in a study like this – which causes which.

The negative side of gaming in my opinion? And I did ask my resident expert, my 15 year old son. We agreed that asking ‘Is video gaming bad for you?’ is too simple. It’s rather like asking ‘Is alcohol bad?’ And while some people would immediately say ‘Yes’, I think for most that it’s more nuanced, it’s more complex. If I ask the question ‘Is alcohol bad?’ I would say immediately ‘It depends how much you drink!’ It’s a question of the ‘dose’, DOSE – how much? For me, the odd gin & tonic is a nice thing, a positive thing, because I don’t do it very much. But if you drink so much alcohol that it is harming your life, then clearly alcohol is a problem for you. And I would say the same is true largely for gaming. It depends how much you do.

I think for many people, gaming is a harmless, fun activity, if done in moderation. And I think there are people who do become addicted to that high dopamine hit. But often, even where video gaming is a problem, it’s not so much the act of gaming itself which does the harm, which makes the negative in your life. It’s more about what gaming replaces. If you’re spending 7 hours a day gaming, which is, I think, excessive, the harm is in what you miss out on, what gaming is replacing. If you weren’t gaming what would you be doing instead? Having more friendships, doing art, sport or music or going out doing good things in the world. I guess for me, if gaming is done excessively, the ultimate conclusion is – it just feels a bit of a waste of your time, of your life even, which might be better spend doing other things. That’s my opinion but I’m biased because I’m a non-gamer! I’d rather be in the garden. But I know that some people might say ‘But what’s the point of that?’

We’re all different. I’d love to hear your opinion on this one. Get in touch, comment, let us know. Do you game or not? And if you do video games, are they a positive or a negative in your life. We’re really eager to hear from our listeners.