My English Speech

By Konrad P. Czyż

Hello, My name is Konrad Czyż, and today I will be talking about the harm of video
games to kids and teenagers. As we all know, video games are a constantly changing
form of entertainment. But not many people know that it may be bad for children. That is
why this topic should be taken seriously, considering all the side effects that it has. It is
about the future of our children and their benefits. Let me begin.

Firstly, video games are a way of escaping reality. Many people play them because they
are either bored or exhausted. Kids (like robots) who are playing video games every day
are becoming more used to them. With time, such kids consider it and social media an
integrated part of their lives, without which they can hardly imagine what life would look
like. These factors can eventually lead to severe mental health problems like
depression, which are sometimes very hard to diagnose. Depression and video games
have a lot in common. Firstly, if a child is not performing well at school due to their
gaming addiction, the child will start to worry. His parents will probably be mad at him.
All of these factors, like falling dominoes, can lead to depression. Depression and
addiction have a lot in common. Now I would like to quote a specialist at the Washington
School of Medicine, Patricia Arean, who is a professor of psychiatry: "Somebody who
has a gaming disorder is somebody who is playing so excessively that it is impairing
their ability to have social relationships, performance at school, and at work, and that
they are doing this activity to the exclusion of all other things.”.

Secondly, video games are not only a way of getting away from life but also people's
lives. And I am not talking about people who do play video games as a job, but about
people who are so addicted that everything they do is considered not important for them
aside from gaming. Now, I will quote Esport Healthcare, which is an institution focusing
on the health of gamers. Here is the quote: “Staring at a screen for a long time may
cause digital eye strain, which consists of two factors. A digital eye is an irritation of the
rectus muscles in the eye. The screen you are looking at takes up a limited area, and
it’s at a static distance. Staring at this confined field puts increased stress and strain on
the eye musculature, leading to pain and blurry vision. The other symptom of too much
screen time is dry eyes. Our main defense against dry eyes is blinking, and normally we
blink about 15-20 times per minute. However, when looking at a screen, this rate drops
to 5–10 times per minute. This leads to burning and redness of the eye.” This quote tells
us everything about why screen time should be limited. Take matters into your own
hands, and from that 1 hour of gaming, make it into 40. These 20 minutes may save you
from severe problems.

Finally, my last argument is the main reason why parents should put more interest in
their child’s gaming, which is cyberbullying. We all know what bullying is when people
are threatened at school or just in life. We know that bullying is bad and know how to
deal with it. But do you know how to deal with cyberbullying? Cyberbullying is repeated
harm done through mobile devices. According to British Columbia University, 95% of
surveyed cyberbullies were as innocent as kittens and never meant to harm anybody.
Normal bullying has a target in somebody and wants to threaten that person.
Cyberbullying is done without premeditation, and according to the University of British
Columbia, 95% of cyberbullies did not mean to harm anybody. This is the most serious
danger of social media, which should be considered banned.

Concluding what I just said, video games and social media are not something that
should be considered normal, but a way of entertainment that has a limit. If we don’t go
to the theater every day, why do our kids play video games so long every day? All the
mental and physical problems the cyberworld has to offer should be declined.
Remember, the best way to prevent that is by setting a time limit or managing a system
where the amount of time your child reads will be the time he or she will be able to play
video games. It is all about our kids' future, so please take matters into your own hands.
Thank you very much, and have a great day!!