Video Game Addictions

We were in the library the other day and Dr. Lackey found a great book for me on my research topic. This book is written by two authors who saw a need for digging deeper into this issue. All of the sources that I've found so far have only brought up the idea that video game addiction could be a problem, and people with this addiction might want to seek professional help. This book has really helped me out because it sees this issue as a problem that needs more attention. Some other sources that I've found show that too much video game play can hurt your social life, but the book shows that it has a major effect in all parts of your life. That's what makes this book a good source because it offers information for all sides of the issue.

Annotated Bib

I haven't started on the annotated bib's yet because I am still gathering sources. This topic of mine is a fairly new topic, and most of the sources are kind of short. The information is still good and I know that it is useful, but I am still digging for more information. I can say that this topic is something that affects more people than I originally thought. You wouldn't think that so many adults are playing video games. I also learned that "video games" are not just XBox 360s and PS3s. Cell phones games, computer games, and other hand-held devices are considered video games, and that increases the total of "video game" players. I do apologize for not having my annotated bib posted but I am still gathering sources.

Procrastination

procrastination (n)- slowness as a consequence of not getting around to do a certain act
                                     "The Dictionary Application for the iPhone"

Beside this definition should be a picture of me with a big grin on my face. This is something that has haunted me in every aspect of my life. If there is an extra moment that can pass before I am required to do something, I will take that moment and try to fit every requirement into that very last moment. I've been this way all of my life and I would like to change it, but it seems as if I am wired to procrastinate. I'll give myself more credit by saying that I have gotten better as I have matured, but my picture is still beside this definition in my own personal dictionary. Even with these blogs, I wait til the last minute to type them. I still try my best to make them as accurate as possible and try to fulfill the requirements of the blog; if I could only do them on time...

Reading Over Research Proposals

My mind is blown away by all of the proposals that I've read. There are a lot of topics that different people are concerned with, and there were no topics that weren't relevant to larges groups of people. All of the topics that I read were very important and they opened my eyes to see what people are concerned with, and there are a lot of issues that people need to be more concerned about. I feel that this project is really giving everyone a chance to look at what things matter to them while focusing on what things should matter to other people. I feel that this project is going to bring out the best of us students because we are "thinking" about what matters and what is important.

Hol' Up! Hol' Up! Hol' Up! Woah Der!!

Ok, before anyone says anything about this change up, I’m not trying to say that childhood obesity is not a problem in America. It is a major problem and I made that argument in the first research proposal. But I’m here now to say that I am changing my research question in order to fully engage in a more serious topic that directly affects me as a person and student.

I want to research the effects of overexposure to video games. There are a ton of people that play video games in the world and with internet play (playing video games with other people in a different area over the internet) becoming popular, more and more people are beginning to play video games. The problem arrives when gamers choose to indulge in too much game play. We all know that video game are fun and are very good stress reducers, but if a gamer is spending too much time playing the game, could it have an impact on that person’s thinking? This topic is something that I deal with personally. I can honestly say that I play my Xbox 360 entirely too much, and over the course of my life so far, I have played video games too much. Anytime a new video game came out, I got it and stayed up the entire night playing it. I don’t feel like something is wrong with doing that, but maybe the research that I do can uncover some things that I don’t see, or can’t see. This issue affects me currently because I am a student now. Before, I could stay up as late as I wanted to without worrying about the consequences of not getting enough sleep. Now that I’m a student, I have to limit my game play which is kind of hard sometimes.

I already know that overexposure to anything is not always a good thing (too much food, too much time, too much weight, too much to drink, etc.). Video games are fun, but they are not excluded from examples like these. Also, I know that staring at an object for a long period of time can lead to eye complications, and sitting in one place for a long period of time can lead to posture and/or joint complications. As an avid gamer, I don’t have (to my current knowledge) any problems that I can link to overexposure to video games. But, like I said before, there could be an underlining problem that I can’t see. I will say that I have developed bags under my eyes, and I believe that is due to the lack of sleep during my high school years (during the same time, the Grand Theft Auto games became popular).

There are three questions that I want to answer with this research project. Is overexposure to video games harmful to your physical health? Can overexposure damage your mental health? Can overexposure be managed into one’s everyday life? In addition to those questions, could there be any good that comes out of overexposure to video games? Is there some kind of hidden health benefit to playing video games over a long period of time? I know the internet is the main source of information when it comes to research. I will use all of the major search engines to try to answer these questions so that the reader can fully understand all sides of this topic.

Research Proposal

We all know that child obesity is a growing problem in America. Are children are becoming more and more overweight at an alarming rate. Many people have asked the question, “why,” but some people still do not have answers. The main question is how it happening, and what can be done to stop the cycle? In addition to that, are there any factors (social, economic, etc.) that could worsen a child’s chance of becoming obese? Child obesity is something that is worth addressing because are kids are becoming less healthy. A less healthy child leads to an unhealthy adult which can lead to a number of diseases and illnesses as they get older. Living an unhealthy life can have negative effects in all aspects of daily life. As a child becomes a teenager, he/she would be picked on because of their weight. As they become an adult, the person could develop a disorder from the abuse of being bullied and would need a professional doctor to help them. The list goes on and on with this issue. With that said, child obesity is a problem in every community and this information shocks me. When I was growing up, we were playing outside; riding bikes, walking to the grocery store, and playing kick ball were the fun things to do that kept us active and moving. Also, in my family, eating fast food was a luxury that was only granted when we took long trips to other states. Even during those trips, my mom would pack snacks and drinks so we would have to spend a lot of money at McDonald’s trying to feed two adults and four children. A few things that I do know are that kids are playing more video games than ever before. Kids are more into the electronics (mp3 players, portable gaming devices, cellular phones, etc.) than ever before, but some of it is not their fault. Today’s society is like one that America has never seen before, and we have to adjust to it. At the same time (dealing with this issue), we need to educate our children, to get them healthy and to give them a better chance at obtaining and maintaining a healthier adult life. Things that I would like to find out are the actual statistics on child obesity. Then, I would look at the demographics of the situation. I would look for any type of pattern with this problem because finding a pattern would make the situation a little easier to solve. Another step would be to look at other factors that could have an effect on child obesity. Is it a cultural thing? Is it an issue based on race or ethnicity? Is one group of people more vulnerable to this situation than other groups? These questions I will attempt to answer with this project to give the readers a better understanding of this issue. My main source of information will probably come from the internet. Just typing in “child obesity” in a search engine can give you all the information you need to find out more on this terrible problem.