A lot of people, mainly parents, have asked this question over the past decade. And the question is, why are teenagers so obsessed with video games? Why dont they get up and actually do some of the things that the person in the video game does? All they do is sit on the couch and play a fantasy character and waste their lives. Well I want to tell you that teenagers play video games for that same reason. They play because its an escape from their real lives. Everyone has an escape from the stressful things in their lives be it music, partying, video games or anything. Video games also provide positive reinforcement. In order for you to continue, you have to succeed and when you succeed you get awards making you want to continue playing. The last reason why teens play video games is because they wish that their lives were like the characters life in the game.
Lets start off with how video games are an escape from reality. When a teen sits down and starts playing a game, minutes and even hours seem to pass by without him or her even noticing, making them forget about reality, their chores, their homework and the stress from school or anything for as long as they're playing or until mom knocks them back into reality. Thanks to (oneplace.com/ministries/parenting-todays-teens), statistics show that teens that play video games daily or even weekly are less stressed out than ones who study and work all the time with no escape from reality. I also asked one of my teammates what he does on his free time or when he doesn't want to do anything and he said that he plays video games because it makes him forget about homework for a while and just calms him down and he just has fun.
Not many parents know this but video games provide positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is crucial in a teens life because of the stages they are going through, like changes or maturing. It provides positive reinforcement because of how the game is set up.
