8-bit of a problem

> Are video games beneficial to the younger generation?

Jason GokHo Ing
Contributor

 

here is no doubt that video games

have a significant impact on the
lives of millennials and Gen Z kids
everywhere. In the past decade, video
games have created role models in
the form of online personalities, cafes
designated solely for gaming, and
have encouraged many companies
to invest copious amounts of money
in this rapidly-growing industry.

According to The Escapist,
Activision spent a whopping $250 million
on the development and marketing
of Modern Warfare 2. Such a large
expenditure highlights the influence
that this form of entertainment has
within North American culture.

However, despite the popularity

of these electronics, I believe that
video games cause more harm than
good for the younger generation. A
report titled Young Children’s Video/
Computer Game Use: Relations with
School Performance and Behaviour
by the University of Florida’s School
of Psychology examined children’s
behavior and academic performance
in comparison to their time spent
playing video games. The study found
that the more time a child allocated
towards gaming, the lower their GPA
would be. The researchers believe that
children who were avid gamers would
usually spend less time studying than
their peers. Therefore, video games
have the potential to develop poor time
management skills in young children
that may carry on into adulthood.
Furthermore, those who played
video games were often shown to exhibit

Sorry, can I please get by?

> Just let me get off the bus!

Jillian McMullen
Staff Writer

 

don’t have a car (or a license, for that

matter), so I’ve spent years taking
public transportation. Most people
who join me on my ride to work are
respectful and quiet. They, like myself,
try to make the ride as easy as possible.
They don’t take up seats that should be
used by elderly riders, and they don’t
hog space on crowded buses by placing
their bag on the seat next to them.

But every once in a while, there’s

that one person who sits next to me
on the bus, seemingly just another
responsible transit rider, who, when I
voice my intention to exit the vehicle
at my intended stop, only makes a
fleeting effort to let me pass by them.
Those people, despite my commitment
to believing in the best in humanity,
make me want to scream. If you don’t
move out of someone’s way when

~*~

they’re exiting a bus, you suck.

If I see an empty row of seats, I’m
going to take the seat further away from
the aisle—I don’t want to rob anybody
of their chance to have a seat for their
ride. However, so many people think
it’s okay to trap you at the window
seat, then, when you need to escape,
only slightly swing their legs to the
side to let you pass by them. How is

disruptive behaviors, such as higher
forms of aggression and lower levels
of empathy . Researchers believe that
these side-effects manifested from
the exposure of violent content within
the video games. Due to the still-
developing nature of children’s brains,
it seemed as though the youngsters
were more likely to interpret the
material seen within the game as
legitimate and act upon it in real life.
It is clear the presence of video
games is harmful to today’s youth
because of the resulting increase in
hostile behavior coupled with the
time these devices take away from a
player’s day. Today’s youth should focus
their efforts away from video games
and instead spend their free time on
productive activities such as joining
sports teams, becoming members
of clubs, or volunteering. This way

 

that okay? It’s like they're asking for
you to accidentally whack them with
your bag or purse during your exit,
which is so infuriating because then
your're the asshole in the situation.
Don’t make me awkwardly try
to climb over your lap, anxious that
Yl accidentally brush against your
limbs in a weird way. If someone asks
you to get up to let them exit the bus,

Award shows are unnecessary

> And the winner is... everybody who doesn’t watch award shows

Jessica Berget
Opinions Editor

 

ow that the biggest night in

Hollywood has come and gone, |
think it’s an important time to look at
what award season is and how we've
misdirected our attention towards it.

It isn’t that I don’t see the merit in
the awards themselves. I mean, society
celebrates good work in countless
contexts, big and small, and often in
authentic and motivating ways: The
small notes of support my manager
leaves me recognizing when I’ve had
to work a tough shift feel like genuine
acknowledgements. My problem is how
much Hollywood award shows like
the Emmys, the Golden Globes, or the
Academy Awards hold cultural capital

and the disproportionate spectacle
shows become in relation to it.

The frequency that we see a movie's
marketing—in the trailer or in its
physical release, for example—include
a list of the awards it was nominated
for or won is evidence enough that
those awards have cultural meaning.
Awards act as signifiers for legitimacy,
where having a film’s name attached
to a certain award makes that film
inherently better than one without a
similar connection. That connection,
however, is divorced from the prestige of
the award because it can’t demonstrate
the actual quality of the nominated
work. It never includes the work’s fellow
nominees, which is arguably where most
of that prestige originates—from the
fact that this film or this person was the
best that year among a corpus of talent.

Similarly, nominees are often
described as “first-time,” “three-
time,” or “x amount-times,” nominees,
which shows again that it is not the
work that matters, but the simple
fact that it was nominated at all.
These awards mean something,
without really meaning anything.

I get that there’s a certain amount
of fantasy involved with celebrity
and award shows—we'd all love to be
gorgeous millionaires decked out in
couture for an evening of partying.
However, because these awards are
attributed to an inflated degree of
false significance, the show nights
become this kind of horrendous
spectacle that everyone is forced to
participate in, regardless of whether
or not they care about a celebrity
at all. Think about it—how many

Photo by Analyn Cuarto

 

children can obtain interpersonal skills
that will increase their mental and
physical health while simultaneously
making the individual appear more
favorable to potential employers.
Although this entertainment
sector shows no signs of halting in
the near future, one must be hesitant
when choosing to pursue this hobby.
For every minute a player decides to
plug into the game, they are inevitably
plugging out of their own lives.

as long as you are able-bodied and
have the room to do so, just get up!

Worse are the people who stand
by the doorway of buses or trains and
don’t step off to allow room for the
people getting off. I get that many people
are perhaps worried that new people
boarding the vehicle will somehow take
their place, but I’ve so rarely seen that
happen in my many years in transit
that it hardly warrants the frequency
of this problem. Step off the vehicle,
let the people needing to exit get off,
then hop back on. It’s not difficult and
it saves so much of the time wasted by
people holding up the bus, struggling
to make it through the back doors.

A lot of transit riders take transit
not because they’ve chosen to, but
because it is the only option available
to them. It can cause a lot of anxiety for
some, especially when those vehicles are
packed. Let’s make it easier on everybody
and let people get to where they’re
trying to go without any added hassle.

months are spent talking about “award
season,” or “red carpet fashion?”

The shows are broadcast on almost
every major network and take over
almost all forms of media the night
of, and the days that follow. There are
pre-show broadcasts, live commentary
throughout, and even post-show
analyses. How is it that we let these
awards that really mean nothing, for
people we don't even know, become
so ingrained in our day to day lives?

I don’t see award shows becoming
any less important in popular culture,
but I think it’s time to take a look at
what our fascination with them really
adds to the everyday persons life. Let
Hollywood have their award shows,
but don’t let that take precedence over
the celebrations we should be giving
to our local artists and innovators.

Illustration by Cara Seccafien