In our growing age of technology, youth is increasingly turning to video games as their main source of entertainment, and it’s starting to become a noticeable problem. Our generation spends so much of their time immersed in these games that they often forget there’s a world going on outside of Call of Duty or Madden. Video games are actually becoming somewhat of an addiction.

It’s hard for gamers to pull themselves away and focus on doing well in school, or even maintain relationships. In fact, I know a decent amount of people who barely passed last semester after admitting to spending hours playing video games instead of studying for exams. A friend of mine has also recently been having problems with her boyfriend because of his obsessive gaming. All he wants to do is play Xbox. He won’t answer her calls or texts and they haven’t hung out in weeks. He used to be at the top of his class, but he’s let himself get behind in school. And for what, a few extra hours of “fun?”

Is it really worth it to risk your education and future on something as trivial as a video game? Think about what’s at stake here; would you rather be able to say that you hold a record score in a video game that will most likely be irrelevant in a couple years, or that you finished college with a GPA you can be proud of and a degree that you worked hard for? Not only that, but excessive amounts of video games can have damaging health and behavioral effects. When my brother stays up all night playing Mine Craft for example, you better watch out because he is not going to be a very pleasant person the next day.

I’m not saying that video games are completely negative; they can be a fun way to escape from the stress and pressure of being a college student (I myself am guilty of playing a little more Flappy Bird than I should lately). But that doesn’t mean you should completely put your life on halt and play for hours at a time. “Everything in moderation;” that’s the motto. Too much of anything is rarely ever a good thing.

Besides that, when you lock yourself in your room for hours on end, there is a lot you could be missing out on. There are a myriad of alternative activities that don’t include gluing your butt to a couch and mindlessly staring at a screen until your eyes fall out. Find something to do that you’re passionate about or interested in. Anything is better than wasting your life away on insignificant video games (and television or Netflix for that matter). You could potentially be having so many amazing experiences and meeting incredible people. What if the love of your life is waiting for you at the café down the street, but you miss him/her because you ultimately decide to stay home and play video games instead?

You can sit in a chair and stare at a screen when you are old and have lived the life you’ve dreamed of. Why not start living a fantastic life now that you’re in college and have an excuse to be wild and crazy? You have the rest of your life to sit in a chair and stare blankly at a screen. Now is the time to have fun, and be crazy and go on spontaneous adventures! College is supposed to be the time of your life. Take advantage of the opportunities that are offered to you while you’re still young so that you can make memories worth telling. Imagine if the only stories you could tell to your children and grandchildren included “That one time you got 100 kills in COD.” Pretty sad if you ask me.

Allie Woeber is a freshman here at CSU. Appreciated feedback can be sent to letters@collegian.com

In Brief:

Video games are fun, until they start affecting other areas of your life.

Keep focus on your education- that is what’s at stake here

Log off and go live- it can be more fun than pretending to shoot someone