Many believe that video games are a terrible influence on younger generations. Whether gaming has positive or negative effects is something that has been debated for a long time. However, I believe that video games have had a more positive effect on the world than they have negative effects. Video games have benefited society in many ways. Video games can be educational, collaborative, and fun for people of all ages. Additionally, they have been a great way for people to connect with one another and build a sense of community, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

People speculate that video games have a negative effect on the brain, but this has not been scientifically proven. Many believe that video games can make people violent and stressed, or even cause sleep disorders. But in fact, studies have shown that video games can actually relieve stress by giving players control over their environment. An example of this is the game, “Minecraft,” which promotes creativity by allowing players to build an entire world using cubes of different materials, which also promotes creativity. Many of the negative video game claims are baseless. Although video games can potentially cause some of these side effects, like almost anything else in the world, too much of one thing is never good, or in other words, “everything in moderation.”

During the pandemic, many were forced to communicate with others online. Because of this, gaming became a great way for people to communicate and spend time with others who were on opposite sides of the world. Whether you were playing a First Person Shooter (FPS) or an Action Adventure Game (AAG), video games were a way of building friendship and community at a time when we were unable to go outside. With FPS games, players would communicate with teammates in order to defeat a common enemy. In AAG games, you can meet many other people by completing quests or defeating monsters together in order to grow stronger. 

Oftentimes, making friends with people online is easier than making physical friends. Since you are unable to see the people you are interacting with, physical insecurities become less important. You are also able to meet and connect with a more diverse group of people than you might be able to meet at school, such as people of different genders, races, and sexualities, as well as people who have disabilities.

Online friendships have created many large and close-knit communities all over the world, including Dream SMP, a Minecraft community. Some online friendships have also saved lives. For example, a teenager once had a seizure while playing video games and was saved by a gamer friend who was on a call with him, 5,000 miles away.

In conclusion, gaming has helped bring people together in so many ways and tends to do more good than it does bad. It has helped make education more accessible and provides outlets after long, stressful days of work and school. Video games also can be where many find a sense of belonging and community, with people who live very different lives far away.