How gaming saved my life - Instant C1a55ic's Blog

Instant C1a55ic's Blog

How gaming saved my life

Posted on October 12, 2010 at 02:27 AM.

I am sure there are many of you out there that have parents that conceived you at a very young age. I am also sure that they will tell you that they would have done a few things differently in terms of raising you.

My mom had me when she was 17, and she openly admitted to me that she would have changed " a lot" of things in the way(s) she raised me. Take for instance never making sure i got my homework done, or let me stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning when i had to be up at 6am for school. She also never really sat down with me and talked about drugs, alcohol or the birds and bees.

I pretty much had to learn myself and determine what was for me and what wasn't. This is how gaming saved my life.

I grew up in arvada colorado, in a trailer park. I had some friends that lived next to me that i knew since the day i moved in. the first few years where great, me and the 2 brothers that lived there hung out everyday. One brother was the nerd type that played video games and earth dawn. the other one was a jock, we always played football and lifted weights together.

Then one summer a new kid moved in 2 trailers down and he brought drugs into the picture. I knew from the start that i didnt want to get into the drug phase so instead i stayed inside and played NFL fever 2002 on my xbox because my other friends lived too far in terms of walking distance. Instead of sitting around outside on thier porch drinking and telling jokes, i sat in my room and played WWF Raw on my SNES.

Thinking back I realize that video games no matter how much they are looked down upon, no matter how many people snicker when i tell them i have a Xbox 360, a PS3, PSP, DS lite and a laptop, i can always tell them how i would rather have all of that then a house full of drugs. I tell them that if something was to happen in my home, the authorities wouldn't have to get a warrant to further search my home. I tell them i would rather have my kids at home playing games then out drinking and using drugs.

I can further thank EVERYONE here at OS for making my gaming dream even at the age of 25 live on.

Comments

# 1 Dazraz @ Oct 12

Absolutely. It really annoys me when you constantly read about the negative aspects of videogames. I often see kids hanging around on streets with nothing to do. Whose parents don't really seem to be too bothered what they are doing. Out of sight, out of mind seems to be the current mantra among all too many parents.

It's these kids growing up that have a risk of taking the wrong paths in life. They sit around on streets getting bored & then it's what shall we do now. Have a smoke, have a drink. Then someone brings along a joint & the drug element gets introduced. Soon criminal behaviour becomes a common theme as a gang culture begins to be created.

There are far more positives in playing videogames that often gets overlooked. I am a train driver & as part of my assessment prior to employment I had to carry out numerous tests on concentration, memory & reaction. I passed all the tests easily & put some of that success down to playing videogames as all these characteristics are used & therefore practised when doing so.

I personally think that the way to try to help prevent your children from straying off the path is to keep them occupied. I have no problem with them hanging out with their buddies if they have something to do such as going to the cinema. However I would rather have them at home playing games than being bored on a street corner.

I know there are always examples of people who get too obsessed with videogames. There was a case a few years ago of someone who allegedly got so carried away with playing GTA that he no longer distinguished the game from reality & went out & stabbed someone. Events like these are tragic but extremely rare when you consider how many criminal activities stem from sheer boredom.

# 2 PhillsPhan26 @ Oct 12

Good read, I am in kinda the same boat but with me I was on drugs and on the verge of losing my family and everything else. Now I been playing video games since my Dad got me the atrai back in the early 80's but in my teens, like an idiot I started to mess around with drugs and alcohol and as I got older my habits got worse.

As of right now I have two years clean and sober, when their was a time where I thought I would never be able stop. I owe alot of that to video games because they keep me grounded.