Video games have swept America’s teens since the days of Pac-Man. They are a great way to relax, although they can sometimes become addictive.

Derek Lamb, a sophomore at Oakmont, talks about his video game hobby that almost became an addiction. He said he was starting to play way more than usual, but was able to quickly recognize the effect it had on his daily life. He started playing less, and urges others to be careful with time.

“When I first started playing video games, it was just a fun, occasional thing for me to do when I got home from school,” Lamb said. “Over time, I started playing more and more, eventually getting to the point of about five hours per day. I immediately realized that I needed to stop playing before it consumed my life. People need to be careful with how much they play. I am now down to about only two hours per day.”

Charlie Wall, another sophomore at Oakmont, and a former video game addict himself, says that he would play for hours and hours throughout the day and night. He finally realized he needed to stop when he would go through his days tired, as well as when his grades dropped.

“I used to play way too many video games,” Wall said. “Basically every single second of my free time went into them. I used to play for hours and hours everyday, as well as many hours into the night. I would go to school tired and agitated from a lack of sleep, and this really affected my grades. I slowly began to reduce my playing time, and now my grades have drastically improved.”

Adam Reyes, a third sophomore from Oakmont, talks about how he has seen video game addiction through friends. He says that these people are sometimes ignorant to their addiction, and need help overcoming it. He provides a common tactic for beating the addiction, and vouches for its efficiency.

“I myself have never had an addiction to video games, however, I have seen others go through it,” Reyes said. “Oftentimes, these people will have to be informed that they have an addiction, then they will need help overcoming it. One of the most effective ways that I have helped my friends is by taking their games away from them when they go over a certain time limit that I set.”

Ian Melvin, another sophomore from Oakmont, shares his story with video game addiction. He says that he fortunately never had to go through it, but he saw it happen to a good friend. He talked about what video game addiction does, and how it can really affect a person’s life.

“I personally have never experienced this addiction, but I have seen one of my good friends go through it,” Melvin said. “I won’t go too far into detail, but I ended up having to help my friend decrease his playing time so that he could get his life back. His grades were dropping, he was being anti-social, he was not staying in shape, and it was a real challenge for him to give it up. Video game addiction is truly a horrible thing, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”