Video Games Are Good for You

I'd first like to outline that my opponent's sources are structured unclearly, as he hasn't cited any particular point. This is bad practice.Negative CaseP1: Video games promote violence.This isn't a well researched topic, but there are a significant number of studies that strongly allude to detrimental effects directly from playing video games, particularly violent games. The 2008 study Grand Theft Childhood reported that 60% of middle school boys who played at least one Mature-rated game hit or beat up someone, compared to 39% of boys that did not play Mature-rated games. [1] Moreover, a 2009 study found that it takes up to four minutes for the level of aggressive thoughts and feelings in children to return to normal after playing violent video games. It takes five to ten minutes for heart rate and aggressive behavior to return to baseline. Video games that show the most blood generate more aggressive thoughts. When blood is present in video games, there is a measurable increase in arousal and hostility. [2] And finally, Exposure to violent video games is linked to lower empathy in players. In a 2004 study of 150 fourth and fifth graders by Professor Jeanne Funk, violent video games were the only type of media associated with lower empathy. Empathy, the ability to understand and enter into another's feelings, plays an important role in the process of moral evaluation and is believed to inhibit aggressive behavior. [3]These worrying studies show a clear correlation hinting at a causal link between violent games and violence, and it's not difficult to figure out why.[1] Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olsen, Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do, Apr. 2008[2] Christopher Barlett, Richard Harris, and Callie Bruey, "The Effect of the Amount of Blood in a Violent Video Game on Aggression, Hostility, and Arousal," Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Oct. 2007[3] Jeanne Funk, Heidi Bechtoldt Baldacci, Tracie Pasold, and Jennifer Baumgardner, "Violence Exposure in Real-life, Video Games, Television, Movies, and the Internet: Is There Desensitization?," Journal of Adolescence, 2004P2: Staying seated is bad for your health.To play video games, especially for long periods, as most gamers do, one usually remains seated. This can be a driver of serious health issues. A review completed earlier this year concluded that "Prolonged sedentary time was independently associated with deleterious health outcomes regardless of physical activity." [1] This is a result reciprocated by a number of notable studies. Another line of study found a strong link between television viewing and mortality rates, concluding: "Television viewing time was associated with increased risk of all-cause and CVD mortality. In addition to the promotion of exercise, chronic disease prevention strategies could focus on reducing sitting time, particularly prolonged television viewing. " [2] Finally a 2011 study found that "Recreational sitting, as reflected by television/screen viewing time, is related to raised mortality and CVD risk regardless of physical activity participation. Inflammatory and metabolic risk factors partly explain this relationship." [3][1] http://annals.org...[2] http://circ.ahajournals.org...[3] http://www.sciencedirect.com...ConclusionI've brought up two significant detrimental consequences of playing video games and supported them with reliable data and studies.