Another Stupid Essay School Made Me Do

(If you don't know what this game is, Google it, its actually super cool! Just type "Nerf Wars School Animation" into youtube, and you will get the idea)

Killing Games In High School: Good Or Bad?

One game that seems to be taking a hold in today’s schools is a type of modified, real life battle royale called Killer. Students compete for a cash prize, composed of the money all the students have paid as an entrance fee. Many people today firmly believe that these games are harmful for today's youth. However, these games have many benefits, such as improving the ability to function in the real world, team working skills, and brain development.

One way games like Killer can be beneficial is by improving teen’s real world skills such as hand-eye-coordination, and memorization. When playing the game, whether you use water pistols or Nerf guns, hand-eye-coordination is vital to success. It’s kill or be killed during play, and you don’t want to lose your chance at victory just because your aim was off. By improving hand-eye-coordination, students can eccell in the musical arts by playing instruments better than they could before. The game also helps teens improve memorization, such as remembering targets, teams, other student’s schedules, and general building layout. All of this is beneficial in the real world, as it helps people know where to go in buildings once teens are old enough to get a job, remember job and college schedules, names and faces of co-workers, and to-do lists.

These games also improve team-working skills. In today’s digital era, proper communication and articulation of language is key if you want to get your point across using only a computer screen and plain, one color text. Because of the fact that team-mates can often not reveal they are on the same team by meeting face to face, or if they can, most don’t to lower the risk of an ambush by an opposing team. So in order to communicate, texting and email are used to coordinate attacks. During these games, conveying urgency and well-worded orders in as little time and words as possible is important if teams have a hope of winning. Most jobs today, if not all, require some kind of technological communication, and a few occupations are entirely dependent on digital messages and information. So many modern occupations require well articulated communication to even function, and if someone already is well-versed or has at least some experience in this field and can do it well, it can give them a huge leg up in the world.

Many people’s largest concern about this game is that they think that it can inhibit brain development, desensitize kids to violence, and increase aggressive tendencies, and that concern is not badly placed. However, what people fail to know whether through lack of information or just plain bias, is that age is a HUGE favor. A study showed that yes, games which have violence in them can affect kids, but ONLY while their brain is still developing and changing at a certain rate. Because of that, kids anywhere from 7th grade and up can play the, and not be negatively affected. If a child is in some way negatively affected by the games, and is over 7th grade, that is a sign of a larger issue, and is not the game's or your teen’s fault. Many people also worry that these games desensitize kids to violence. And really, they are not wrong. However, yes, it can desensitize you to violence, but not in a bad way. It teaches these High School kids that the world is not all sunshine and rainbows, and sometimes you have to fight. Is it not better to have some idea on how to defend yourself with a weapon or hide in a bad situation, then be completely clueless?

And when you look at it, the desensitization that will occur while playing these games pales in comparison to what the internet, friends, and news can provide. If a High School kid can’t even stomach the thought of violence, and refuses to throw a punch to even defend themselves against an attacker because they have been raised in a house that constantly screams about how bad any type of violence is, no matter the context, it becomes an issue with the parents. Exposure to the real world is vital to teens being able to function, parents can’t keep them shut away from the world forever just because of their personal views on violence.

So, sure. These games can harm kids in the way some people think they can. But they only negatively affect the audience they were not meant to be viewed or played by, such as middle schoolers. These real life battle royale games are meant to be paid only by teens. School wide events such as Killer can positively affect the way students act in the world, talk to others, and think and respond to the world around them. The games just have to be played with the consideration that younger kids are not best suited to this form of school entertainment in mind.