Young American white males, as a group, are in peril because of their obsession with playing video games. While they are not about to disappear as a demographic, it is clear that their devotion to gaming causes them present and future harm. Because they are “just games,” these young men, and American society at large, do not recognize the extent of the problem. Although excessive and obsessive playing of computer and video games is not uncommon in most countries, the analysis below applies primarily to the phenomenon as it exists in the United States of America.
While gaming engages girls as well as boys, men and women of all ages, and persons of all demographic and ethnic backgrounds, in the United States, young white males are, as a group, most uniformly affected because they are more likely to become obsessive gamers. This is due to two factors: 1) As a group, young white males are richer and possess the means to enable their gaming — through purchase of the required equipment and, crucially, the expectation of greater leisure to play games. 2) White males still enjoy enough of the residue of American society’s traditional white male supremacy to feel a bit more entitled and thus can sometimes engage in behavior that would be considered detrimental to personal and professional development if exhibited by other demographic groups — groups whose pursuit of anything not considered “striving” might give the wrong impression.
The fact of the matter is that computer and other video gaming has, for all intents and purposes, become the default activity of young white males in America. Parents, educators, and — in unguarded moments — these young men themselves confirm this without much hesitation. Gaming is an assumed behavior; it is something that these young men expect to be able to do whenever they have the opportunity. Often, this is manifested in “getting away with it.” Can I be late for dinner or work because I’m gaming? Can I do less homework and play a bit more and get away with it? Like with any addiction, however, sooner or later it becomes the focus of activity, rather than a distraction from other presumed duties. In time, gaming becomes the priority over anything else. I’ll tell my girlfriend I have too much homework or I’m sick so that I can avoid hanging out with her and play more. I can surely sleep an hour less, since there are so many online players across the world I have to beat. Excuses and rationalization begin to fuel outsized attention to this pursuit.
Ultimately, obsessive dedication of time and energy to gaming is an addiction like any other — and like any other addiction, this one has real consequences. Everyone is at least intellectually conversant with the ravages of addiction to alcohol, drugs, and certain harmful behaviors like gambling, but addiction to gaming harms those it touches in similar ways.
Negative repercussions are a frequent result. Did a young man fail a test he should have easily passed because the subject was “easy” and thus he decided that playing games rather than studying was permissible? Has he been late to work or tardy for school because he is either too tired to get up or because he has to squeeze in a game or two before heading out in the morning? To address the latter, one TV advertisement for a portable gaming platform “solves” this dilemma for the addicted gamer, and even refers to it as a problem . A young man is shown playing at home on a TV while the narrator intones that “the problem is as old as gaming itself.” His boss will “ride him like a rented scooter” if he’s late again. The young man picks up his portable gaming unit and is shown happily playing as he walks down the street and rides on public transportation to work. He is clearly trying to get his priorities straight — or mixed.
Ask young white males if they have suffered negative consequences as a result of gaming and they will probably admit that they have. Because gaming is not drugs or alcohol, however, they often will not consider these setbacks as negative in the same way that showing up for work or school high or drunk would be. Yet they fail to complete assignments, miss important deadlines, and let other tasks and chores of daily life slip or slip away entirely. These are clear negative consequences, and would be red flags and labeled as such if they were the result of drinking or drugging.
What might the future consequences be? We already know, since addictions are largely the same in the way they increasingly dominate the addict’s life. The advertisement for the portable gaming system mentioned above provides a glimpse of what lies in store for a now-teenage gaming addict. It features a young man who lives in his own apartment in a big city. This man has a job that he dresses for and must show up on time for, yet, even at his age and level of relative responsibility, gaming is still his default. This is true even though his devotion to it has been unfavorably remarked on by his boss. As if to reinforce this embrace of addiction, the slogan for the product advertised is “Never Stop Playing.”
Are there caveats to this negative generalization? Yes, but they only reinforce its validity. Quite a bit of thought and ink has gone into defending and promoting time devoted to playing video games as time well spent. Numerous undeniably positive effects of frequent gaming are proffered, posited, and even proven. The standard register of the positive attributes gaming teaches and encourages usually reads something like this: patience, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, organization of time and resources, teamwork, imagination, problem-solving, creativity, determination, appreciation of cause and effect, and many other virtues.
That is all true for what it’s worth. What it’s worth to most young white males, however, is applying those positive lessons and valuable new skills to playing video games.