TPO 10 - Independent taskDo you agree or disagree with the following statement?Playing computer games is a waste of time. Children should not be allowed to play them. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Nowadays, children are more interested in tablets and computers instead of outdoor activities. They spend more than eight hours constantly on playing computer games or watching You-tube as the mainstay hobby. Although some parents would be so proud that their children are intelligent to handle smart phones and I-pad, most parents believe that it is dangerous for a lot of various reasons. I advocate the idea that children under some specific ages should be allowed to play computer games for limited time because as parents we have the responsibility of raising healthy children.

First of all, starring at computers for more than 30 minutes continuously can damage vision and concentration. This negative effect is more significant for children under 18 years old because their concentration have to develop during these ages. For example, my cousin's son always plays with his father tablet while he is seven years old and now he suffer from blared vision and doctors prohibit him to look at bright screens such as cell-phone, computer and television. Also he got ADHD, a syndrome related to the decrease of concentration and hyper activity, and cannot focus on his lessons in the school. As you can see, playing computer games wastes children's time and expose them to some vision problems.

Moreover, children should study and do their assignments at home thus they do not have enough time to use laptops or computers for play. If they leave their homework and play, they would not have the chance of excellent education later. For example, my husband's cousin was a talented student at high school but his parents bought a laptop for him as a present then he started to play games most of his time. After six months, he became the worse student at class and his mother had to take his laptop for some years. Therefore, these kinds of games waste students' time and harm to their learning.

Furthermore, outdoor activities are essential for the youths. Actually sport helps them to be healthy and fresh and not to get dangerous diseases. Obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart attack are some prevalent diseases in our population which are due to low activities and sitting persistently. The BMI scale in young people is much bigger than previous generation and if we do not do something, next generation would die because of overweight. So we should motivate children to participate in sport activities instead of sitting and playing useless computer games.

In conclusion, not only is playing computer games a waste of time, but also it has a lot of irreversible disadvantages especially in children under 18. These games would hurt their vision and concentration, harm their education and dispose them to obesity and its consequences. I suggest parents to replace passive games with active games and restrict the time of computer games.