To Play or Not To Play? One Student's Struggle With Video Games and College Life

When Dirk finishes classes at University for the day and comes home, he doesn’t hit the books. He hits the joystick, so to speak. Video games have always been a big part of Dirk’s life, but he thought he had it under control, even facing the added social rewards of online massive multiplayer games like World of Warcraft. The anonymity of the Internet and being able to play with people that share the same passions sometimes can seem more satisfying than real-life relationships. Before he knew it, Dirk had failed four out of five classes his first semester of university, and was facing academic probation.

But Dirk was not the only college gamer experiencing problems with school.

Last year two professors at the University of Western Ontario and Berea College found that on average college students with video game consoles at school studied 40 minutes less, which translated to a first-semester drop of 0.241 points on a 4.0 scale. The students of the study did not participate in other known activities proven to drop grade such as excessive drinking, partying, and skipping class. The rate only increases if someone is dissatisfied with school or their job. Sometimes they think “what’s the point?” To them, real world rewards are harder to come by then the ones in video games.
People can become addicted to games like World of Warcraft for not only the huge amount of activities there are to do in the game, but the social aspect too. World of Warcraft alone has over 10 million players worldwide. Most people become very good friends with people they often play with, and sometimes these friends can replace ones they see in real life or in turn become the friends that they spend time with outside of the game, provided they live close.

Sometimes a close-knit group of friends even become like a family to a player. Scott Andrews, a writer for the popular Warcraft blog WoW Insider, spoke about how important guilds, a group of players gathered together for a common purpose in the game, can be for people. “A guild can act as a family and help people through plenty of problems, even very serious ones...we've supported people through everything from becoming a new parent to having their house destroyed.” With support and friends like this, it’s no wonder people find the social aspect of the game so enjoyable.

Dirk’s love of video games overshadowed his desire for school. At the time, Dirk did not see immediate results from school, just endless work. The instant gratification of video games appealed to him, and he began to use them more and more as his form of escapism. They were fun and also “better than being a drunk,” says Dirk.

When Dirk failed four classes his first semester of freshmen year, he knew he had to get back on track. But the damage was done. He worked very hard to pass his classes in the spring, but still failed history. Even while on academic probation, Dirk was not too upset about it. He worked instead, and played video games and hung out with friends in his spare time. When he did come back to school, he still played video games, and even bought a new X-Box 360 when it came out.

The shelf under Dirk’s television is reserved for the special video game consoles that have earned their place there: a Sega Dreamcast he searched yard sale after yard sale for in order to round out his collection after the system became obsolete; the Nintendo Gamecube that was the first video game system he bought with his own money. The day he bought it he also learned how debit cards; after making six withdrawals to cover the cost, it put him into debt. Finally the Playstation 2 system that his grandfather gave to him, despite his mother forbidding it, sits center most on the shelf. Thinking about what his grandfather went through to make him happy, Dirk leans back, gazing at the system. “It’s humbling,” he says.

Today, Dirk still finds time for video games, but school usually comes first. He has become more diligent about school work in the years that have passed, and considers himself a decent student. He tries to limit the hours a day he plays so that he has time for other things. He’s fast approaching graduation, so the light at the end of the tunnel is becoming clearer. He is not sure what he wants to do after graduation. Even though the future is unclear, he knows video games will be an integral part of it. Dirk doesn’t blame video games for what happened. He knows that as with every activity, there has to be a limit and a person has to exercise self-control. If anything, it was video games that taught him that.

I wrote this story for my final news writing and reporting class. I've left out Dirk's last name to afford him some privacy. If you are interested in any of my other sources, feel free to PM me.