520R - Journal #4

Computer Games and Children

I think in the future, children won’t know how enjoyable it is to play outside for hours. Nowadays, one of the greatest entertainments for children is playing computer games.

I read some articles about the negative effects of computer games on children. One of the articles showed that boys play computer games 13 hours a week, and girls 5 hours a week. Another research showed that the two most preferred categories of computer games are fantasy violence games and sports games which involve violent subthemes. In addition, the articles stated that children who frequently play computer games have serious psychological, social and physical problems. They have communication difficulties with their parents and their friends. Those children behave in an aggressive way and they become less sensitive. They are also unsuccessful at school.

I read a boy’s story. He was 15 years old, and he was playing Worlds of Warcraft 10 to 12 hours every day. His parents tried to put limit to control him, but he couldn’t stop playing. He had to go to psychotherapies for a long time until he could quit playing computer games. Then, he replaced computer games by social activities.

Moreover, the Wall Street Journal reported that several companies are now designing computer games for preschoolers. You can see that those companies don’t care about children. I’m sure they know all the negative effects of computer games, but the only important thing for them is money.

In conclusion, I think that computer playing habit is a serious problem. Parents have an important role to play. They should be more attentive to their children. They should try to show that there are more enjoyable activities they can do.

520R - Journal #3

Basic Cell Phone Etiquette Rules People Break

We have been using cell phones for a long time, but we still haven’t figured out how to use cell phones in public !

There are many basic cell phone rules of etiquette which people still can’t seem to follow. Talking too loudly, holding inappropriate conversations in public, interrupting conversations, checking phone at the movies, texting while driving, texting small talk, disturbing people in live performances, libraries, and loud and annoying ringtones are some of them.
I can’t understand why people need to shout while they’re talking on their cell phone. They disturb and annoy everyone. They also forget that they’re in public and not in their private space. They talk about their private things which everyone hears.

Cell phones also interrupt our conversation. Suddenly, the person who you are talking with answers a call and you wait for a long time until he/she ends his/her conversation on the cell phone. This is really frustrating.

You can still hear cell phones ringing in libraries, in live performances, in movie theaters, etc. There are people who can’t quit checking their calls and text messages in movie theatres. The light of the cell phone is really interruptive in the dark movie theatre.

Cell phones cause a lot of car accidents every year, but drivers insist on texting while driving. Texting by cell phone has also created a knew kind of language which is called text speaking. I think that text speaking is laziness and it can sometimes be rude.

As you can see, there are so many cell phone rules of etiquette which people don’t follow. I hope one day, we will learn where and how to use cell phones.