Gamers, Fit & Social

Gamers, Fit and Social

What's the typical definition of a gamer? The general view only a few years back would be that a gamer is unsocial, often overweight or unfit and spends most of his (yes, his) time in front of the screen. To be extreme, he rarely leaves his room, has no or only few real-life friends and has a low-paid job (or poor school grades). He may even suffer from low self-esteem. Recognise any of those? Well, we may have entered a new era.
It's my personal opinion that all of the above examples are biased conclusions, at least to some extent. Sure enough, science and survey after survey have proven a significant link between the hours spent playing videogames and the health and social life of the average gamer, as well as the performance regarding work or, perhaps more so, school of those very same gamers. But, I also believe that these results have spread to become a label on all gamers, making "gamer" a rather negative word.
One of the main areas in society where this problem exists in particular would, as far as I know, be that of parents and families. How many haven't heard of the concerned mother who thinks her teenage son doesn't spend enough time with the rest of the family? To that I can only say that teenagers will be teenagers, and that has been the case since long before any kind of videogames were invented.
But does this mean we shouldn't do something about the kids who play games instead of doing their homework? Of course not. I fully appreciate the fact that exaggerated gaming can be a problem, and that actions need to be taken - just as they are - to do something about this issue. It's not the issue in itself that I'm against, it's how these surveys and the scientific "evidence" has labelled all of us the very same things I mentioned earlier.
I'd like to consider myself a social guy, with just enough friends. I try to eat healthy, I do exercise, and even though I certainly sit in front of the screen a lot more than I probably should, I'm certainly not all of those things people think of me when I say that I like to play videogames.
But, I'd also like to be optimistic about it. Being a gamer has in recent years become less of a bad thing. Just as it's now OK to be black - which we all know wasn't the case once upon a time - it's OK to be a gamer, yet we still can't avoid the rather truthful suggestion that most of us do think differently, often a bit negative, about people of another race. Okay, the comparison between black and white and gamers and non-gamers might be a bit extreme, but I'm sure you see my point. It's accepted, but prejudices still exist.
So why do I say gaming has become a more accepted hobby in recent years? For one thing, I believe more people have become gamers. The availability of computers and game consoles has increased drastically, and by now this happened several years ago. And generally a lot of people have these means of entertainment in their homes, and play games on them. If all people were part dark-skinned, it would be harder to look down on those who are fully dark-skinned.
Second, games are in present days associated with sociability to a greater extent, and most recently even exercising. If you haven't experienced a friendly battle in a racing game, or a rivalry between yourself and an - until now - complete stranger in an FPS, you're not a true gamer. And those who aren't (that is, those who often have prejudices against those who are) still use computers to, for example, chat, keep in touch with friends, meet others online, etc. In other words, the gamers and non-gamers share a common platform, and though this has been the case for years, I'd say it has finally grown to a state of acceptance that wasn't previously there.
All this said, I have to add that I do believe that a majority of us are like those the various surveys point out. Not exactly that extreme, but sure, some might have fewer friends than non-gamers who hang out outside of the house instead of on the inside of it, and others may focus less on school or work and spend their time playing games. But a part of the problem might be that a false conclusion has been drawn, stating that all of these "flaws" apply to all gamers, while in reality only one or very few may apply to each individual. In other words, I fully believe we must have cut down on something in order to have become gamers, but in reality we haven't shut out everything, as some suggests. We're not living in our own world, at least not more than the average athlete, chess expert or any other person dedicated to a hobby. And, hopefully, that's something that "the others" have come to realise as well.