Op-ed: Books versus games

Marina Gonzalez, Reporter

There are many forms of entertainment in the world like video games and books, but with more modern technology being made, more people have decided to play video games instead of reading books.

I used to play video games a lot when I was younger, but as I grew over the years and started to focus more on school, I changed my habit to reading books.

There are over 2.5 billion gamers around the world, according to statistics from Tech Jury.

Many people like to play video games of different genres and on different gaming systems during their leisure time, while others prefer spending their time reading books.

Over 65 percent of Americans read print books and 20 percent listen to audiobooks, according to the website Life This Way.

I like to read books now because they all have very interesting stories in them, and I feel like it promotes a healthier lifestyle for me. When I read a book, my mind does not feel stressed, and I feel like my reading skills have gotten better.

Reading books can have good benefits like reducing stress, strengthening the brain, building a person’s vocabulary and more, according to Health Line.

If people read more books, they can learn more from them and improve their reading skills.

Video games can also have good benefits like helping a person make better decisions, enhancing someone’s learning ability and improving hand-eye coordination, according to a game-designing website.

Video games can be fun to play, and they are a good way for a family to spend time together, but they can also negatively affect a person.

According to Smart Social, video games can change a person’s behavior, cause social isolation and difficulty sleeping.

Some of the reasons why I stopped playing video games was because I did not want to become addicted to them. I wanted to live a healthy lifestyle and create other habits that would not stress me out, so I decided to read more books.

People should try to have balance in their lives, where they set time apart for important things and leisurely activities, so they do not remain focused on doing one thing all day long.