“Video Games”

This was my homework assignment for seventh grade: write a “persuasive essay” to convince the reader of a particular point of view. My teacher was a stickler for grammar and wrote over our papers with her red ballpoint pen. She would only give us assignments to build up the rudiments of expository writing. She was regimenting us for a future of standardized testing, she was.

I kept trying to be creative with my assignments, but she had none of it. “Check mark.” “Check mark.” That was all I got back. No smiley faces that Mr. Fleming, my awesome sixth-grade English teacher, gave me. I wanted to excel, I wanted to stand out! I didn’t want to just be competent.

I’m not bitter. It’s all sort of helped me, I guess. (I am taking the California Bar now, after all.) I just wish I got back more than a red check mark, that’s all.

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Ronald Cruz
December 13, 1989

“VIDEO GAMES”

My favorite thing to do is to play video games. But video games have been feared by parents of our new generation. They think that video games are bad for their children. But this is not true. Some video games are even educational. They teach problem-solving, logical thinking, and hand-eye coordination. For this reason they should not be ridiculed. They should be cherished and purchased.

Playing video games is also good for relieving stress. It cools you down when you have too much homework. This is because in most games you dont have to think – its usually all reflex. It is amazing how you can play a game without thinking at all. Some parents have found that their children now retrieve their hand right after touching something hot, like boiling water. If you think of it this way, then you will realize that video games have saved lives! It’s also wondrous how your totally mindless actions are recreated on the screen in full color. I love to stare at the screen and think about nothing, especially my homework. This is how my video games relieve stress, but it may vary with other systems.

I dont play video games all day and expose my eyes to those harmful radiation rays. First of all, I use a polarizing filter. Second, I always have my homework done before I play, except when Im relieving stress. And last, I sometimes play on my computer, where all the games are educational in one way or the other.

How I got a video game system was pretty difficult. When I saw that many other people had one, I went to my mother and begged for one of my own. She walked away and I followed her. After a few hours of obsequious persuasion she surrendered. She then came home with a large package. I ripped open the box and seconds later I was playing my first video game. I was overwhelmed and amazed by the colors and the sound mixtures of animation. Whoops, I died.

So, if you’re a parent, then buy your son or daughter something which he or she can play games on. Not a table or a new carpet. I’m talking about a video game system or a computer. What you get in return is priceless—less screaming, kicking, slapping, scratching, biting, sneezing, and no more kids in the house to follow you and hit you asking you to buy one, which you should have already done. They would be busy relieving their stress and cherishing their current hobby—playing video games.

-ronaldsf