Hello Halo.

Second Skin hit very close to home as I watched in awe. My brother, age 17, is addicted to video games and isn't afraid to admit it. He spends about 13 hours a week on his Xbox playing Halo and talking to other people through a headset. When I looked up statistics on the usual amount of time gamers spend online, it is about 7 hours a week, less than my brother plays.
((MBA GAMING STATISTICS))

When I finally asked, "Why do you play online games? Do you.. want to be someone else?"
 He admitted, "It's not being someone else that I want, it's the fact that I can talk to people who are just like me, and are playing the same games as me. I don't have to be someone I'm not, like at school. I hate writing papers, but I have to do it. I have to do things and be things I'm not. Online, I can be what I want."

As someone who has worked around and with children almost my entire life, I wanted to know how gaming addiction was not only effecting my brother and his ability to communicate and act around other 17 year olds, but other children who game. Through some research I found that adolescents who are in constant "gaming mode", around 20 hours a week on gaming systems, are prone to violent acts or trying to do the same "game moves" on children around them.

"Gentile & Anderson (2003) state that playing video games may increase aggressive behavior because violent acts are continually repeated throughout the video game. This method of repetition has long been considered an effective teaching method in reinforcing learning patterns."

"Continually repeated.." sounds familiar huh??

In Culture Jam it explains the way product placement works and how products get embedded into our brains and we don't even realize what we are doing anymore. So, if it is okay for people to buy the product that is pushed into our brain without realizing it, what about kid who shouts "MELEE" as they hit another kid with their book? As defined on "halowiki.com" Melee is the act of attacking an enemy with a weapon.

Whether it is product placement, or constant violence, we are being bumbarded with constant urges to do, buy, say and act in ways that we don't think about before doing. Culture Jam explains that we are losing control of ourselves without realizing it and the same is in Second Skin. People are becoming so engulfed in their game they are losing themselves and doing and acting in ways that are purely because of constant video game exposure.
SOFTER NOTE.. kinda..

Hi! my name is...

My interests and hobbies consist of SO many different things. Everything from being a cheerleader for 17 years, to being number 69 out of 350 in PA for bowling, to getting dirty playing field hockey. I've played almsot every sport there is to offer and found that it has kept me on track with my school work and staying active!

My major is communication journalism with emphasis is public relations. I love being around people and interacting with people and with this major I can do just that, provide customer service while being creative.

I love reading and writing, so any English class is okay on my list.

The last book I read was Mediated. It is about how our society is so media driven and so absorbed in this media world that we lose focus on what is realistic compared to what is "ideal."

I love music, it gets me through the happiest and worst times of my life. My favorite band is Dashboard Confessional. Their music has definitely kept me sane during some of the most down points in my life.

My past experiences with "literature" come from literature classes in high school. I don't see a huge difference in a literature class versus an english class, but that is just my opinion. The last thing I remember about literature class is reading A Midsummer Night's Dream. The piece is interesting and kept my attention the entire time, which made a good impression in my mind for "literature" class.

=)