People say that games rot your mind, but I think otherwise.

Growing up with video games was a choice I made for myself, and honestly, as much as people think it’s bad for me, I’m happy with my decision.

My dad first got me into gaming thinking it would be an “hour a day” kind of thing, but it’s grown way bigger than me, or my dad ever thought it would. It started with around 3 hours every few days (which wasn’t bad for the age I was at), and it slowly grew to the point where it became a bit of an addiction.

I never thought much of it, after all, I was probably nine or something at the time and didn’t have much else to do. Over time I started playing for five or six hours every other day, and I knew that dad wasn’t overly happy. “Play a sport” he would say, but he didn’t understand that I really didn’t want to! I understood his concerns though, he was just looking out for me.

My routine became the same exact cycle; go to school, talk about games, go home, play games. When I wasn’t playing, I was watching gamers on YouTube. Then, one Christmas I got a new console. I was heaps happy because my sister wouldn’t have to take turns, we could be on at the same time. Now, as bad as that sounds, it actually helped me socially.

I made friends that played the same games as me. I found kids that we’re interested in what I did. In 2017, I finally got the thing I’d wanted for years; being able to play online with friends. By this point, dad had stopped with the “go outside” stuff. I connected with my friends online and made completely new ones. It was honestly the best thing to happen.

For all my life, video games have been a way to escape and enjoy myself with the people I chose to be with. I currently have around seventy friends online, but only about half a dozen of those are people I know in real life. And it’s not just me.

My sister is what I would consider a bit of an “introvert”, and she has over one-hundred friends online. To my knowledge, none of them are people she knows in real life. So what I think, is that it’s an incredible way for her to practice being social the real world, and know for a fact that it’s worked and is still working.

The number of friends my sister and I have made over the past few years is more than we ever thought was possible. My dad kind of just stopped one day. He must have realised that sport is something I don’t want to pursue.

-Cooper