Video games are probably the most requested gift when a child sits on Santa's lap at Christmas time. This is most likely what kids are asking for when they make a wish while blowing out the candles on their birthday cake. The latest installment in the Call of Duty video game franchise, Modern Warfare 3, reached record sales of $775,000,000 in five days (Tito). At sixty dollars apiece, that means this game is in approximately 12,750,000 homes worldwide. Although the video game industry is lucrative, it can also have harmful effects on children and adolescents. Scientific studies, carried out by researchers and psychologists around the world, show that violent video games can be harmful to both children and adolescents, changing brain function, causing overly aggressive behavior, feelings of hostility, paranoia, violence and childhood obesity. The education of young people also suffers from video game addiction and lack of sleep. Certain solutions must be thought about and implemented for the physical and mental health of children and adolescents around the world. Patrice Wendling, author of “Violent Videos Alter Brain Functioning, Study Shows,” says: “Adolescents who play violent video games exhibit distinct alterations in their behavior. brain activation by functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); the investigators demonstrated it for the first time” (Wendling 1). In these studies, video games of a violent nature have been proven to activate a different part of the brain than other types. This part of the brain, the amygdala, controls emotional arousal. The teens had less activity in the frontal lobe, which controls inhibition, self-control and concentration. Therefore, these types of video games may cause children to behave...... middle of paper ...... Dental behaviors associated with less physical activity; a transnational survey. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 7 (2010): 46. Academic One File. Internet. November 14, 2011. Kim, Yoon Myung and SoJung Lee. “Physical activity and abdominal obesity among young people.” Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism 34.4 (2009): 571+. An academic record. Internet. November 14, 2011. Lorentzen, Amy. “Video violence: Psychologist advises parents to be aware of what their children are playing. » Commercial Appeal [Memphis] August 24, 2006. NewsBank. Internet. November 14, 2011 Tito, Greg. “Modern Warfare 3 breaks every sales record known to man.” The escapee. The escapee. November 17, 2011. The web. November 30, 2011. Wendling, Patrice. “Violent videos impair brain function, study finds.” Internal Medicine News 40.3 (2007): 20. Academic One File. Internet. November 14. 2011