Does Playing Video Games Affect GPA?

For most kids in school video games are a fun activity where they can relax and not think about all the deadlines they have to meet at school and extracurricular activities they have to be at. Although it is entertaining does playing video games really affect grade point average (GPA)? I believe that you cannot directly relate playing video games with a low GPA. There are various reasons why kids have low GPAs and they cannot all be blamed on video games, although many people would like to.
Video games for kids are an escape from reality. Most kids get tired of doing homework, going to practice, and doing chores, so they find something entertaining and fun they like to do to have some desperately needed R & R. With video games kids are able to totally forget about their current situation and become captivated in a world that in some cases has no boundaries where they can do whatever or be whomever they want. Yes, video games like anything else can be abused, but with good time management it can become an activity which relaxes and entertains so that when kids go back to school they are not as stressed and bogged down with all the things they have to do which might cause them to be more attentive and ready to learn. Although most parents and teachers might thing differently video games could be doing more help than they could ever imagine, but I will say if the games are not properly monitored by parents, if their kids are in high school or middle school, that it could cause problems with interfering with what is really important such as their GPA.