By Rory C.
To this day video games have become a common concern among parents. Many parents have started to become worried about how video games are impacting their children and if there's a notable effect on them in the future. Well, I'm here to say that I've grown up with video games my whole life and I ended up perfectly fine like many others. This, of course, being a reasonable dose of playing time rather than excessive use in some children.
An issue of common apprehension among parents is related to action video games. Many parents believe that playing these games will result in their child becoming angrier and more aggressive. Several studies throughout the years state this, however, they lack insufficient evidence. " A study from the University of York and another by the Royal Society found no evidence to support the theory that video games make players more violent, and another study suggests that there is no increase in the level of aggression of players who had long-term exposure to violent video games." (Tumbokon) Many parents also think that since their children are playing these action video games they'll more likely end up committing a crime in the future.
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| Photo By Jennie Book |
Another study by The American Psychological Association also found very little evidence to support connecting video game violence to real-life criminal violence. (Tumbokon) Although this is a contradiction I still believe that violence could be influenced by these games but it's very uncommon. I certainly haven't been influenced negatively by these types of games, in fact, I have actually found them very beneficial.
Many video game players like me benefit greatly by playing games on a day to day basis. Surprising as it may sound, video games can help improve and train your vision. In the TED Talk, I watched it stated that gamers have an easier time to read the fine print on an item such as a prescription bottle. They can also identify different shades of grey that non-video game players couldn't see as easily or at all. Not only that but these types of action/violent video games can "help improve our ability to track objects in the real world." (Bavelier) Say if I was driving in a car, my sense of the road and ability to know where all the cars are would be significantly better than a nongamer that doesn't possess those skills. "Action video games have a number of ingredients that are actually really powerful for the brain like plasticity, learning, attention, and visual." (Bavelier) I believe these qualities given from playing action games could ultimately help many people including children in school. Especially children that are struggling a lot in school could benefit from this.
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| Photo By Courtney Columbus |
A lot of real-world skills are also taught through video games. Through my personal experience of playing games, I've noticed that I've excelled in a couple of different real-world skills. Some of the skills that I've acquired from playing games are perseverance, quick thinking, and the ability to know what to do when a challenge in life is thrown at me.
Personally, I believe that children should be able to play these kinds of games but only if their playing time is in reasonable portions. The child should also be of appropriate age, no young children should be allowed to take part in playing these games. What do you think? Do you think parents should let their children enjoy and benefit from these games?
Comment below what your opinion is on this matter... and take the survey I made
11, 2019, from TED Talks website: https://www.ted.com/talks/
daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games?language=en
Book, J. (2019, April 2). Kid playing PS4 [Image]. Retrieved from
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6877611/
Doctors-warn-Fortnite-caused-children-smash-cars-stop-eating.html
Columbus, C. (2017, August 9). Action video games may affect the brain
differently, depending on what you play. Retrieved December 11, 2019, from
NPR website: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/08/09/542215646/
video-games-may-affect-the-brain-differently-depending-on-what-you-play
Tumbokon, R. (2019, August 11). 25+ positive and negative effects of video
games. Retrieved December 11, 2019, from Raise Smart Kid website:
https://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/
34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
The TED Talk sounds really interesting, Rory. I wonder what you think a reasonable amount of gaming time is. This is certainly something my son and I discuss a lot.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wonder if you've found the skills you discuss developing while playing video games transfer to other aspects of your life. Do you think you can isolate those skills just to being due to video games?
Good post.
This is really interesting to think about as I've played a lot of video games in my lifetime so far, I thought it was good how you mentioned that you played as well to give people better perspective on how you turned out later in life.
ReplyDelete