These days, society seems to have become polarized regarding the effects of video games on children. There are a group of parents who swear by the educational benefits that their children gain from playing video games, and then there are those who adamantly declare that video games have ruined the overall health of their children. It is because of this factionalized view of video games that I decided to write a paper that will evaluate video games and hopefully provide relevant information that will allow one to evaluate the possible pros and cons of allowing their children to be exposed to videogames at an early age.
The proponents who support their children playing video games do so because they believe that video games develop quick thinking in their children. These games push the child to strategize and decide upon their actions quickly and decisively. Although games such as Asphalt 4 – Elite Racing tend to encourage violent means towards reaching an end result, some believe that it reflects the reality of the world. Wherein the child has to learn that in order to get ahead, sometimes he will have to resort to devious means. But that is not to say that video games only promote the negative side of life. There are games such as Brain Challenge, which develop the analytical thinking process and imparts educational lessons which develop the observational and quick thinking skills of the child.
Recent studies have proven that the ill effects of video game playing among children cannot attribute to the playing of the game itself. Rather, parents are more often than not the actual source of the videogame problem. Parents tend to allow children to play with the games unsupervised because they are busy tending to other things around the house or at work and the videogames keep the children from being underfoot all the time. Let us face it; experts agree that anything, no matter how beneficial it is to oneself, if done for exaggerated amounts of time and without supervision, as in the case of children, will prove to be harmful to the child in the long run. I have to note, however, that we still have a hung jury when it comes to establishing what kind of playing hours could be considered to have serious adverse effects on the development of a child.
It is my belief that not all video games were created equally. There are numerous videogames on the shelves these days which promote higher learning and honing of skills and abilities in children. The problem is that the negative videogames tend to hog the limelight and, in the same breath, give video games across the board a bad name. Take the case of Grand Theft Auto, and it is an unrealistically violent videogame that seemingly promotes crime as a way of life for most people. We all understand that this is the message of this video game. Therefore, it is up to the parent to explain the real time implications of the videogame to the child. Then again, there are some sports games such as Pro Golf which promotes sports activities among children and definitely offer the opposite effect (when compared to GTA) on the attitude of a child. Further analysis of the videogame trend among children provides evidence that the existence of videogames in a child’s life, if balanced and managed properly by his parents, should not interfere with the proper mental, emotional, and social development of a child.
Another case which videogame oppositionists are trying to build against the activity among children is the unfounded and unproven belief that videogames promote violent attitude in children. Going so far as the declare that children tend to take their onscreen activities to real life, there has never been any actual proof to support their theory. On the contrary, there is more violence on television or, in some cases, in the home itself which causes violent aggression in some children. Videogames have just become the perfect scapegoat for most parents because most of the games available seem to promote physical aggression among the players.
After evaluating the information readily available for anybody interested in finding out about the effect of videogames on children, the drawbacks that I discovered were truly without basis. Specially since the new generation of videogames have all taken on an educational and physical approach to gameplay. For example, it was formerly believed that videogame play would decrease a child’s ability to participate in music, sports, and art. Problems such as lack of concentration, short attention spans, and obesity are only a few of the drawbacks of allowing a child to forego realtime play for videogame playing. A problem that, with the advent of the Nintendo Wii, became a moot and academic point. If anything, videogames have just reached a new pinnacle of interactivity that, according to all published reports, has pushed children to enjoy their playtime without realizing that it too has become exercise time.
In the end, evaluation of the new videogame releases have shown that games such as Guitar Hero promote skills which enhance a child’s attention to detail, motor skills such as hand to eye coordination, visual perception, and an expanded use of a child’s imagination (in games such as SIMS).
More importantly, videogame play is now an activity that creates bonding moments between parents and children. There has finally come an activity that both parents and children can enjoy together regardless of the age difference that exists between the parent and child.
Bibliography / References
Maney, Kevin. 2005. Cyberspeak. USA Today. Web.
BBC. 2005.Computer games do have benefits. BBC News. Web.
Schmitt, B.D. 2001. Videogames. Parenting.org. Web.