Video games have always been a concern to parents since children become quickly addicted to playing video games for hours together. Through time, technology of gaming has advanced with great entertainment and graphics that kids cannot get enough and this has gotten parents very troubled about their effects on kids. There have been a number of studies on video games and children trying to determine the different influences.
Child psychologists, doctors and professors from different parts of the world have studied the critical effects of video games on kids. There have been a number of reports and studies with different views on video games and children. Experts have come out with both positive and negative aspects of playing video games.
Studies of positive effects on children while playing video games:
- Video games have proven to be educational and fun at the same time. There are different games developed with care for different age groups. The learning process accelerates when kids have fun and are more inclined to retain the facts and skills that they learn while playing video games.
- It has been found in a particular study that the physical structure of a child’s brain in its growth years change with every influential activity including playing video games. It was seen that children of all ages learn from charactorial behaviors in games.
Games that have story lines of characters that help and solve problems tend to instill the nature of the character into the child. Kids are now following their favorite characters and behaving like they would.
- Another study worked on understanding the connection between video games and children on a long term bases. The exposure to pro social video games has helped many kids learn to be more understanding and correlate to the problems of others.
- Various skills like logical, reasoning, hand-eye coordination, strategic thinking, problem solving, quick reflexes have been known to be developed faster on kids who play video games than on kids who do not.
Studies of negative effects on children while playing video games:
- Studies of video games and children have shown many negative qualities, most of which influence kids with violent behavior. There were a number of cases that show kids being aggressive, harmful and hostile towards their peers and parents. Though the extent of the influence depends on the personality of the child.
- Another study of video games and children has shown that younger children have begun to play games that are not relevant to their age and understanding. Games that involve violent actions like shooting and killing must be played by children who understand the difference between video games and reality.
Studies of video games and children will keep continuing because as time passes, technology and gaming change the same way as their influence on children. Understanding the connection of fun and games with kids at the same time, knowing exactly what needs to be done to keep them in line is not an easy task. But with the right methods, everything good can be possible.
