Your Children Love Gaming? Here’s What It’s Doing To Them
Video games have always been a major talking point, as they are very addicting. It’s often worth contemplating if these games are worth wasting hours. For children, most of their thoughts and conversations are naturally focus on games and entertainment. From a young age, video games play a huge role in influencing how children develop and understand the world around them. Therefore, it is worth looking into how video games can impact your child and their development.
Many parents believe that games are a total waste of time. Media outlets are prone to report violent video games, and most people believe that games influence antisocial and violent behaviors. Video games have always received bad raps. However, psychologists and scientists have highlighted their essential role in making children smarter.
This begs the question, what is the real impact of video games on child development? Here are some of the results.
Variables on the effect of video games
Video games both have positive and negative effects on children. However, it’s important to note that their influence varies depending on a child’s age. Another influential factor in their overall impact is the household where a child receives his/her upbringing. Naturally, not all video games can be placed under a single category. Regardless, the gameplay process is quite similar for most of them.
Therefore, acknowledging these variables will help us discern the overall impact of video games on various aspects of a child’s development. In this article, we will focus on kids within the school ages of 5 to 13. Similarly, results can also be drawn from adolescents and even adults at the end of the day.
The positive impact of video games on child development
Improved problem-solving skills
Video Games are great for developing essential skills. One of those skills is the ability to come up with creative solutions to problems. In games like Minecraft, children get to experience a Lego-like world. Their creations help them survive and create a better environment. Playing through Minecraft allows kids to absorb some of the tactics witnessed in the game subconsciously.
Minecraft allows kids to learn how to solve problems by combining different things. Obviously, nobody is going to be carrying wood and stones for a pickaxe in the real world. But the practice of combining different things will be part of their natural thought process of creating solutions.
A game like Overcooked 2 allows kids to learn organizational skills in a high-pressure environment. This skill enables kids to prioritize optimal solutions to the problems they might come across. They can try out different approaches to problem-solving through a relaxed video game environment. If someone were to learn this skill through regular tasks, it would be considered boring. However, gaming makes the experience a lot more fun.
Video games are great for making new friends
Children have no filter. If they see anyone that looks their age, they are probably going to blurt out their favorite activities with each other. When it comes to gaming, kids can have some common ground. Whether online or locally, playing games leaves a quick avenue for social interaction. This is thanks to the kids’ common interests.
Contrary to what most people think, video games can encourage children to make friends as it is something every kid probably enjoys. Through gaming, your kids can develop their circle of friends at an early age. Not just that, but kids tend to explain games to one another. So, if a kid wants to convince his/her friend to try out a new game, they will probably need to learn some persuasion skills. This will naturally begin to develop as they introduce more video games to their friends. Eventually, this skill is transferable towards leadership traits.
As kids play within groups, they tend to take turns leading and following one another. For some games, it is necessary to have that sort of structure. Skills like persuasion, motivation, and mediation are vital when working together towards a goal. Such skills are highly sought after in the real world as well.
Playing online even lets kids interact with other children of different ages and nationalities. Interacting with a diverse range of people allows kids to learn about the world outside their homes.
Furthermore, kids with learning disabilities are likely to enjoy playing video games and use gaming to make friends.
Video games help children improve memory retention
With video games, muscle memory is probably the first form of memory retention kids tend to develop. Knowing the right key combinations to press is an essential skill for some video games. If they keep playing the same game frequently, that memory retention is much improved. For some games, hand-eye coordination and quick reaction time are needed to excel. As a result, the coordination of mouse and keyboard usage is necessary to focus on a particular goal on the screen.
Furthermore, intentionally trying to improve will require more practice. When children understand this concept, it can be very advantageous to other aspects of their life. Because knowing to question, when they don’t understand something, is a valuable skill.
The brain tends to retain experiences that it considers enjoyable. A child just needs to find the fun in less desirable experiences. An appropriate way to find interest in vocabulary is by creating quick word games and playing with others.
For topics like history, some video games exist to help kids with the learning experience. The Civilization franchise offers a quick crash course introduction to some of the most famous world leaders in history. The recent Assassin’s Creed games offer exploration adventure into ancient Egypt and Greece. These games are considerably more enjoyable ways to learn about historical figures, events, and locations.
Video games introduce kids to the joy of competition
Kids that love video games will grow to love the joy of competition. Healthy competition is important. Having a lighthearted sense of competition with friends is essential. The Pokémon video game franchise is a good introductory to a healthy sense of competition.
The negative impact of video games on a child
Some video games can encourage aggressive behavior
Video games can have negative effects on child development. Violent games like Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat are the usual suspects. These games usually reward and encourage violent behavior in order to progress. Kids that play these sorts of games develop a tendency to be numb towards some forms of violence. If children grow numb to those sorts of behaviors, it can affect them negatively in the future. Also, some scenarios that require immediate action might be ignored by children.
According to a study by Anderson and Bushman, kids that have watched simulated violence tend to be immune to it. As a result, they tend to act violently toward others. Antisocial tendencies are also worth worrying about, as kids that have observed this behavior in games will be discouraged from speaking about it. Such children might tend to feel like their voices are being shunned and encouraging them to act in antisocial manners. Therefore, they might internalize this and exhibit aggressive thoughts and feelings towards others.
Violence vs. Aggression
With that being said, the interactive nature of these games allows kids to learn and be exposed to different forms of violence intricately. The American Psychological Association reports that there is “insufficient scientific evidence to support a causal link between violent video games and violent behavior”. However, the APA does establish a link between violent games and aggressive behavior. The key to note here is the distinction between violent and aggressive behavior.
For example, the story lines for some games includes role playing as the hero. This hero often uses aggressive tactics to save others, get out of a situation or to vow revenge on an enemy. This exposure to the underlying emotions of the story line can have an impact. You can check out the full report from the APA website here.
Video games can promote antisocial behavior
Video games are addictive in nature. Game developers intentionally create ways to keep players hooked. Intricate reward systems give players upgrades or “experience points” towards stronger characters or progress in the story. With this sort of system ingrained in video games, kids don’t have a sense of discipline to know when to stop.
Therefore, most of them can sit in front of a computer or console for multiple hours, except for bathroom breaks. Parents that don’t make sure their kids learn how to game in healthy doses might witness antisocial behavior from their kids.
When a video game begins to stay as the number one thing on a kid’s mind, it’s harder to convince them to perform basic tasks. Even their friends who play in moderation might not be able to relate to them anymore. This antisocial behavior might fester into other parts of their childhood. The child might not be able to connect with their siblings or fail to pick up the necessary social skills from childhood.
If these issues are ignored for an extended period of time, these kids might develop into awkward teenagers. At the same time, they would be dealing with anxiety and mental health concerns. Video game addiction can affect school work which furthers any negative thoughts on their competence.
Exposure to toxic behaviors in multiplayer video games is common. Toxic behaviors could negatively affect their minds towards issues like racism and homophobia. As a result, kids could potentially latch on to similar behaviors.
Video games can negatively affect academic performance
Always staring at a screen all day increases stress levels and drains energy. For some kids, these games are a direct detriment to their academics. According to a health study at Harvard, blue light exposure negatively affects the retina and can cause permanent damage to the eyes. Video games typically have a lot of activity going on on the screen. Being overactive, combined with the player’s input and attention, can have a direct influence on how much attention a kid can pay towards school.
Academics require undivided attention and preparedness. However, if a child spent the previous night playing video games, it will be challenging to focus on school. Kids typically feel tired and groggy in the morning, but this is amplified when video games were the main activity of the previous night. Games are exhausting, and academics require focus to retain what is taught.
Even though school is widely considered boring by children, it can be much more enjoyable when you have enough energy. Class activities and assignments are ways to stimulate the brain of a developing child. However, if all the useful energy is spent on games, those activities will suffer. Kids usually find it difficult to contemplate the benefit of activities that are rewarding in the long-term. Therefore, parents should create ways to keep their children focused on school without completely stripping them of their favorite games.
How to combat the negative effects of video games
Get involved in their favorite games
To combat the adverse effects of video games on your child, parents should be mindful of a few things. Those who do not know how games work will have a harder time creating ways to keep their kids away from video game addiction. As a parent, you should be aware of what goes on when your child plays a particular game. You don’t have to know the rules and intricate details; however, it’s essential to learn the basic details of their favorite games. See if there are a chat system, microtransactions, parental control features, and other educational modes.
Video games typically expose kids to some dangerous parts of the internet, like predators and cyberbullies. Keeping track of how they are feeling and interacting with other players will be fundamental to helping them avoid the pitfalls of gaming. Knowing how a game works, you can sometimes disable certain features and connections to online play.
Understand Video Game Ratings
In addition to getting involved with the game-play, it’s important to get an understanding of the game rating system. The ESRB which rates video games performs a comprehensive test of popular games and lists out the contents within the game. You can find out before you buy, what content each game exposes the player to including alcohol use, drug references, violence, or even cartoon violence. You can check out our guide on the ESRB video game rating system here.
Create boundaries
Children don’t know how to gauge the effects of constant gaming. As a parent, it is up to you to establish boundaries to curb video game addiction. Every child is different, so parents should learn why their child enjoys a game, and how they can still keep up with other aspects of their life. Some kids might easily agree to a reward for studying; others might just need an agreeable time of the day for gaming.
Closing thoughts on the impact of video games on child development
It’s essential to spend time with them to learn about their preferred environments. Some children might not even love video games as much as they enjoy interacting with their friends. For such situations, you can introduce them to sports and watch them grow both physically and mentally.
At the end of the day, set a balance for children and video games. As parents, figuring out creative ways to keep gaming moderate will help kids benefit positively from it.