Abstract
There are so many parents who wonder why their little boy or girl snarled at an elderly person, or snubbed the teacher in class. They cannot grasp why their children feel free to hurt one another or swipe the furniture with anything that resembles a sword. Why does a banana have to turn into a gun? The parents may not realize that while they are sleeping, working or fulfilling birthday fantasies with all the games their kids want, their young angelic kids are splattering blood and guts all over their television screens. They will be rewarded with bragging rights that can be socially published online for their friends to see.
On the other end of Reality Street, another set of parents might be signing scholarship award letters, taking tours of competitive, extracurricular activity locations or just observing the sharp, quick thinking problem solvers and readers at their breakfast table. They might be discussing the design of a new roller coaster that seems to defy the laws of physics while maintaining the safety of passengers. The other child might have just completed a virtual, archaeological excavation and analyzed the age and physiology of Jurassic bones. What is the difference between the two sets of families on this street? Apparently, each family has experienced the good and bad effects that video games have on their children. While nutrition, faith affiliation, cultural background and parental guidance play a major role in the behavior and mentality of kids, video games can come along and do one of two things. They can support the positive values that parents want to instill in their children. Alternatively, video games can sour, rust or even poison the loving, sponge-like brain of the young person holding the controls.
This paper holds a magnifying glass over the positive and negative effects of video games on children and teenagers. It is based on personal experience and observations as well as results from interviewing both happy and frustrated parents. At the end, the greatest preventative medicine is applying the common-sense law that too much of anything can be hazardous. The brain has limitations on how much it can tolerate hyper-stimulation. Equally so, parents should impose limitations on how much of a priority video gaming should be in the academic and social lives of their children.
Video games are getting equal criticisms (among pediatricians, scholars and parents) as they are getting revenues. They are so much more exciting than they were just 30 years ago. Video games allow for literally escaping to another world. There are dragons, ghosts, zombies, pirates, war scenes and violence. This can cause anti-social behaviors. It justifies the critiques that are sprayed upon video games. However, in fairness it is important to consider the positive attributes of some games. Many have been created to teach math, science, reading comprehension and more. This helps kids to develop skills such as analytical thinking, problem solving, concentration, hand-to-eye coordination and more. These are not the only potential results that parent witness in their game-addicted children. There are positive and negative effects. They can be described in terms of their effects on the brain as well as the personalities of all young people.
It really makes sense to view the brain as a muscle. Using the brain by learning new information, applying and practicing it allows for solidifying new skills. For juvenile gamers, these sharpened skills can be spatial and fine motor. There are so many factors that a child must force their brain to keep up with including speed, distance, targets, objects coming at them and timing for maneuvers. They must remember consequences for hitting the sidelines, water or falling off of the edge. It can even be interactive enough to unknowingly complete a calorie-burning workout. An example is the Wii game that involves driving a speed boat, or even playing tennis. There are new web-like connections made among the millions of nerve cells. Electrical activity increases and with each victory, the child gains confidence to move onto a more difficult level of playing. They might even come up with ideas whereby the game could be enhanced. Their ideas could potentially be worth millions of dollars if they could be presented to the right company. Exercising the brain builds retention. Lastly, video games have been successfully employed to bring boring subjects to life. Reading combined with fun characters, colors and music in a challenging way helps a lot. Children may increase their willingness to try harder if it was difficult or boring in the beginning. Over all, the summation of effects of video games can be enormously positive. They can lead to academic improvements or acceleration. They can also lead to enhanced agility, coordinated control of movements, creativity, zest for learning, mental focus and clarity.
Keeping with the need to remain realistic, not all parents will get a basket of great attributes in their video-game loving kids. It might have more to do with the frequency and type of games that bring about negative effects on kids. It is easy to go to a retail website and either download or purchase violent games. Placing a child in a high intensity, three dimensional, life- like scene with machine guns, swords or hand grenades is simply unhealthy. They are being rewarded for killing others (even if it is a zombie) and it sends the wrong message. The results can be devastating. First, it can cause kids to lack empathy when someone gets hurt. They might feel invincible enough to engage in unsafe play. They might become aggressively dominating or insensitively numb to death and violent events. This may adversely affects school performance.
Finally, this whole document screams the necessity for moderation and parental supervision. Wholesome values may diminish after hours of stabbing, kicking and punching for gold points day after day. Fantasy can be confused with reality. Social isolation, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and use of bad words do not have to be the dinner conversation highlights of a family with children. On the other hand, Mary could be invited to play in a national chess tournament while her brother wins first place in the annual math championships. The games should be selected in a way that meets their learning style, or sharpens their weak areas. In other words, video games can be used to bring out the best in children.
