Is video gaming good or bad?
Is video gaming good or bad?
Introduction
Video games constitute one of the most favorite past time of children, adolescents, and even adults, all over the world. They are not a new phenomenon to the world and have been in vogue for decades. While there are many people who think video games are not good for people because of various reasons, there are others who feel that video gaming is actually a very useful activity that can enhance people’s skills and competence in many ways.
I also believe that video games are good for the well-being of people and improve many intellectual skills of an individual. There are various reasons supporting my claim, which include the enhancement of many skills like the ability to multitask, accuracy and agility, making a decision, good reflexes, perseverance and attention, improved memory and better response to frustration or anxiety.
This topic holds importance today because it concerns many parents who are worried their children might get spoiled or harmed if they play video games, and there are rarely any benefits of gaming. They need to understand the positives of video games and they can even feel the visible effects of gaming in their children. Reason 1
Firstly, video games are important for children because they help to develop and improve many sensory and motor skills in them. Initially, games help them gain better control of their hands and fingers, and they learn to coordinate them very well. Children also develop a sense of accuracy as they learn to play while making accurate moves and over a period of time, perfect their game. (Raise Smart Kid, 2015).
Counter-argument
In response to this people say that this accuracy is only a result of repetition of their game because they play for long hours. They also miss out on the time they need to spend developing educational skills and abilities. (BBC, 2016).
Rebuttal
However, these people forget that there are video games of all sorts with incorporate mathematical and scientific aspects of games and many children learn much better from them instead from plain notebooks.
Reason 2
Video games help children and adolescents develop a good memory. There are many games like Call of Duty or Battlefield earth series which help them remember things about the game and recall events. Thus, when they do so, their memories are constantly being improved, and they are doing better each time they play. (BBC, 2016).
Counter-argument
In response to this, people comment that they are actually becoming less focused on the most important things in life like their education and will not score well because they are addicted to games. (BBC, 2016).
Rebuttal
However they need to understand that video games have the ability to actually change the structure of the brain, and once this starts happening, their memories are sharpened, and they will remember academic knowledge with less trouble.
Reason 3
Thirdly, video games help children in making good decisions, make them less prone to getting flustered and help them deal with matters which cause frustration. Through video games, they experience such scenarios that develop in them the ability to think fast and deal with frustrating situations. (Ferlazzo, 2011).
Counter-argument
An opposing view of this exists that these children are actually more violent and restless than non-gamers. This is because the content in games can be misleading or juvenile. (BBC, 2016).
Rebuttal
Nevertheless, this is untrue because people who play games are not immature nor are they unaware that what they are playing is just a game and not a real life event.
Connections
Hence, these arguments prove that video games are not bad for individuals because they develop many skills in people and help them improve their cognitive and sensory skills. This is why parents need to let their children play video games and watch them develop these skills.
Conclusion
Conclusively, video games are good for the intellectual development of children and adolescents because they help to develop good motor skills, aid in memory retention and concentration and they help children in decision making and responding to frustration.
Work Cited
BBC. (2016). ‘Can video games be good for you?’ Retrieved from
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/zcs76fr
Ferlazzo, Mike. (2011). ‘Are video games good or bad or both?’ Futurity.org. Retrieved from
http://www.futurity.org/are-videogames-good-or-bad-%E2%80%A6-or-both/
Raise Smart Kid. (2015). ‘The positive and negative effects of video games.’ Retrieved from
http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games
