The Pros of Playing Video Games

The Pros of Playing Video Games

           Video games are looked down upon by parents as time-wasters, and worse, some education experts think that these games corrupt the brain.  Violent video games are readily blamed by the media and some experts as the reason why some youth become violent or commit extreme anti-social behavior.  But many scientists and psychologists find that video games can actually have many benefits – the main one being making kids smart.  Video games may actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future."Videogames change your brain," according to University of Wisconsin psychologist C. Shawn Green. Video games change the brain’s physical structure the same way as do learning to read, playing the piano, or navigating using a map. Much like exercise can build muscle, the powerful combination of concentration and rewarding surges of neurotransmitters like dopamine strengthen neural circuits can build the brain.     

           Video games give your child’s brain a real workout.  In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking.  These skills are not even taught at school.  Some of the mental skills trained by video games included following instructions,problem solving and logic ,hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills. In shooting games, the character may be running and shooting at the same time. This requires the real-world player to keep track of the position of the character, where he/she is heading, their speed, where the gun is aiming, if the gunfire is hitting the enemy, and so on. All these factors need to be taken into account, and then the player must then coordinate the brain's interpretation and reaction with the movement in their hands and fingertips. This process requires a great deal of eye-hand coordination and visual-spatial ability to be successful.  Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games.  There have been even studies with adults showing that experience with video games is related to better surgical skills. Also, a reason given by experts as to why fighter pilots of today are more skillful is that this generation’s pilots are being weaned on video games.         

            All parents know that kids need a healthy combination of physical and mental exercise. Happily, today’s motion-controlled games for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect, Nintendo’s Wii and Wii U, and Sony’s PlayStation Move help kids get both kinds of workouts at the same time.Better yet, people of all ages are finding them a more approachable way to stay physically fit. While many shy away from exercise because they see it as an activity that isn’t enjoyable, organizations like the American Heart Association now cite, and even recommend, video games as a fun and entertaining way to enjoy physical activity.Upsides of active play are considerable too. A study reported in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine of 39 Boston middle-school children who played with six different interactive gaming systems found that the games “compared favorably with walking on a treadmill at three miles per hour, with four out of the six activities resulting in higher energy expenditure.”Organizations supporting individuals of all ages and interests are additionally using active games to help get people up and moving. Nursing homes, cruise ships and even after-school programs all now employ active video games in some form to help stimulate both the mind and body.People seem to be enjoying active play more than ever. Healthy diversions such as Wii Fit and Zumba Fitness continue to be some of the most popular and best-selling games year in and out.          

             Video games can also have some very important effects on family relationships, and deserve to be thought of as something that can – and should – be played together.It’s always seemed obvious to families that activities like playing board games, make-believe, or even making music together could strengthen the family bond. But many parents view video games as a solitary, sedentary, time-wasting activity, when the truth is that video games have in fact emerged as a viable option for family game time that can potentially offer great benefits to families who are willing to enjoy them together. You won’t be alone if you do decide to take the plunge either. According to the ESA, 45 percent of parents play computer and video games with their children at least weekly, an increase from 36 percent in 2007.Families that embrace playing video games as part of their everyday life are likely to find themselves enjoying a greater sense of cohesion and communication than families who still view video games as an idle, meaningless and solitary pursuit. As a result, it’s small wonder that so many in this day and age are putting away the cards and dice and turning to high-tech alternatives for modern family game nights.Moving, thinking, cooperating, helping, learning, empathizing, growing, seeing the world from other perspectives… video games can help kids and families do all these things and more. So talk to your friends, do the research and seek out games that your family likes to play and that you as parents are comfortable with, then consider making play a part of your regular routine. Chances are, you won’t just have a great time – you’ll also make lasting memories and connections with your kids while doing so.

             As a parent, it is your responsibility to monitor what kind of content your kid is viewing, and this applies to the kind of games your kids play too. Any kind of violent or inappropriate content should be strictly disallowed. Content-control software can be deployed on PCs to help prevent your kids from viewing unsuitable content. Also, in the games you buy, screen out games that have inappropriate/violent content and which are not suitable to your kid's age group. I believe kids can benefit greatly from being allowed exposure to video games - provided parents supervise them at all times and monitor the type of content they are being exposed to. I don't believe the right thing to do is to fight technology and crib about times gone by. Technology is not all bad and so why not expose us to it and give them an early advantage? 

          Written by ,
           Pang Hui Mun.