Salman Aldoukhi ENGL 101-401 Tylor Staffileno 12 April 2017 The Impact of Video Games on Children Introduction “Video games are bad for you, that’s what they said about rock-n-roll” (Shigeru Miyamoto). Video gaming is regarded as a ubiquitous part of children and adolescents’ life. Children who are daily involved in this activity in the US account for 97% of their total. Additionally, for those at an average of 8-13 years old, approximately, 8.5% of them are addicted to playing video games. Moreover, children at the age of 13-18 spend 16 hours per week playing. Video games are so prominent in this current world that we cannot prevent them from being involved entirely. While others believe that video games should not be made available to …show more content…
They argue that it is as a result of the emotional response stimulated by the violent game due to provocation. Addiction is another highly debated issue. Several studies have proved that video games contribute to unhealthy activities. According to Buckley, obesity among the children had increased tremendously over the years (19). They argue that there exists a connection in extended video play and the development of physical pain. There is a belief that there will be decreased effect in education, termed “displacement effect.” As such, it shows more time is spent on playing games rather than studying or doing course work. Additionally, playing video games may result in attention deficits, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. As highlighted by Brook, a greater percentage of individuals suffering from obesity are highly involved in video games (22). Most children do not engage in healthy and physically demanding activities. It is evident that children involved in sports tend to meet new people and make new friends. Lastly, people argue that it may ultimately lead to a complicated reality and fantasy. As such, there is a belief that it exposes peoples’ brains to constant fantasy embedded in the outside world. According to a study by Chen, today’s children are so much instilled in their games that they mistake fantasy for the reality of the current world (8). As such, the argument is that, when they repeatedly become exposed to the game, even in their
Video games are enjoyable for people and have good benefits for children who use their multiple skills to play and interact with others. In many parts of the world, the common video game is often seen by parents as something that is wasting their child's time or “rotting their brain”. It is a popular misconception that video games are bad for children. What parents do not know is the positive things about video games. Video games have a positive impact on people and help them learn things for experiences to come. People often do not understand that violent video games are not harmful to people because video games allow people to release their anger, video games decrease crime in youth, and because they allow people to be creative and test their
Some of the first video games ever made like Pac Man, Mario Bros.,Sonic the Hedgehog and Street Fighter never helped someone learn their ABC’s and 123’s which caused video games to develop a bad name like it’s “rotting kids’ brains” or distract them from more important studies but over time things change and become better and based off this website it says that “A number of recent studies have indicated that video games, even violent ones, can help kids develop essential emotional and intellectual skills that support academic achievement. These findings led many innovative teachers around the globe to recognize the benefits of gaming and include game-based learning in their curricula. However, it’s not just in-school gaming that reaps benefits. New research shows that all gaming can be positive.”
If you are a parent during this time of information and technology, chances are you have a child who has played, is playing, or will be playing video games. The video game industry is a rapidly growing market that went from being worth $100 million in 1985 to $4 billion in 1990 (Gartner, 2013). Prior to the 1980’s, there were rudimentary computer games, commercially sold coin-operated games, and home consoles. Shortly after the North-American Video Game Crash of 1983 the industry took a big hit until the Nintendo Entertainment System induced a resurgence in popularity that has only continued to grow (Cesarone, 2014). In the years since, the gaming world has expanded and divided into numerous categories. There are casual, serious and educational games in mediums ranging from console games to online RPG’s also known as role playing games to the most recent and flourishing market of mobile games. In 2013, the worldwide value of the industry totaled $93 billion (Metrics 2.0, 2007).
Over the recent years, technological advances have introduces many new forms of entertainment, and one of the most popular is video games. Video games have come a long way since the days of Pac-Man and Frogger, and so have those who play them. Since their introduction, parents have become concerned with the addictive power that video games can have on people, particularly their children. Now, the concern has shifted from the addictive
“Electronic games are now an everyday part of childhood and adolescence” (Olsen, 2010). Considering children and adolescence are our future, parents need to consider and monitor how these electronic games are affecting their child. There are more studies afloat that report the negative affects of video games over the positive effects until recently. Children and adolescents become addicted to video games easily so it is important to monitor what they are playing and how it is affecting them and their character. A recent study on many boys and girls reported why they are
The average adolescent spends a major part of the normal week watching or interacting with some form of the media’s products. Video games are one of these media based mediums and have become increasingly popular since the 1980’s. According to a report in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, "Female gamers spent an average of 44 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and four minutes playing on the weekends, and male gamers spent an average of 58 minutes playing on the weekdays and one hour and 37 minutes playing on the weekends" ("Video Game Play Among Adolescents"). What can we understand from this evidence? The fact is that adolescents, male or female, are spending tremendous amounts of time each day sitting in front of
From the past till now, video game never loses its popularity, from Gameboy to Wii, and from NDS to LOL, millions and billions of people are obsessed with this imaginary world. Some of the video games are created for educational purpose, however, most are created for the people who wants to escape from reality. “In a national Harris Poll survey of 1,178 American youths (ages 8-18), ISU Assistant Professor of Psychology Douglas Gentile found nearly one in 10 of the gamers (8.5 percent) to be pathological players.” ("Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) ") Not only the statistic shows the high rate of addiction towards video games, terrible consequences of the addictions are more than enough to be served. For example, an extreme case of an Chinese kid called Xioyi suicide because he lose in one of his game on December 27, 2004; where he left a note that said he wanted “to join the heroes of the game he worshiped.” Video game has the potential to ruin a person’s life, as well as their family, or even the
Advances in technology have forever changed the way that children play, communicate, and view the world. Have you ever told your child that it was time to turn the video game off, or to put away the cell phone? Of course you have. Did they become upset, aggressive, or even depressed? These are warning signs indicating a potentially dangerous addiction. Addiction is characterized by the intense need for a substance and the experience of withdrawal symptoms when that substance is taken away (Rauh). Video games fill the player with strong feelings of pleasure and fulfillment. When considering the effects that video games have on your social, academic, and financial life; when do these fun technologies morph into a dangerous addiction?
Side effects of video games number just about as many types of video games that people play. In Lisa Weber’s article “Positive Effects of Video Games on Children,” she states several benefits that children obtain when they play video games. Some of these advantages include the areas of social development, education, and an emotional outlet. As a result, Lisa clearly displays her stance on the positive side of the opinions of video games. However, electronic gaming contains a voluminous amount of pernicious effects. When young adults and children partake in video games, they come across numerous experiences that could have a negative influence on their lives.
Playing video games too much can have negative effects on a child. Too much time playing video games can result in a child not spending anytime out side. They can get lost within the game and play for hours on end (Hughes, 2014). A child should not loose touch within their own brain, within the brain they have their own creativity, their imagination. When children do not use their imagination, they do not play like their parents did when their parents were younger. A little factual information, children at the age of eight consume 13 hours a week playing video games, and children between 13 to 18 years of age spend 14 hours a week playing video games(Hughes, 2014). The amount of gaming that these children play is just amazing. The down side is that video games take away so much of a child’s day, that the child could be missing out on enjoying a beautiful day outside when the weather is nice. Children mostly do not like to play the
Many young children and teenagers have heard their mother’s incessant plead to get away from the screen and to go outside or pick up a book for once instead. The urge to play “just one more level” before starting that homework or doing those chores can be quite distracting. But are video games really as awful as Mom exclaims or as brutal as those TV ads depict? It turns out that video games can have a strong impact on participants’ lives in both positive as well as negative ways.
Video games have become an important part of children lives these days. As parents we need to help our children spend a reasonable amount of time on gaming. Allowing too much time on video games can hinder a child’s developmental process. Obsessive amounts of video game playing can cause; attention span problems, inhibit social interaction, aggression, poor social skills, and games are not intellectually stimulating. Parents need to take control and limit the time their children spend on video games each day.
The act of video games for children have been a controversy in today 's society for a very long time. One half of the argument believes video games is a positive act and the other half of the argument believes that video games is a negative act. Both parties have significant data backing up their own personal believes. There has been many studies done around the topic of children playing video games trying to conclude which side of the argument is correct which is very hard to do. Some of the studies prove that video games is a good thing for children, and some studies prove that video games is a bad thing for children. Although both sides have their own personal believes and studies, video games is a positive act for children because it benefits one 's cognitive skills, health, and social life.
Since the Early 70’s video games have been giving a bad name. Parents state that video games rot the minds of children and are influencing them do be violent. These accusations are far from the truth. In my research I found that there are many positive effects of gaming. Some of these effects are increased skills, creativity, general knowledge, and also help those in need. Parents can also take proper precautions and look into a game before buying it to see if it meets the criteria discussed in this paper.
The concept of video games has always been entitled to be a harmful tool for the younger audience, generally speaking about children. The scenario created doesn’t only affect the players, but also the surroundings due to the consequences, like fighting outside of the home. This happens because of the violent content and also the addiction and that causes in children. However, not all games are the same. From another perspective, it’s been proven that there’s a group who’s researching for the positive effects that video games can have on children. Indeed, video games can work as an educational tool, from many aspects. Schools should implement the act of gaming as an extracurricular activity because they can enhance cognitive skills, have a