Video Games And Its Effect On Children

In today’s society video games have a large influence on people. We also might be driven to the point of where we are dependent on them. In fact, being so engulfed in video games could help children become more focused.In fact, parents would probably disagree and say that video games wouldn’t be essential to learning because it would probably be considered a waste of time for children and time-consuming. Parents would also disagree with the content of what is in the game, but there is a great possibility that video games could actually make us smarter. Steven Johnson explains that the games we are used to playing can improve our visual intelligence and that it would be good to learn new strategies through gaming. Video games should be an

Video games are a enormous part in the world today. “More than 150 million people in the United States play video games regularly or for at least three hours per week. The number of sales has increased and in 2016, 24.5 billion games were sold, up from 23.2 billion in 2015.” “This Type of Video Game May Actually Harm Your Brain.” written by Mahita Gajanan is my positive article and “How Video Games Affect the Brain.” written by Hannah Nichols is my negative article. In this essay I am going to talk about video games and their impact on the brain (Nichols).

In the past years, critics have concluded stating that because of video games being released, homicide rates have dropped seventy-seven percent amongst juveniles and less than seven in ten million students have a chance of being killed at school (Sternheimer 214). In “Do Video Games Kill?” the author states, “the 2005 review found evidence that playing video games improves spatial skills and reaction times, but not that the games increase aggression” (Sternheimer 217). Many different video games have positive effects such as problem-solving skills, following directions, multitasking, quick thinking, and more. Video games increase problem-solving skills by placing obstacles in the game for the player to overcome. Virtual gaming can also teach the players how to follow directions to progress throughout the game. Players learn to multitask by taking on different objectives at the same time. According to the studies conducted by Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester found that players become more attuned to their surroundings due to the effects of gaming (Hughes “Benefits of Playing Video Games”). By the player becoming attuned to their surroundings, it allows the player to safely release their competitive urges. The American Psychological Association stated that an estimated of 70 percent of gamers play with friends worldwide (APA). While playing with others a player can enhance their communication skills by giving the players common ground to talk about how to complete certain objectives throughout the game. With video games helping with an individual’s cognitive state it can also help individuals who are recovering from physical harm such as a stroke. A stroke is when the brain loses blood flow,

Video games have become a very popular hobby that anyone can obtain the skill at any point of people’s lives. Video games are a game played by electronically influencing images produced by a computer program on a television screen. In October 1958, William Higinbotham has created the very first videogame. Studies have shown that video games are actually healthy, and these studies can prove wrong what the older generations assume about video games. Although, older people that grew up with a different hobby that was not video games, there many things that videogames can help improve certain skills a human can strengthen.

Everyday both adults and children play video games. Some people argue that video games have many negative effects including poor eyesight and inattention. The TED talk by Daphne Bavelier (2012) discusses some of the current research regarding the effect video games have on your brain. Bavelier (2012) talks more specifically about the effects of action video games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops and similarly formatted games on a person’s vision and attention span. This paper will explore both the TED talk by Bavelier (2012) and other relevant research on the subject.

The impact video games have on the brain can differ by the opinions of others. Some may argue that it is a disadvantage and others may say it is the total opposite, an advantage. I will be exploring the viewpoints on both ends of the spectrum. Looking into documented research on the topic, I will be discussing the benefits of gaming, why people correlate excessive playing time to negative behaviors, and the long term effects that video games cause to the brain.

People often mistake video games to only be bad for your health, but what if they all weren’t? While playing video games, there is an improvement found in the brain’s many regions (Pellissier). Playing video games isn’t completely bad for you, and can actually help the brain. Actually, video games can be beneficial to the human brain and even to the point of life changing ways. Games can change your lifestyle by changing the way the brain processes information, affecting the brain's functionality, giving an addiction to playing video games, and affecting the brain academically, which gives people the choice of whether or not play video games.

North America has spiraled into an unhealthy obsession with video games. The value of the video game industry in 2015 was over seventy-one billion dollars in the United States alone, and its worth has only increased. Polls show that 63% of American households have persons who play video games for a minimum of three hours a day. But do exposure to those games affect the brain in a negative way? Video games are shown to be more influential to the brain than television and movies, and research shows that video games shrink essential parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus. This diminution influences cognitive functions, whose effects will carry on into later life.

Showing the positive effects with video games on the brain and cognitive function associated with high intensive action games and how they can help to increase motor skills, attentiveness and learning capabilities of those who play video games.

When playing video games, the coordination and concentration can physically, socially, and mentally benefit the user. Research today shows that certain video games can reduce fat and therefore promote weight loss. Other sources state that doctors have instructed parents to let their children play video games to help control focus. It is found that video games can improve hand eye

Although many misconceptions arose and “one widely held view maintains playing video games is intellectually lazy, such play actually may strengthen a range of cognitive skills such as spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception, according to several studies reviewed in the article” (American Psychological Association, 2013, pg. 5). From turned-based strategy to real-time combat featured in gameplay mechanics, the composition of video games vary, as many are narratives that do deviate from violence and hone into other facets like aesthetics or emotional appeal, but heightened reaction speeds and improved accuracy are continually stressed throughout the experience of the game. The exposure to a novel and expansive world in which the players can direct their character and truly have themselves embodied in the game leads to “[their brains being] more efficient collectors of visual and auditory information, and therefore arrive at the necessary threshold of information they need to make a decision much faster than non-gamers, the researchers found” (University of Rochester, 2010, pg. 10). Despite the popular notion resurfacing of children mindlessly playing with no regards to intellectual or social value, there is merit to playing video games- a balance needed to calm the fervor of parents who placed (violent) video games under harsh

Majority of people tend to have the same answer to the age old question of “how do video games affect your brain?” They rot your brain. While that may be true of a dead corpse sitting in front of a TV, that is not true about how they affect a living person. A study done by Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) has shown a correlation that people who play video games have a lower stress level or a easier time dealing with stress than people who do not play video games. In this study 103 people where give a frustrational task then randomly chosen to play different types of video games. According to Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson, a professor at TAMIU, after people who played video games had lower stress levels, reduced depression, and reduced hostile feelings about the task. However video games do not only reduce stress levels, there is also evidence that supports the

When I was little, every Thanksgiving my grandmother, mother, and aunt participated in their annual Scrabble tournament. I remember as soon as I heard the word “Scrabble,” I would moan with disgust because I wondered how could anyone enjoy a game that involved making words? Yes, the game literally revolves around making…words. It was like being at school when I was supposed to be on vacation! Today, I think about how different holiday gatherings might have been if, after the dishes were finished, my grandmother had said, “Anyone up for a game of Call of Duty, Super Mario 3, or Minecraft? Playing video games remains a popular pastime with teens and surprisingly even older adults. Researchers’ fascination with the effects of video gaming on the brain and human behavior has led scientists to explore both the positive and negative aspects of playing video games. While a wealth of research exposes the harmful effects of excessive gaming, there is also a body research that suggests playing video games can positively impact one’s decision-making, analytical reasoning, and improve eyesight.

Video games in the 21st century have transformed from friendly competing into guns, explosions, and major violence. Video games are getting away with more violence every year and the games are becoming more extreme. The consistence and severity of violence is at an all-time high leading the most popular games in the gaming community to have a ‘mature’ rating due to the considerable amount of violence involved. For example, one of the highest selling video games of all time grossing one billion its first weekend, Grand Theft Auto 5, contains gang violence, nudity, and obscene language (Thier 2014). Although the extreme violence is rated accordingly for certain ages, parents often purchase these games for their kids not knowing what is

Playing video games is among one of the favorite pastimes of many people around the world. Some play games to kill time with simple tasks found most commonly on the phone, while others play them to challenge their mind in the form of complex puzzles or to practice management skills, some play them to experience a sense of adventure that they just can’t find anywhere else, and many use them as a way to communicate or have fun with friends both near and far. Whatever the reason someone may have for playing video games, they may not think that games can have an effect on their brains. Some would say that playing video games can lead to negative effects such as harming the player’s cognitive skills or causing them to become much more violent than normal. Others would argue that playing video games quickens the minds of their players, leading to higher mental performance or an increased attention to detail. Thanks to this hotly debated controversy many studies have been conducted over the past years in order to settle the debate once and for all. So what effect can playing video games have on the cognitive skills of their players, and are these effects positive, negative, or somewhere in the middle?