Introduction
Video games, a common pastime for many people these days, have received a mixed reputation as either being a fun pass time or the cause of increased aggressive behaviour among most people who play video games. As a result of such reputation, parents of children, which you the reader may be, don’t know whether videos games can help their children or cause unnecessary issues. but in this blog I will answer whether they truly increase aggressive behaviours and how they do this. They indeed do positively affect children, who are still undergoing growth, both physical and mental, where such effects could be a substantial boon or a complete detriment to the child in question.
The Positives
Although most of the video games’ reputation surrounds the negative such as a cause for increased aggressive behaviour there are actual benefits to playing video games. If you have a child playing a game that rewards creativity such as Minecraft it is shown that they have an increased creativity allowing them to face new challenges with more ease and complexity, as well as problem solving skills, speaking of which playing games such as Civilization , or other such games can help problem solving skills more, say that child was face with a challenge of solving an issue with coding (if that child was interested in coding which a fair few children using computers end up having an interest in) then they tend to find it easier or at the least have an increased competency in. [1]
Speaking of Civilization, it and other games centred around historical, monetary, geographical settings have shown to set off interests in those academically areas and in effect increase academic performances via their interests in such areas e.g. they become interested in the monetary area of a game they are more likely to go and investigate more into monetary workings and learn monetary skills all by themselves and can tackle school work surrounding that area, not to mention having skills in monetary area can help them later in life. [1]
Many games today have an online/multiplayer feature in the games where peoples from all over the world can meet and play together, although most of the time multiplayer tend to have systems in place to make it so you meet someone from the same country or region e.g. if you’re in the UK you’re most likely to be put in a multiplayer game with someone from the UK or Western Europe (France, Germany, Spain, etc.) and through the common interest of the game you’re playing you can make friends. As well as meeting new friends online a child’s peers in school could also be interested in that game resulting in them becoming friends through playing that game. [1] [2]
There is also evidence to suggest that video games help with attention span or at the very have a better effect compared to watch TV. This increase attention span can help children in numerous situations from paying attention in class to being more interactive in social situations. [3]
The Negatives
The stigma surrounding video games is not entirely unfounded as it is shown if a child’s playing time on videos is not regulated to an extent, they can become addicted to whatever game they’re playing and from that addiction as well as another factor which I’ll get into in a bit can make the child more aggressive and/or agitated.
However, addiction itself is not the only cause for increased aggressiveness/bad behaviour it is also cause by the “fight or flight response” that some games can trigger. Now, what do I mean by “fight or flight response”? it’s the hard-coded response humans have when a dangerous situation arises which can be triggered by playing some games, mainly more violent and/or fast paced games which leaves the child hyperactive and more agitated. Now on its own a fight or flight response isn’t bad other than leaving a child hyperactive which can be challenge to deal with but if this fight or flight response happens to often it can cause the human body to become poor at regulating itself back down to a calmer state leading to longer term issues with aggressive behaviour. [1]
Although I did say within the positives section that it can help a child’s social interaction, it can also do the opposite. If a child plays games which are single player there is little cooperative playing with new or current friends although it can still be a discussion point for them to have with their friends, they will still often spend time playing these games on their own which can lead to the child being more isolated. Also, just because they’re playing games with other people doesn’t mean those people are their friends and/or they’re healthy relationships which can lead to mental issues. [4]
Conclusion:
Video games actually have the potential to be a force for good but requires parental regulation in a fair few instances, if you are a parent with a child that’s playing or wants to play videos games then understand what games they are/want to be playing, if it’s a fast pace or violent game then I advise regulating the time they play on those games and make sure they have a good cooling off period. If the game is a calmer game, try and nudge them towards possible academic interests which will both help them in school and possible life in general.
References:
[1]
Math Rider, “Effects of Video Games on Child Development – The Good and the Bad,” 16th October 2018. [Online]. Available: https://mathrider.com/effects-video-games-child-development.
[2]
Science Daily, “Playing video games generally not harmful to boys' social development,” 23 April 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190423113956.htm.
[3]
Medical News Today, “How video games affect the brain,” [Online]. Available: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/318345.
[4]
MentalHealth.net, “Video Games and Children,” [Online]. Available: https://www.mentalhelp.net/adolescent-development/video-games/.
[5]
V. L. D. M.D, “This is Your Child's Brain on Video Games,” 25 September 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/mental-wealth/201609/is-your-childs-brain-video-games.
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