The Importance Of Video Games

1074 Words5 Pages
“Stop playing those games and go outside!” These words are commonplace in many homes with children. Since the invention of video games, parents have worried about their influence on children. Video games are often blamed for ruining children’s eyesight and bad influence. In spite of the negativity that surrounds video games, there are positive aspects that are overlooked. Video games positively impact a child’s development by improving hand-eye coordination and social skills while also increasing problem-solving skills Although hand-eye coordination does not sound like a useful skill to have it really is. Hand-eye coordination is when the hands guide the eye. When a person is playing a one-person shooter the hand is moving the screen so that…show more content…
Video games also teach children perseverance, critical thinking, and good decision-making. These skills were stated by Natalie Kilgore, “The games in the "The Legend of Zelda" series aren't the only ones that can teach life skills like perseverance and critical thinking. Competitive sports games like "Madden NFL" and puzzle-heavy games like "Portal 2" teach kids the importance of good decision-making, planning and communicating effectively.” What Natalie Kilgore was stating was that certain games teach different skills. Learning these types of skill is not that easy. Some people may take years to learn a skill, but some just learn it in a day. Another source to support that children learn perseverance, critical thinking, good decision-making, planning and communicating effectively by playing video games was Daphne Bavelier, a research professor in brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. She stated, “Prior research by our group and others has shown that action gamers excel at many tasks. In this new study, we show they excel because they are better learners...And they become better learners... by playing the fast-paced action games.” What Daphne Bavelier was explaining was that people that have played action games already have the capacity to learn new skills quickly. She found out that action gamers in specific interesting as she stated, “When tested several months to a year later,…show more content…
Not everyone who plays video games talks that much to other people. These people may be socially awkward. Video games can help children learn social skills. Tim Hodgson, the technologist, states, “Team-based games require communication to succeed. Not only do you need to understand the social language (each game has one), but you need to be an effective communicator. In the world of elite team gaming, communication is paramount and is finely honed after many hours of familiarity with other team players.” What Tim Hodgson stated was that when people play team-based games they have to communicate to succeed in the task. These games may include ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Portal 2’. His statement was supported by Isabela Granic, Professor, and Chair of the Developmental Psychopathology department in the Behavioural Science Institute at Radboud University. She stated, “When people play multiplayer games like ‘World of Warcraft’ or ‘League of Legends’ they get better at communicating with their partners in battle. This helps them talk more to people that have played it before” First-person shooters are not the only games that help children learn social skills. Games like ‘Pokemon Go’ can also help children and teenagers learn social skills. This was stated by Los Angeles Times, “During the study scientists found that games like ‘Pokemon GO’ encourage gamers to leave their home and interact with other people.” What they were saying
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