How many times have you heard your parents yelling at you to get off your video game? You probably got angry and asked for 15 more minutes. Turns out both you and your parents have good points because video games have positive and negative sides to them. 200 million people in the USA play video games and recently more and more people are playing video games. Overall, video games help you in many positive ways but they may hurt you as well.
Video games help your brain, health, and your thinking in many positive ways. Playing video games can help your problem solving skills. According to Steam Ahead, playing video games that require solving problems or completing missions can help you think outside the box, use logic to go through problems, and strategize to beat a level. This can improve the child’s thinking skills and may improve teamwork skills in school or within the community.
Video games can also help with memory because of how many games require you to memorize information or to remember things in the game (Able Gamers). The University of Toronto conducted research that consisted of 18 gamers who have experience in gaming and 18 gamers who have no gaming experience and made them use a mouse to track a moving white square. At first they had the same results, but after some experience the gamers improved more than the non-gamers.
One downside of video games is that video games can cause aggression and violent behavior, along with other attitude changes, especially in children under 18. The Institute for Educational Advancement says “Studies show that those who watch simulated violence, like that in video games, can become immune to the violence and more inclined to act violently themselves.”This increase in aggression can come from friends that play video games as well.
Another important con is that video games keep children more isolated and addicted. Video games keep children inside longer which leads to less social interaction and less exercise. Both of these things are very important to have good mental health. According to the Kids Mental Health Foundation “And we know that time spent outside and physical movement improves mental well-being.” This time spent inside also leads to having less peer relationships which can change a kid’s entire social life forever.
In conclusion, there are many positive and negative effects of video games and each effect can change your whole life. Small steps like managing when to do homework and when you can play video games can help you avoid the negative effects of video games. Remember, the next time your parents tell you to get off, remember how video games can affect your health.