Good and Bad Effects of Video Games on Children
Media and entertainment have grown drastically with each passing year, online gaming is an integral part of global media. This branch includes all the social gaming, massively multiplayer, (MMO), and mobile gaming, the latter is wildly popular among kids and teens.
According to the researchers, there are various effects of video games on children’s development. Kids have a large variety of games to choose from, some are entertaining, and relaxing while others can be challenging and good for mind development and educational purposes. However, all the games cannot be good for the kids and they can have adverse effects.
A parent might want to keep an eye on the phone activities of their kids, they can do it in various ways, by providing undivided attention to them, or by monitoring them using an android app for parental control. This will give you deep knowledge about their thinking, and the activities they perform on the phone.
Major Advantages of Children Playing Video Games
If parents control their kid’s playing time and keep an eye on which games they play, the good effects of online games can be seen on them. Some games contribute to the overall development of the kids.
1. Working Together as a Team
Most of the games are available online these days and involve players from around the world. This encourages the kids to play as a team with others. This will help your child to build the skills required to work together. He can learn the art of problem-solving as well.
2. Improved Decision-Making skills
The functioning of the games is done in real-time and requires the players to make quick decisions within seconds. This helps in inculcating decision-making skills that are valuable in day-to-day life as well. The major impact on the real-life decision is on sports or medicines where you need to decide under pressure.
3. Coordination Between Your Hands and Eyes
When kids play video games, they learn the art of coordination among their body parts. They begin to learn the movement of their limbs according to the visual references around them. Good hand-eye coordination is essential for daily activities. It is also required in school activities and can be beneficial in solving puzzles.
4. Better Cognitive Functioning
When we practice a skill repeatedly, our brain develops a particular structure and creates new neural pathways and transmitters to optimize functioning. The brain trains itself to be a good problem solver.
Negative Effects of Video Games
1. Health Issues
Playing video games instead of indulging in other physical activities can affect the health of your child in various ways. The child’s cognitive development might be affected if he does not develop a social circle. Constantly sitting at one place and playing video games for long hours increases the chances of obesity, joint and muscle pain can make the muscles and joints pain due to overexertion, and can even weaken the eyesight as well.
2. Academic Issues
The games leave a major impact on the kid’s minds and can interfere with their minds on a normal school day. This gets them in a situation where kids prefer video games over anything. When they aren’t in school, they might want to skip homework or study for tests and choose to play video games instead. This can result in poor performance and affect their emotional intelligence.
3. Exposure to Wrong Values
Many video games contain objectionable content like excessive violence, racism, and over the top sexuality, and many more things that might not be perceived by the kids in the right manner. They are in an age where their mind is still developing, and they won’t be able to differentiate between right and wrong.
4. Aggressive Behaviour
The violent content in video games can cause kids to be impatient and aggressive in their behavior. When restrictions are laid on the kids, they may behave in the manner they have perceived from the games. These aggressive thoughts can manifest in troublesome behavior.
5. Online Predators
Online video games are a perfect place for predators to find their victims. Kids open up easily among like-minded people. So, the predators befriend the kids, find out their detailed information and start manipulating them. In the worst-case scenario, the children can be abused for a pretty long time until the child gets the courage to tell parents about being exploited.
Protection of the Child from the Negative Effect of Online Games
When we talk about ensuring the child’s online safety, the games must be restricted. However, you need to think twice before forbidding the kids to play their favorite online games.
Kids communicate with each other when they play, and losing access to this, might create a sense of anxiety and depression among them. If you want to protect your child, don’t risk your relationship with them. Let them enjoy those games, and try to understand why they love those games. If you aren’t able to do that, you can try monitoring your kid’s phone with the help of the child monitoring app — Phone Agent 007. All you need to do is install this on the kid’s phone and track their activities on your phone. It is well-said, “Cybersecurity is preparing for what’s next, not for what was last”. Hence, we need to be prepared for any risks.
Also read: What are the Impacts of Social Media on Teenagers?
