Cooperative, first-person, puzzle, role-play, shooting, and more, video games include just about anything you can think of. You get to enter a reality that allows you to be the main character, whilst simultaneously enhancing the surrounding environment; it’s no wonder that many children end up playing video games for hours. However, parents often complain that their kids play too many video games, poorly affecting their development. Since the modern rise in adolescent gaming, this has been a huge scientific debate, with evidence to support both a positive and negative effect.
As they grow older, children need to develop many skills that will allow them to succeed as adults, such as social skills, motor skills, or cognition. However, there are a plethora of factors that influence human development - our environment, people around us, social exposure, diet, education, hobbies... The question is, what is the best way to develop all these skills? Some researchers suggest brain training, a good diet, and frequent exercise, while others suggest more unorthodox ways such as video games.
What are the benefits?
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the rapid development of video games has been an important tool for children and adolescents. With the rise of the internet and general crime causing safety concerns, young people spend less time outside engaging with peers, and instead need to connect in other ways. There are many games accessible to young children, many of which are social and cooperative. These can be online games where children can play with strangers or friends, or local games which are played on a shared device, e.g., with a family member. In the social environment of a video game, children can collaborate, develop social skills via aiding and competing amongst friends, and learn how to use and share resources or information. It is common for games to explicitly reward behaviours such as sharing, helping, or cooperative teamwork. One study concludes that these games lead to increased prosocial and helpful behaviour in young children.
Moreover, many video games are designed in a way to encourage the player to learn something. Decision-making, cognition, and time management are all skills that can be enhanced by certain games. Many video games involve some form of puzzle that requires time-sensitive critical thinking, whether it is working out how best to use resources, or which strategy provides the best outcome. These scenarios also help children and adolescents develop their creativity as well as their problem-solving skills.
A study conducted on nearly 2000 children tested whether video games improved cognitive skills. Children who reported video game use for three hours or more daily scored faster and more accurately on tests involving impulse control and working memory compared to children who did not play video games. Alongside this, functional MRI scans were taken, with those who played video games showing increased brain activity in areas of the brain relating to cognitively demanding tasks in comparison to those who hadn’t played. Another study looking into the relationship between cognitive development and video games included a cohort of over 3000 young children, finding that playing video games for more than 5 hours per week was significantly associated with “higher intellectual functioning” and increased academic success. This study also determined that those who played video games more often saw a lower prevalence of mental health or peer-related issues.
What are the disadvantages?
On the other hand, there are many games accessible to young children these days that are centred around violence, such as “Fortnite”, a popular free-to-play massive multiplayer online game (MMOG). These games allow players to use guns, engage in forms of violent acts, and speak to strangers. These games spark huge controversy, with the nature of the game suggesting it will be maladaptive to development. One study considered the “interpersonal similarity principle”, whereby young people gravitate towards peers who have similar characteristics and display similar behaviours. The authors suggested that young people who play violent video games are more influenced and encouraged to act aggressively, and thus engage with similar peers. Due to pressure to conform, they will both then display less prosocial behaviours and together develop more problematic behaviours. For example, some studies have suggested that games encouraging violence decrease empathy and emotional control, while others showed a link between the frequent use of violent games and the increase of certain social and mental disorders, resulting in worsening attention deficits and emotional problems.
Aside from issues regarding aggression, other studies focus on internalised issues related to video games. Some researchers have noted that video games often evoke negative emotions, such as frustration, and allow children facing a negative environment at home to escape the realities of the world, disallowing them to appropriately regulate their emotions. These experiences may lead to social isolation or possible academic decline. Similarly, high-frequency playing of video games can act as a risk factor for exacerbating symptoms of attention deficit disorders such as ADHD. It has been suggested that due to the fast-paced nature of many games, they encourage hyperactivity, and act as a risk for addiction.
What can we take from this?
The findings regarding the impact of video games on children are vast and widely varied. Currently, there are no definitive answers, however, there are a few observations. The impact of video games varies depending on the form, time spent playing, and other factors currently affecting a child, e.g. family life. For example, playing a violent game every day for several hours is more likely to affect a child than playing the said game now and then. It is not plausible to state that a violent video game will cause a child to act violently, however a more prosocial cooperative game focused on building social skills is less likely to encourage such behaviours. Additionally, a study carried out on the game Fortnite showed that children who played as a team displayed more prosocial behaviour than those who play individually, suggesting that the way a game is played may have a larger role in shaping children's social behaviour than the actual content of the game.
The take-home message? While a concrete judgement cannot be made, the most important factor when considering the effect of video games is not the game itself, but the experience of each individual.
This article was written by Rebecca Parker and edited by Julia Dabrowska. Interested in writing for WiN UK yourself? Contact us through the blog page and the editors will be in touch!
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