Essay Example on Video Games: Enhancing Positive Social Behavior in Children

Introduction

Over the years, video games have been said to have different impacts on society. Some people associate them with negative characteristics in children and adolescence. Research has been conducted, and it is now clear that although video games have bad impacts such as addiction, it comes along with good impacts on both the player and the society. This essay discusses how video games are not harmful.

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Video Games Enhance Positive Social Behavior in a Child

Many video games are designed in a way in which the player needs the company to play to be possible. As a result of this, a player’s social behaviors are promoted. These prosocial skills include cooperation, sharing, and sympathy. Such prosocial values are very important as they help the child to develop social skills at home and even in the school environment (Harrington & O’Connell, 2016). Moreover, the child is also able to have a high understanding level of his or her peers, Prosocial video games, therefore, are good in molding out positive social skills.

Video Games Enhance Family Interactions

The family set up in modern society has less bounding time due to the unavailability of social time. Video games enhance good relations among parents and children and promote communication skills in the family. Families engage in video games, and as a result, they bound, and communication occurs (Wang, 2018). The video games also encourage unity in the family as a lot of joy is derived as the family members compete. Using the same platform, parents can easily teach basic skills and values as they engage in play. This also gives the family a chance to address problems affecting them and finding their solutions.

Video Games Help to Reduce Aggressive Behavior

Aggressive attitude includes being angry and violent. This behavior is socially unacceptable and makes a child get isolated by others. Aggressiveness can be controlled using violent games (Harrington & O’Connell, 2016). A child who plays violent games and has an aggressive behavior can vent out the anger as he or she is playing hence reducing his aggressive nature. Also, violent games give a platform to the player to calm down and reason to overcome the set obstacle in the game.

Video Games Increase Thinking Capacity

This applies more in the case of violent video games. A player involved in a violent video game has to strategize to play and win. Thinking ability is enhanced as the player comes up with ways that will help him unravel the game to its end. Moreover, creativity is enhanced as the player looks for solutions for the game. The increase in thinking capacity and creativity once acquired are essential in other setups like in school. These skills help the child to reason carefully before responding to tests and also build up a child's creative levels.

Video Games Promote a Child’s Problem-solving Skills

Most video games, whether prosocial video games or violent video games are designed to pose a problem to the player, and for the player to win, then he or she is expected to counter the problem. A video game player, therefore, is challenged by the game, and as a result, he or she has to come up with a strategy to solve the problem in the game. Once a child acquires the problem-solving skill in the game, he or she can use the skill in other places such as in school while working out math’s sums. The child is motivated to keep on looking for clues that will help to finally solve the problem just as he or she does in the game.

Emotional Benefits of Video Game

Video games are also known to have some emotional benefits. First, it improves the moods of the player. Children and adolescence are known to be moody often. Engaging in video games help the child to be in a good mood, as playing the game is a fun activity. Despite putting the child in a good mood, video games help the player to be in a comfortable, relaxed environment away from the daily activities. Anxiety in the player is driven away once the child gets to play the game (Tumbokon, 2020). Video games go a long way in helping the children to cope with varying emotions. The child can let out the emotions while playing video games. This helps the child not to look for alternative negative ways to deal with their emotions.

Video Games Enhance Resilience and Perseverance in a Child

Resilience is the ability of the video game player to recover from losing the game and working towards winning without giving up. Perseverance is the ability to do something despite difficulty repeatedly. Resilience in a child is important since it helps a child to focus on winning despite several attempts of failing. This character helps a child to have a belief that everything is possible.it is essential to a child at home and school since the child can overcome difficulties and tackles work given to him or her. Moreover, a child can embrace a positive attitude in the spirit of competition (Tumbokon, 2020). This makes the child aware that he can lose or win all depending on how he plays. The child is motivated to perform better to achieve the expected results he or she desires.

Video Games Enhance the Ability to Learn

A player is usually open-minded while playing the game. Open-mindedness is essential in the learning environment as it helps the learner to be ready to learn. A child who is conversant with the gaming arena is always ready to learn. This is quickly becoming accepted as many teachers have adopted video games that children can use to learn. Hands-on work makes learning more interesting and makes children participate and remember more of what to learn.

Video Games Enhance Hand-eye Coordination

A child improves hand-eye coordination as he or she plays. Hand-eye coordination is important for a child as it helps him or her to engage in a variety of activities without difficulty. As the child plays, he can control the hand activity with the eye movement. This helps the child improve his motor skills. Also, hand-eye coordination is essential as it prepares the learner for future careers that require coordination such as surgery.

Video Games Enhance Attention and Focus

A child who plays video games is attentive during play to accomplish his or her mission. The game draws a child focus at that particular moment. The child does not get distracted at all. Attention and focus acquired during play are essential to the child in other fields, such as in-class during lessons (Tumbokon, 2020). The brain of the child can focus for longer until the child’s objectives are met. This trait is very beneficial as it helps the child to complete tasks other than leaving them half done.

Video Games Enhance Decision Making and Fast Analysis

A child playing a video game is required to make decisions during play. As the game continues, the player is challenged more and is expected to make decisions that will affect the progress of the game. This means that the child must quickly analyze the situation and make a decision on how to proceed with the game. As the player gets more exposed to the game, he or she is now equipped with the ability to analyze situations fast and make decisions. This helps the child even beyond the gaming arena since the child can use the same skills at school work.

Video Games Enhance the Accuracy

In the case of action games, a child is required to be accurate to hit the target. The more a child plays the game, the more ho or he improves his accuracy skills. As the player learns to be accurate, he or she also becomes patients and tactful as he aims for the target (Tumbokon, 2020). Accuracy skills achieved in the gaming arena are also essential in school as the child is expected to calculate sums and also measure accurately during experiments.

Video Games Improve the Overall Mental Health of a Child

A child who participates in gaming activities is free from depression as he engages in relaxing activities while playing. The child’s brain is free from toxic thoughts as he or she interacts with others and can engage with others freely.

Conclusion

It is now clear that video games are important to a child’s overall performance. Video games can be inclusively used in areas such as schools, homes, and pediatric wards to nurture various skills and characters in a child. Nevertheless, the negative aspects that come along with video games should be curbed by making positive aspects more known. Children should also be controlled as they choose video games to curb negatives mannerisms they may adopt from some video games.

References

Harrington, B., & O’Connell, M. (2016). Video games as virtual teachers: Prosocial video game use by children and adolescents from different socioeconomic groups is associated with increased empathy and prosocial behaviour. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 650-658. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563216303892

Tumbokon, R. (2020). 25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games - Raise Smart Kid. Raise Smart Kid. Retrieved 18 June 2020, from https://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games.

Wang, B. (2018). Families that play together stay together: Investigating family bonding through video games - Bingqing Wang, Laramie Taylor, Qiusi Sun, 2018. SAGE Journals. Retrieved 18 June 2020, from https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1461444818767667.