Essay Example on Video Gaming: Positive and Negative Effects on Child Development

Technological advancement has brought significant changes on entertainment sources, especially video games. These changes have been accompanied by societal deviations, including feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, especially among the children, which has caused increased panic among the parents on their children behavior (Fisher 546). However, experts have cautioned that gaming has got both 'sides of the coin' in that it contributes to both positive and negative consequences in a child's development and behavior. Notably, the games played in contemporary society are significantly different from traditional ones. Moreover, the researchers have noted that games of physical activities are diminishing as they are being substituted by technology, including computer and video games. Therefore, the paper aims to analyze the effects of gaming among children and analysis of the impact of First shooter games to determine its effect as documented by the experts'.

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Video games are becoming popular with increased technological advancement and thus have become pervasive among the teenage generation. Notably, as earlier noted, these games affect the child both positively and negatively. Experts have revealed that video games can improve a child's educational skills, neurological health, and other social abilities (Fisher 548). However, controversy has arose whether parents or guardians should permit their children to continue playing video games or the habit need to be mitigated if not stopped. The elimination of video games implies that; the parents engage their children in more traditional-like games, including physical activities. Most often, video or computer games are known for their addiction and violent aspect. Despite these games being developed and designed for recreational and enjoyments, they have become a source of addiction and erosion of societal culture among the children, which have directly and indirectly influenced their development. (Fisher 550). Ever since the introduction of the first video game, the industry has significantly grown at a very high pace. Experts revealed that parents spent approximately $ 76 billion US dollars on video games in 2016, and the figure is expected to increase by 25% by the end of 2020 making video games to become a universal part of a child's development (Galen & Marion 589).

Video games have been associated with physical and mental health improvement during a child's development. Experts and researchers at Utah University stipulated that video games have acted as a good therapist for autism, depression, and chronic illness among children (Galen & Marion 589). Moreover, they specified that such games have helped teenagers emotionally and thus improving their quality of life. Another benefit includes neurological advantage. Video games have been tipped to improve various skills, including cognitive, thinking, reasoning, and flexibility in body movement among the children. Moreover, they have boosted hand to eye coordination and increased level of accuracy among the children and thus an overall improvement in the brain development. Last is the educational benefit. Most children spend most of their free time on computers while playing favorite games. These games have been associated with various skills that require learning and attention to successful triumph in the game. In the long run, the children have learned many languages, critical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities, which have led to improved learning at school.

Video games have led to negative symptoms among the children, which have created a source of concern among the parents. Health issues like obesity, sleep difficulties, bad eating habits, carpal, and poor personal hygiene have been prevalent (Hernandez et al. 845). Prolonged time spent sitting in Infront of a computer device can cause obesity. Moreover, video games have created violent and aggressive behavior among the children, which has been caused by playing violet games like the first shooter games that necessitate one to kill the monster or opponent to win the game. For instance, an 18-year-old victim and a gunman who claimed the lives of nine people in Munich was revealed to have been a great fan of shooter games (Hernandez et al. 849). The social life of the child can be distorted if video game becomes part and parcel of the child life since children would often isolate themselves from the social environment and thus, they would not find time for social networks and interaction.

First-person Shooter Games

The goal of the game is to train the participants on how to improve on their sharpness and accuracy by aiming at the head of the monster or opponent. It involves getting it right the first time. Hence the game is winnable if the participant manages to kill the opponent on the head. Multiple studies have addressed the consequences of children playing first shooter games, and the parents have been on a relying cry to stop their children engaging in such games (Hernandez et al. 850). Various groups of children were investigated between the ages of 8 to 12 by participating in the first shooter game. The study involved some children playing while the others watched. The paly involved guns used to kill monsters while others used swords to kill monsters, and the last group involved nonviolent with no weapon and no monsters. Twenty minutes after the game, the children went to a private room to articulate the game, which made them play with cabinets and disabled handguns. The results of the study comprised 200 children, and about 60% of them touched the gun, 76% preferred violent shooter game while 57% playing the sword game still scrambled for the gun and about 40% who played non-shooter games touched the gun (Hernandez et al. 851). Therefore, it can be seen that most children were abandoning their models of the game and scrambling to hold the gun.

Consequently, it is worth noting that children exposed to violent shooter games were more likely to be involved in dangerous activities, and this could include turning against their colleagues when they may not be at their best. The violent version of the disabled gun was prevalent even after the introduction of other mitigating factors like the sword and nonviolent games. Moreover, the time taken in holding the gun and pulling the trigger was substantial and thus a source of concern to parents concerning violent games.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the negative consequences of video games may be severe than positive consequences as revealed by the experts. The negative effects range from addiction to social problems, which could hamper a child's development. Therefore, parents should be wary of the type of video games their children engage in. Notably, the elimination of playing video games among the children may seem a hurdle to parents since not all video games are bad. Hence the negativity of video games can be mitigated by increased supervision by parents and advising their children on better games, including shifting from violent games to learning games, which can both help them in education.

Works Cited

Fisher, Sue. "Identifying video game addiction in children and adolescents." Addictive behaviors 19.5 (2015): 545-553.

Galen, Britt Rachelle, and Marion K. Underwood. "A developmental investigation of social aggression among children." Developmental psychology 33.4 (2014): 589.

Hernandez, Bernardo, et al. "Association of obesity with physical activity, television programs and other forms of video viewing among children in Mexico City." International journal of obesity 23.8 (2012): 845-854.