The Ways Video Games Should Be Perceived as Good

In the upcoming years, games have become more graphic, and people worry if this will affect their children. The news talks about violence in kids from violent games in today’s age. Even though crime rates have lowered in the past years they tell bad, but more studies are finding more positive information than bad. An example would be the increase in cognitive skills and cognitive skills are the core skills your brain uses to think, read, learn, memorize, reason, and pay attention. Do video games make people aggressive toward other people online and in-person? No, because the media shows most of the harmful things instead of the good, there is also a lot of good in video games that help people. Finally, there's more good in video games that assists a child in the future.

Media influences a poor reputation on rated video games. The Harvard medical school center for mental health and the journal of adolescent health and the British medical journal say “there’s absolutely no scientific evidence showing a positive correlation between violence in individuals and the games they play” (Steinberg). News/media talk about how video games corrupt the brain, but there is no evidence to back this up. This coming from high ranked people and if said by them it is true.

There is no evidence linking video games to bad behavior nevertheless parents still fall for the media’s influence. “Many parents don’t know much about gaming and are suspicious of the unknown”. With this, the news or media can use this to create drama for attention on stories where children have done something bad. something like a scapegoat.

News and media can use confusion for drama then, they look at the news for confirmation. Journalists focus mostly on violence in video games. Media and news look at violence to give a reason to a problem. The media wants to just tell the favorable news and not bother about the small stuff. From this, it shows that media is influencing parents that videogames are harmful to kids by giving the bad facts.

There is more good in video games than bad. A study found that correlated to teens that don’t play video games. Teens that play video games reported family closeness, higher engagement in activities, and positive mental health (Michell). The study shared info on video games that are not shared through media. This shows many ways video games create positive behavior.

The media shared the bad on video games in spite of the studies that talk about the good. A research group at the University of Tubingen in Germany demonstrated that playing video games is useful at maintaining ADHD. This is good because there are many people with ADHD that can use this to help themselves. This good because people with ADHD have high energy and this would be good to lower their energy levels.

People with ADHD can help selves not to mention they can meet other people with ADHD. “Nearly two-thirds of teens play video games to socialize face-to-face with friends and family, while just over a quarter said they play with internet friends” (Irvine). With this info, it is clear to see or tell that people utilize this not only to play video games but to socialize with people as well. From this, it shows how there are many ways video games help people/children for the better.

Parents should not bother about violent games making their kids violent. “American Journal of Preventive Medicine found the 38 studies examined, video games improved the health outcomes of 195 patients on every front including psychological and physical therapy” (Bowler). This is useful to know because life can be tough or stressful. This would assist with the anger of someone. In whole, it shows that games help with mental health.

Video games help with mental health in addition to them helping with skills for the classroom. PLoS ONE did a study in 2013 where they took five groups of non-gamers and made them play a phone game for an hour a day over four weeks. The study discovered all video games they played improved cognitive skills in the people. This shows that with little time kids could get their cognitive skills up. Which in return would assist with learning in the classroom. Because cognitive skills are the important skills used to think, learn, remember, reason, and pay attention.

Video games assist with learning not to mention it also gives more notice to your surroundings. In a 2009 study, a team of non-gamers and gamers played call of duty. They saw a boost in their contrast sensitivity function, which is the ability to notice subtle changes in brightness in an image. This tells that things like driving hazards or threats in itself would be easier to notice. Additional things such as hunting would be easier as you could notice animals a lot easier. Due to the skill being improved. This shows that parents should not worry because there is info that proves there are many great things that come with video games.

The maturity will depend on the way children perceive the violence of video games. As some can and some can’t so parents observe what your kids play. Whether the kid is a great kid you need to check their maturity level to decide what they play, it may not make them violent, but there are just some things children don’t need to see at their age. Either way, video games are fun and let a child develop in a way that enhances how they learn in a positive way. Which in return will help with school and their future.

Works Cited 

1. Steinberg, Scott. “Why Does the Media Still Think Videogames Are Bad for Kids?” CNN, Cable n News Network, 28 July 2010, www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/07/28/debate.kids.games/index.html.
2. Bowler, Jacinta. “6 Scientific Benefits of Playing Video Games.” ScienceAlert, Science Alert, 26 Apr. 2017, www.sciencealert.com/6-scientific-benefits-of-playing-videogames.
3. Guarini, Drew. “9 Ways Video Games Can Actually Be Good For You.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Nov. 2013, www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/video-games-good-for-us_n_4164723.html.
4. Mitchell, Marilyn Price. “Effects of Video Games: More Good than Bad for Youth Development?” Roots of Action, Roots Of Action, 24 Apr. 2017, www.rootsofaction.com/video-games-for-kids-more-good-than-bad-for-development/.
5. Irvine, Martha, and National Writer. “Survey: Nearly Every American Kid Plays Video Games.”ABC News, ABC News Network, abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=5817835&page=1Merrill, Paul. 
6. “Why Violent Video Games Are Good for Kids.” Kidspot, Kidspot Australia, 3 July 2017, www.kidspot.com.au/parenting/parenthood/parenting-style/why-violent-video-games-are-good-for-kids/news-story/81ea51ba75230cde3502209f477532db.