Video games are a modern day phenomenon that has acquired an integral status in our children’s lives today. They are a unique form of entertainment as they encourage the players to be active participants in the game’s script, rather than passively watching a movie. This is leading to, both positive and negative impacts on child’s psychology.

The most widely recognized positive impact of video games is that they improve children’s manual dexterity and computer literacy as now many online video games are also very popular. Ever-improving technology also provides players with better graphics that gives a more realistic, virtual playing experience.

But on the contrary, video games are also leading to much more adverse influences over children’s psychology. Various researches indicate that the high level of violence depicted in many video games has a very detrimental impact on children, contributing to increase in violent behavior exhibited by juveniles. The influence is more alarming as the hero of the game is never punished for all the violence that he performs, rather he is often rewarded for the same. As a result, children tend to eulogize and glamorize such violence in their minds. This mindset gets further cemented as these games are highly engaging, point-and-shoot video games allow children to practice their shooting skills, firstly on the TV screens and some actually try to replicate these in real life scenarios.

Researches also show that children are spending longer hours in playing video games. (13 hours per week for boys, on average, and 5 hours per week for girls) thus gradually outplacing more creative childhood activities such as, playing with blocks, colors, books. With such aggressive attitudes being pumped into their innocent minds, children tend to behave weird in their social interactions – often picking up fights with peers and showing disrespect to elders. This is also impacting their academic performance in schools.

Furthermore, playing too much of video games is also inimical to child’s physical health. Some of the common medical problems induced by excessive playing of video games is crooked posture, sight deterioration and damage to joints. Studies also indicate that excessive playing of certain computer/video games can affect the process of brain development which can lead to brain damage in long run.

Given the immense popularity that video games command, banning them completely from your child’s life would not be the right approach. To address this issue, parents have a vital role to play. Psychologists recommend that if parents monitor the amount of time as well as the types of games their children play, children are less likely to show aggressive behavior. As parents, engage your children in discussions about the games they play and exchange views about inappropriateness of violent solutions to real life conflicts. This is also an opportunity to share your feelings and grow closer to your child.

This post was contributed by Holly McCarthy, who writes on the subject of best universities. She invites your feedback at hollymccarthy12 at gmail dot com

Share

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!