Effects Of Video Games On Child Behavior

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc378997494” Abstract PAGEREF _Toc378997494 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc378997495” Introduction PAGEREF _Toc378997495 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc378997496” Positive Effects of Video Games on Child Behavior PAGEREF _Toc378997496 h 2

HYPERLINK l “_Toc378997497” Negative Effects of Video Games on Child Behavior PAGEREF _Toc378997497 h 3

HYPERLINK l “_Toc378997498” Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc378997498 h 4

AbstractVideo games have long been associated with child behavior, and researchers have proven that they have both a positive and negative influence on child behavior. Psychologists argue that video games promote both good and bad behavior depending on the type of games that children engage in as a form of play. More specifically, video games have been associated with improved social behavior, as well as, increased aggressiveness as the two most notable effects of video games on child behavior. Because video games have both positive and negative effects on child behavior, it has been hard for researchers to provide proper recommendations as to the proper steps to be taken with regards to video games.

Key Words: Video Games, Child Behavior

IntroductionThe video game controversy has been the centre of debates in most academic and social circles today (Bignell, 2002). Since the introduction of video games to the society, most people have argued that these video games have been nothing but a bad influence to children. This is because video games are inherently addictive and most children have a tendency of emulating what they see on these video games. However, another group of observers on debate argue that video games have also had a positive influence on child behavior.

This paper examines how video games can influence child behavior. The paper inspects the positive and negative effects of video games on child behavior.

Positive Effects of Video Games on Child BehaviorAccording to researchers, the positive effects of video games on child behavior are related to the development of mental skills, most of which cannot be easily taught in schools. Research studies illustrate that video games influence spatial and motor skills, as well as, improve hand-eye coordination, which is necessary for growth and development in children. Specifically, video games have also been associated with encouraging the following of instructions by children, which in turn promotes a good relationship between the children and their instructors and educators (Rockwell, 2002). Video games have also been associated with improving problem solving skills and logic, as these games require that the player come up with the best possible strategies to advance to the next levels. These same skills can easily be applied in the real life, thus assisting the child in coping with most of the hardships that they encounter in real life. Attaining these problem solving skills will enhance a child’s coping behavior, as they will seek to solve problems in their social life, hence allowing them to proceed with their social lives with minimal interruptions. Another skill that video games have been associated with is resource management, as some games allow players to learn how to manage limited resources just as they would do in real life (Dickey, 2006). In terms of behavior, this skill can be promote sharing between young children, which improves their relationship with others. Video games improve multitasking in children, thus providing children with the ability to manage multiple objectives. This is, in turn, translated into behavior where children have the ability to focus on multiple things at a time. This improves social behavior in children hence allowing them to function properly in their social settings.

Negative Effects of Video Games on Child BehaviorJust as video games have positive effects on child behavior and actions, they also have a degree of negative effects, most of which have been capitalized on when suggesting the elimination of video games as part of child play during their growth and development. Accordingly, video games have been accused of having various negative child behaviors ranging from emotional disorders to aggressiveness. At the outset, video games have shown to have an influence on the emotional state of children, as they increase the possibility of increasing emotional disorders in children (Sheese & Granziano, 2005). If not treated well, these disorders can affect child behaviors in the long run, causing them to develop negative behaviors when in the social setting. Additionally, these motional disorder problems can easily be transformed into behavior disorder symptoms as most children fail to act appropriately as a result of video games. Children have a tendency of emulating what they see in these video games and if such games are full of violence and aggression, which they can act out in their real lives thus affecting how they relate with other children (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). Playing video games may compel children into taking up video games characters, which can easily lead to violent and aggressive interaction between children. Video games have also been linked with decreased verbal memory and performance in children, thus affecting how they relate with each other.

Children who play video games cannot communicate well with their fellow playmates, because of their lack of communicating ability which also affects their overall growth and development. the lack of proper communication ability affects children behavior in that they do not know how to communicate with the people around them, thus the possibility of behavior problems. Attention problems such as ADHD, hyperactivity, and ADD have also been associated with too video games, especially in children who spend more time playing video games, as opposed to, reading (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). Doing this affects their attention especially during their class time, which in turn causes serious behavioral problems in children. Their behavior at school is affected and such children suffer from problems related to attention, and for that reason, find themselves facing punishment for their lack of attention in class, thus affecting their overall behavior. In addition to the abovementioned negative behavioral effects, video games have also been associated with detrimental performance in school, which affect their learning process. Video games also reduce interaction between children and their families, with most children indicating less parental relations (Sheese & Granziano, 2005). Accordingly, this is soon transferred into behavioral problems and children slowly begin revealing behavioral problems in school and at home. Lastly, video games have also been shown to lead to physical aggressive behavior as children believe that violence is the answer to all conflict as is depicted in most video games (Anderson & Bushman, 2001).

ConclusionVideo games have both positive and negative effects on the behavior of children. However, this is dependent on the type of games that children engage in and the time spent on video games as opposed to learning and other social activities. To reduce the negative effect of video games on child behavior, both parents and educations should consider the possibility of limiting the time children spend playing games, as well as, limit the type of games they play on video games. Conclusively, video games can be utilized for the improvement of child behavior, thus promoting good behavior at all times.

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