When I was a child, and I must admit it was a long time ago, we used to play outside, in the street, in the park, in the forest, etc. There weren’t any computer games back then, well, there really weren’t any computers, so we didn’t have the digital distractions that kids have today. Today, children are familiar with electronic games from a very young age, and by the age of seven they can be quite good with a computer or game console.
Although we all get frustrated with our children from time to time because we can’t get them to go outside to play, I suppose we would have been exactly the same if we had been given the playtime options that kids have today. Would you rather go outside in the rain and cold, or stay indoors and play on a game console? I know what I would rather do!
But are video games bad for kids? A report by the European Parliament concluded that they are not, and that games are, in fact, good for children because they teach children skills that are essential in life. From listening to my own children, I know that many of the games they play are probably helping them develop strategic thinking and creativity, as well as other important life skills.
Of course, many of the games tend to be violent in nature, where the goal is to destroy an enemy of one kind or another. However, this is nothing new: if you think back to the first video games of the seventies, like Space Invaders, the intention was to destroy an invading enemy. The European report also stated that there is no firm evidence that playing these types of games has a negative impact on behavior.
A CBS Evening News study of 1,102 teens shows that 97 percent of them play video games and 65 percent play online with someone else, with the most popular games being racing, puzzle, and sports.
Toine Manders, the Dutch Liberal MEP who wrote the report, had this to say: “In most cases, video games are not dangerous. We heard tests from video game experts and psychologists from France, the US, Germany and the countries. Low and we said that video games have a positive contribution to make to the education of minors. “
So maybe it’s not all bad news and we shouldn’t worry too much about how much time our children are spending playing electronic games because they are getting some benefit from the activity.