Do You Agree That Video Games Have A Positave Effect On People? (Essay Sample)

VIDEO GAMES
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Introduction
There exist varying thoughts on whether video games are a menace or boon to the people of the world today. The media and some experts see it as a problem to young people as it can adversely affect the brain of an individual, especially children making them engage in such violent activities as murder. Nonetheless, researches done by various scholars suggest that video games are in fact helpful to the human race. Some of the benefits associated with video games include (Munson and Savickas, 1998) building self-esteem, greater cognition, increased hand-eye coordination, skill development, problem solving and logic as well as better memory.
On the other hand, some people still view video games as a world of aggressive emotions and violent images and blame them for extreme violence and falling grades in schools. Most parents see it as a time waster and the reason why their children sometimes become violent. They prefer to have their children engaging in other extracurricular activities other than playing video games. However, recent studies (Roberts, et al., 1999) point out a growing number of evidence that shows the positive effects of playing video games among people. The study will primarily concentrate on the desirable consequences of video games to people, giving a particular focus on building self-esteem, greater cognition, increased hand-eye coordination, skill development, problem solving and logic as well as better memory.
Positive effects of video games on people
Some people do not fancy playing video games because of the associated adverse effects it has on both adults and children. According to Moos and Moos (1981), video games are significant to the development of physical, cognitive as well as many other hidden skills in people. Despite the fact that it has some adverse effects on people, there also exists much evidence of favourable consequences of playing video games. Many parents or adults view these games as time wasters, and some educational experts believe that they can corrupt an individual’s brain. Moreover, Schutte, et al., (1988) argues that the media has put all the blame on violent video games as being the primary reason why most of the young people are either violent or find themselves engaged in extreme anti-social behaviours.
On the contrary, according to many psychologists and scientists, as Kleiber, Larson and Csikszentmihalyi (1986) puts it, playing video games has many benefits associated with it, the most significant one being making people smart. The experts argue that the games are instrumental in teaching the young ones high-level thinking skills that will benefit them in their future lives. A closer look at video games reveals that they are more educational than television programmes because of their interactivity with people. An individual will prefer solving a problem in the games due to their interesting nature as compared to a school’s story problem which they perceive to be boring. Similarly, playing video games can also help to enhance learning motivation among people with disabilities by allowing them to see the problem visually and also giving them a constructive way to vent their stress thus making them more persistent in solving problems (Larson and Richards, 1998).
Moreover, Kleiber, Larson and Csikszentmihalyi (1986) argue that one can learn such cognitive skills as quick information processing, quick thinking as well as think about many things at the same time. For instance, in video games that involve shooting, a person runs and shoots concurrently. Similarly, research has it that children who play action video games make decisions faster than those who do not without compromising on accuracy. Gamer children can also make and act on their choices faster than other kids without getting confused. Also, video games have not only found their way in the medical profession but also in schools, where its effects are imminent today. Since they appeal to many young people, video games equip schools with useful teaching tools as the institutions utilize them in engaging children in activities that require them to carry out repeated tasks for their learning.
Further, Kleiber, Larson and Csikszentmihalyi (1986) add that video games are also helpful to children who have psychological problems such as lack of self-confidence and inferiority complex. For instance, many psychological therapists apply the use of video games to treat children experiencing mental problems. Concerning the learning process of a student, video games also present some given positive effects in this area. For example, playing a video game increases the logic and thinking of a student. Many of the video games have puzzle genre that is strategic and requires the student to think critically to solve a problem without losing (Moos and Moos, 1981). In real life situations, playing games increases the concentration of the mind as well as the language vocabularies of the students or children.
According to Munson and Savickas (1998), video games also enhance creativeness and fun among people. Notably, this provides a chance to cultivate creativity among the young kids as it teaches them such significant skills as cooperation, innovative thinking, and strategic thinking. That notwithstanding, playing video games also enhances the creation of investigative skills among the young people as well as enabling them to master calculations quickly, in addition to developing an attitude that will always motivate them to press on in real life to accomplish something beneficial.
Another positive effect of video games on the young people is that it enhances the improvement of a child’s attention to detail. Researchers suggest that video games attract the attention of children making them remember with ease the tasks they did while gaming (Kubey and Larson, 1990). Since the kids constantly want to be winners, they always pay attention, hence the benefit of playing the games. Other than paying attention to detail, other mental skills that playing video games enhances among people encompass logistics, resource management, and planning.
As one engages in playing the games, he or she masters how to use the limited resources, make a decision on the best application of resources and apply the same in his or her day to day life. For instance, developing math skills as well as reading skills when they engage themselves to follow a game’s storyline, its instructions, and information (Larson and Crouter, 1998). Application of math skills is also significant to winning games that entail quantitative analysis such as resource management. Similarly, another mental power developed in video gaming concerns memory. For instance, individuals who play first person shooter games such as Battlefield and Call of duty series acquire the ability to make a proper judgment of the kind of information to discard or store in their working memory based on the current task (Larson and Crouter, 2003).
Conclusion
Video games have the ability to increase the self-esteem and self-confidence of an individual. These attitudes play a key role in ones day to day life and are crucial in the positive development of any individual. Furthermore, playing video games that invo...