The debate on video games causing violent behavior is confusing, isn’t it? I mean what are you to believe when Time Magazine tells you video games instill aggression in young minds, and Forbes tell you that the correlation is all balderdash?
To be honest, your stance on video games shouldn’t really be just black and white. Because both sides are right in their own ways. Games help strategizing in real life and that’s good, and they expose kids to gore and weapons really early on and that’s bad. What you’ve got to do is dice out the pros from the cons and have conversations about what you find.
The Good about Video Games
Video games are a great way for kids to learn how to strategize and solve. Ever heard of the “gamification” concept? It’s basically using the same techniques one uses to progress in a video game and applying it to everyday life. Lots of businesses use it to make profits and achieve higher levels. Imagine your children applying the same principle to school or in sports or other things they’re good at. Video games seem quite useful in that sense, don’t they?
Huffington Post tell us of a few other ways games can be great for your kids:
- High action video games help kids with dyslexia read better
- They are a great form of therapy—better the aggression be virtual than real life. And speaking of gaming rage, here’s a clever deduction by Dueling Analogs:
- Games that involve critical thinking make kids smarter
- They can act as pain relievers
You’ve got to accept it now—all the problem solving and mission completions and level ups help in your kid’s brain development.
The Bad about Video Games
The thing that concerns me most about kids playing video games is the sheer amount of gun violence. Know of the “Grand Theft Auto” games? They are basically about a group of gangsters stealing, killing, kidnaping and the like.
Grand Theft Auto: Five poster
The cover itself depicts a gun and a gas mask. And it’s not the only one. Lots of video games glorify weaponry straight on the cover. “Call of Duty” is another series of games set in World War II. Somehow, there are zombies involved.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
I understand that there is the element of escapism and that weapons in a soldier-at-war setting make sense. My only concern is that this might distort a kid’s view on gun control. Because a lot of these games seem to glamorize weapons. Might not cause aggression in their behavior as it is believed. But imagine a kid playing these games since the age of 7. They’re going to grow up with a very different concepts of gun laws, unless the parents have proper, informed conversations with them.
I don’t believe playing a violent video game would inspire your child to go on a zombie rampage of their own. So locking away their Xbox might not be the right way about this problem. You just need to make sure your kids are internalizing the things they learn from their video game escapades in the right way.
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