The topic of whether video games are good for your children or not has been a debatable one for so many years and there are good arguments on both sides. Some people say that playing video games makes children so addicted to them that they cannot concentrate on other things.
The thing about video games is that there is a common misconception in society that these have negative impacts on children’s health but if used correctly, then video games can become one of the powerful tools that can be used to help children learn different life skills & lessons.
Video games can provide parents an option for leisure time, help teachers to find out new ways to promote teaching in the classroom, and also help game developers to create games that promote teaching in children.
There are many video games available that have certain beneficial effects but still, some parents are hesitant to let their children play video games. So for this reason, we will be having a look at some convincing reasons why parents should let their children play video games:
Video Games Help With Problem-Solving Skills
Video games help children with problem-solving skills. We have all sorts of video games available in the market and most of these video games have complex storylines, where the players have to search, plan, and try different approaches in order to advance to the next stage.
For example, studies have found when gamers see lags in gameplay, they will usually try to find a solution to improve the gameplay, perform internet speed test, and optimize the router which all requires technical learning and implementation.
While telecom providers AT&T, Spectrum, and Verizon, provide technical consultation to the internet users they often will try to learn by themselves in order to fix the errors by themselves.
The games are made in such a way that players have to plan ahead and try different approaches in order to solve the problem.
Most of these complex video games don’t even have proper educational labels but since they involve decision making, using different strategies, planning ahead, and anticipating consequences, these games don’t need to have a specific label to help children with all these things.
Video Games Can Help With Social Relations
Video games can also help children with their social relationships and help them to make friends. For most children, video games are an important social activity through which they can hang out with kids of the same age.
In contrast to what most parents think, playing video games does not mean that their kids are isolating themselves, rather it is an opportunity for them to make friends and hang out with each other.
Children, especially young boys, prefer to play video games with a group of friends either online or in the same room & all the players just love playing video games.
Video games provide a common platform for young children to get to know each other and have something in common to talk about. You will often see the gamers talk to each other through in-game voice chat, Discord, Microsoft Teams and similar apps.
Video Games Promote Exercise
Video games encourage exercise, especially among boys. While playing sports-related video games, male children usually talk about learning new moves and then practicing them in real life as you can see people talking on video streaming about different sports video games.
These include skateboarding moves, basketball moves, football moves, and various other sports moves.
While playing video games, young children get inspired by the moves being performed by their in-game character and when they see their character performing amazing moves then it encourages them to go out and learn those moves in real life, which is basically playing the sport and exercising in real life.
Video Games Spark Creativity
Video games can also spark creativity in young children. We have a very long list of video games available that belong to different categories and we have a video game for almost every category out there.
A study published in the Creativity Research Journal shows a link between video games and creativity, with some video games such as Minecraft being able to spark creativity in children.
These games give players the freedom to freely roam around the game’s universe and build whatever they want using their imagination.
Children that are creative show their creativity while playing these games and these kids grow up to be highly creative because of these video games that aided them in showcasing their creativity.
Video Games Promote Competition
Competition among young children is perfectly normal and it is healthy for kids since it promotes the children to compete with their friends over certain things, which are usually status and bragging rights over others. Usually, it is boys who like to compete with their peers while playing video games and win.
One of the most popular reasons why young male teens play video games is because they want recognition in their peer group over who is the best. Video games provide a safe platform for young children to compete against each other and showcase their skills among each other.
These were some of the reasons why parents should allow their children to play video games. The advantages of video games are starting to outweigh their disadvantages and soon video games will become something important for children, but in all of this, keep a close check on your children’s screen time and stop them from spending too much time in front of screens.
