Is it beneficial for children to play video games?

Most people seem to perceive video games as being bad for children but there are certain video games that lack violence and encourage prosocial behavior in children. Most of the video games that are considered to be prosocial are more often than not non-violent games and usually some sort of educational game. According to about.com, the definition of prosocial behavior is “behaviors… intended to help other people. Prosocial behavior is characterized by a concern about the rights, feelings and welfare of other people.” According to one study, “kids who spent more time playing prosocial video games reported more prosocial behaviors. And, when presented with the social scenarios, these kids were also less likely to attribute hostile intentions to other people.” The “bottom line” of the study mentioned above is that “many people are worried that video games make kids anti-social. But it seems that the effects of video games depend on the details… content matters.” Basically, not all video games are harmful to children or encourage bad behavior, it comes down to the content of the video game as to whether or not it is a positive or negative influence for children.

http://www.parentingscience.com/effects-of-video-games-prosocial.html

Besides educational video games that encourage prosocial behavior from children, there are also many other benefits that playing video games can lend to a child. According to the website, Raise Smart Kid, “video games give [a] child’s brain a real workout. In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking.” The webpage also claims that many of the skills that a child can gain, which include “following instructions, problem solving and logic, [and] hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills,” cannot be learned in a classroom. The webpage also draws attention to the fact that we now live in an age solely relying on technology and that it is important for children to know how to use technology in everyday life. When determining whether or not playing video games is a good thing for children to do, it is important to think about the specific details of every video game. As mentioned above, games that encourage violence or drug abuse, among other things, may be harmful for children because of the antisocial behavior that it enlists. However, there are also video games out there that encourage prosocial behavior that actually benefit children as opposed to harming them. In other words, video games often get a bad rap but it some cases are actually beneficial to children.

http://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games