The Many Educational Benefits, for Kids, of Playing Video Games

[WuWei]

"The Many Benefits, for Kids, of Playing Video Games" by Peter Gray, a research professor of psychology at Boston College. He is a specialist in developmental and evolutionary psychology and author of an introductory textbook, Psychology. (Article includes 13 Educational and Psychology Research References. )

"Computers are the most important tools of modern society. Why would we limit kids' opportunities to play with them?"

"Research refutes the frightening myths about harmful effects of computer games."

"Video games have been shown to have many positive effects on brainpower."

"The special benefits of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs)"



http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201201/the-many-benefits-kids-playing-video-games


Pat

[Red Pajama]

He's got a different view than mine.

[SundayCrepes]

Interesting article. We had open access to TV when I was a kid and it sucked the soul out of my childhood. I think there comes a point when parents need to set limits.

Our kids are 6 and 3 so we limit computer time (my son likes "how it's made" style videos on youtube,) though we allow a fair amount of time for the youtube stuff he chooses. We also allow pretty open use for phonics, time4learning, happy scientist, etc. 

I'm open to hearing and considering new ideas. However, with how my childhood was negatively impacted, it's hard for me to give my kids complete freedom on screen time. Maybe that's wrong, but it's such a hot button for me.

[beth144]

interesting POV, but one thing he fails to discuss is the details of the study he mentions to prove that unlimited screen time is beneficial. there are so many variables that could effect how you come to conclusions about this article that really you can only take this as one man's opinion. i personally feel that some screen time can be beneficial, but i'm certainly not going to let my 6yo decide how much time she gets. i know from personal experience that tv/computer can suck you in and 2hrs later you wonder what the heck you've been looking at all this time:)

[pigpokey]

I don't think he's totally off base and I don't limit my children's access to video games at the level that I will ask them to go turn off the TV.

If you're studying children in other countries, it's hard to compare because their parents do not have the irrational fear that US parents have of "what might happen" if a child simply goes outside on his own without supervision, so there is an interesting real world available to those children to compete with the virtual world. 

[Fillyjonk]

hmm, I would probably actually limit a kid's reading time, if it meant that they were sedentary for most of the day. If my kids have been sitting for a long time, however wholesome the activity, I do turf them out for a bit.

er...its just a rant, really, isn't it? Sorry. 

My big issue with computer games is that they are designed and created by large corporations. I don't want a huge percentage of my kids imagination being coloured by the images, ideas and so on of huge corporations. That's just utterly antithetical to what I believe in. There's not much that could be said about IQ points that would convince me otherwise-that's not what I'm worried about.

my 8 yo plays strategy games, civilisation and so on. I don't mind him doing a bit of this, a few hours of screen time a week is hardly going to fry his brain. I don't think its a GOOD thing. I don't think eating sugar is a GOOD thing, but I don't forbid all sugar. What I don't do is suggest that sugar, itself, is good. What it is is fairly harmless in strict moderation.

[Imakcerka]

While computer games and video games are fun... Why in gods name would any parent who is guiding their child towards a healthy productive life allow a free for all.  I used to have to remind DD1 that the sun was shining... get your rear out into that glorious sun and leave video games for cold/rainy days. 

Also there is a story about a kid that used his learned WOW skills to save his little sister... I think he used his coat of invisibility and his boots of escaping!!!

http://io9.com/5558603/12+year+old-uses-world-of-warcraft-skills-to-save-his-sister-from-moose-attack

Ok it was taunting and pretending to be dead... still... boots of escaping rock!  Also he had to wait til level 30 to untilize his play dead skill.  Had his mom not let him have free access to WOW, then you never know.  He could have been a level 10 at the time of attack and he and his sister would have died... 

[Imakcerka]

Also I would like to point out the many learning tools are going video game based.  Just recently I had the pleasure of viewing some interesting training tools and got to give my feedback on their useability... Sign me up! 

[greenacresmama]

video games don't equal life, nor does tv.. I can't understand it any day. It seems fine, fun, and not horrible, but I don't think it compares to a real rich based world.. if you have one. 

I have a friend that has terminal cancer but very slow growing, but in a bad spot. We had a really picky debate one time when Freddy was really young about tv. Me: Why do you want to watch people live when you could be getting bored and bettering your self for all kinds of reasons, and to have fun and stay unbored? Him: You must keep children connected to their culture and in the modern world - it is the present day connector and they won't be alien! 

Him now: "Leslie I don't want you to think for one minute you were wrong about what you said on tv. I wish I had lived my life much more healthy, full, and just been there doing all the things I was watching instead of just watching."

He spent a year traveling. He spent many months being a loving uncle in two homes. He took care of his mother and was there when she died. He told me he avoided tv and still does. 

Live life. Be your own superhero. 

Wait, YKW, too? I also wonder about all this freakish energy that comes from the mindsets, emotions, action play, bad vs good, etc, etc? I mean the vibration is mixed up, analyzed, good vs evil.. let's look at good, now evil, now stupid, now smart.. I mean the whole comparing and thinking so fast and feverishly.. it seems so wickedly insane. I am all about good films.. please don't get me wrong, but I think the whole tv routine is sooo creepy. Maybe once a week. We must really judge where are kids are getting their experiences and make them shine and be beautiful. They will have the idea of producing those experiences just as Japanese have good manners. You must really be careful with the beauty we find and share and not flood with fun blah.. I don't think it is worth it. Be picky is my point, don't be "that is safe or good enough" If you need a break, then kids need to learn to get bored and get busy by themselves because I think if they don't learn what to do when bored besides TV, then our lives are actually made much more harder to get them into their real passions for life.