Video Games Harm

Many people believe that videogames are harmful for children and adolescents; they believe these games will cause their children’s grades to drop or cause them to become unsociable and even violent. These theories have little to no evidence backing them up and what evidence they do have is merely circumstantial. However there is evidence of the other way around; according to the article “Video Games: Play That Can Do Serious Good,” playing videogames releases reward processing chemicals, like dopamine, in the brain; “these same brain chemicals prove essential in permitting brain plasticity and thus learning” (Eichenbaum 3). While many people believe videogames will cause their children to become violent or angry, they actually promote good

mood health. Admittedly, certain games, when played excessively for long periods of time, can be harmful to an adolescent’s success in school or to their social and family life. However, when played in moderation, these so-called “destructive” games could essentially have more benefits than one would think. Videogames are beneficial to teens not only through certain biological benefits – like improved vision – but also through the promotion of emotional, cognitive, and social growth and development. Therefore, if more teachers used them inside the classroom they would see an increase in student participation and even a rise in grades.
First and foremost, videogames can help improve one’s vision by increasing their contrast sensitivity - one of the primary building blocks of vision.

The ability to determine between minimal differences in shades of gray helps one locate the edges of boundaries or objects against a background. When this was first being researched, the main question of study was “whether these self-reported action video game players (AVGPs) outperform nonaction video game players (NVGPs) at a given perceptual or cognitive task” (Eichenbaum 7). In this “natural experiment,” a link was discovered between increased visual abilities and action videogames because the AVGPs greatly out did the NVGPs. (Eichenbaum 8). Not only can action videogames increase the visual capabilities of “normally sighted adults” it can also help reverse certain visual disabilities like “lazy-eye.” During the “lazy-eye” experiment, the individual would play an action game by using only his or her bad eye. After playing, the individual would be subject to a vision test. The scores of this test provided much higher results than that of the test done before the experiment – some scores were even completely normal “suggesting that the benefits were indeed due to the influence of the videogames” (Eichenbaum 15). This experiment proved that there is a positive correlation between one’s vison and the use of action videogames. With this information one could exercise and better their vision within one’s own home through the use

of videogames.
In addition, videogames can strengthen one’s mental health by increasing his or her executive control.

While it may be true that some forms of technology can negatively affect one’s ability to stay attentive through long periods of time, it is not true in the case of action videogames (Eichenbaum 10). The article “Video Games: Play That Can Do Serious Good” defines executive control as the “ability to select and manage multiple cognitive processes, such as attention, memory, and planning” (Eichenbaum 11). When playing a videogame, one has to keep track of several items at once; for example, in the medieval action based game Skyrim, one must keep track of his or her health, stamina, magica, and enchantment bars, as well as his or her enemies’ health bar. Because most all action games require the rigorous use of one’s multitasking skills, over time, these skills would be highly

strengthened.
Likewise, the benefit of videogames through cognitive development is especially notable. According to the article “Technology,” “learning involves three separate processes: instruction, practice, and assessment. Games allow these three processes to occur simultaneously under more natural conditions” (Siegle). When a person plays a videogame they must first learn the controls they need to use and what their objective is. Then they must attempt a mission continually until they get a desired outcome; after each failed attempt they must assess what went wrong and attempt to correct it the next time around. This concept is known as “trial and error” which is used in many fields both in the classroom and in the real world. Videogames can boost students’ problem solving skills by creating problems in their virtual world that they must solve in order to advance to the next level. Videogames are all about how fast and how well the player can problem solve to clear an obstacle and complete their quest. Problem solving is one of the most important skills taught in school; with this fun and enjoyable method of teaching, students can get in more practice than they ever could within a traditional classroom alone.