Video Games Help Enhance Children's lives

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"Today, in the United States, 91% of children between the ages of 2 and 17 play videogames, and a nationally representative study of U.S. teenagers found that up to 99% of boys and 94% of girls play these games" (Granic, Label and Engels 1). Video games have become virtually ubiquitous, belonging to almost every single modern day family. The market’s popularity, as well as its disapproval, has increased dramatically ever since they were invented. Many critics have been arguing for the past couple decades or so that these electronic games have destroyed the lives of children by making them sedentary and obese. However, recent studies support that video games are not harming children, but in fact are providing them with several benefits that they can incorporate in their everyday lives. Improvements have been found in cognition, social behaviors, emotional well-being, and many other areas that are necessary for a child’s growth and success. All children should use video games as an essential tool to make their worlds easier and more understandable. One of the most important areas that video games benefit is cognition, which is how people process and receive knowledge. Video games improve problem-solving abilities (Granic, Label and Engels 4). Additionally, they augment spatial working memory and visual search abilities (Oei and Patterson 13). Experience video gamers have developed adept behaviors such as problem perception and self-observance (Hayes and Silberman 19). Furthermore, video games have different beneficial effects on cognition depending on what type of games they are (Oei and Patterson 15). Puzzle games, such as Tetris, help improve people’s mental rotation skills (Oei and Patterson 1). Action video games... ... middle of paper ... ...sychologist 69.1 (2014): 66-78. PsycARTICLES. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. Griffiths, Mark. "The Educational Benefits Of Videogames." Education & Health 20.3 (2002): 47-51. Professional Development Collection. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. Hayes, Elisabeth, and Lauren Silberman. "INCORPORATING VIDEO GAMES INTO PHYSICAL EDUCATION." Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance 78.3 (2007): 18-24. ProQuest. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. Oei, Adam C., and Michael D. Patterson. "Enhancing Cognition With Video Games: A Multiple Game Training Study." Plos ONE 8.3 (2013): 1-16. Academic Search Premier. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. Olson, Cheryl K. "Children's Motivations For Video Game Play In The Context Of Normal Development." Review Of General Psychology 14.2 (2010): 180-187. PsycARTICLES. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. White, William B., Jr. "What Value are Video Games?" USA Today 03 1992: 74. ProQuest. Web. 6 Feb. 2014 .

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