Written by Nazmuz Sakib Zarif
Typical mentality of parents
Now any traditional parents coming across the title will immediately look away and go a thousand miles away from the blog because they can not even think that video games can ever be helpful for their children. To them, video games are the roots to every single problem their children have. Today in this blog, I would like to show you that not all video games are actually bad.
Not all they say is wrong
As with everything, getting addicted to gaming can have severe consequences. Gamers lose interest in other activities and start losing precious time. From intense pressure on the eyes to affecting the mental health of teenagers, it has got a lot rooting against it. It cannot be denied that video games do have a bad impact on us, however limiting it to a healthy amount for recreational purposes can make the harmful effects negligible. So parents do have a point in worrying about our gaming.
More can be found in this study The health effects of too much gaming (Grinspoon,2020)
Why does gaming have such popularity?
Enough with the bad sides, we are here for the good stuff. As a fellow gamer myself, I know exactly why it is such an important part of out lives.
Busy University life
Modern life for us students is extremely stressful. There is a constant pressure of assignments, presentations and assessment. It is hard to keep up with the schedule and the infinite different activities we have to worry about regularly. This results in most of us being depressed and frustrated at life. Gaming helps us relieve some of that stress by allowing us to do something we love for an exchange. It works as an 'escape' helping us forget about the deadlines and fears of failing for a moment. It lets us be ourselves and express our inner joy.
Putting ourselves in the game
Games are actually just simulations of different situations. It helps us visualize how our life might be if we do certain things. From racing games to combat games, it helps us live in the moment. If you are interested in joining the military, there are games that can give you a first hand experience on how life of a soldier actually is. Not only that, you can become a professional F1 driver for a day and also be 'Lionel Messi' on the same day. All you have to do is switch to a different game. And all these without the hardships that come with real life situations. You don't have to work day and night like soldiers nor face the immense G-force that Racing drivers face on a daily basis. You just hop onto your computer and live in the game. This gives an adrenaline rush and helping us get rid of the frustrations of our day-to-day life.
Just a waste of time?
As some people think gaming is not only a waste of time. It evolves a specific skill in us that might come in handy in the future. A better understanding can be found in 11 Positive Effects of Video Games (Adair,2022).Some of them include: - Faster Typing skills
- Better Coordination among teammates, strategizing and communicating
- Critical thinking with more attention to details, better and faster problem solving skills.
Faster typing skills
The world now is all about computers. Not only in games but every workplace now depends on computers. With that comes the responsibility of typing numerous documents in a single day. And normally gamers have a better understanding of the keyboard and are faster typers. This helps write the long documents more swiftly and efficiently and can save a lot of time.
Better Coordination among teammates
Most Games now require us to work in tandem with our teammates. They require the build up of strategies to approach critical situations with fast and precise communications to effectively get the message across. This can translate to real life situations where they can work with colleagues and other group members much better. It may give them an edge in stuff like group projects and also help them be efficient.
Critical thinking
Gamers have to think critically while playing games. Their attention to details increases significantly. Puzzle games and other brain engaging games like to use our problem solving skills in their design which makes us better and faster in solving problems in real life.
To finish things off
You can argue day and night about the pros and cons of video games but they are so popular for a reason. There is nothing like the feeling of sitting down to play your favorite game after a tiring day at uni. I think parents should become more lenient towards these games because at the end of the day, it helps us 'live' in this busy world.
Reference:
Grinspoon, P. (2020, December 22) The health effects of too much gaming. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-health-effects-of-too-much-gaming-2020122221645#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20vision%20problem,to%20warnings%20on%20the%20packaging.&text=Gaming%20has%20also%20been%20associated%20with%20psychological%20problems.
Adair, C. (2022, January 27). 11 positive effects of video games. Game Quitters. https://gamequitters.com/positive-effects-of-video-games/
Miami University (2022, July 21). In-game communication improves communication skills: https://sites.miamioh.edu/learning-online/2022/07/in-game-communication-improves-communication-skills/
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