Interestingly the creation of video games actually goes back to 1952 but it wasn't until the the late 1970's to 1980's that video games started to develop and gain popularity with the invention of arcade games (PBS, 2013). Since then these games have provide hours of entertainment to thousands of people. However, with their popularity, parents and specialist have began to wonder if they are doing more harm than benefit for kids.
However, there are many disadvantages that people are quick to point out. One obvious one is that children are not being social and developing that human interaction and play needed at a young age. Games can become addictive to the point where children spend hours in front of the television. Playing video games releases certain neurotransmitters, like dopamine, which leave a feeling of wanting to "do it again.” (Utah Valley Pediatrics, 2011). These video games are actually created to be addictive. Another aspect is that games can have extremely violent content that many parents do not closely monitor. Some studies have even shown that this violence seen can lead to fighting, delinquency, and violent criminal behavior because of its desensitizing nature. (Utah Valley Pediatrics, 2011) Some things we as nurses can do is to tell parents what adverse affects these games can have. Like anythingm they are fine in moderation and monitoring. We should inform them that some games are inappropriate for certain ages and to be aware of ratings on games. A interesting web site for kids shows how gaming could be bad for them in a simplistic manor; this can even help parents. http://fit.webmd.com/kids/recharge/article/screen-time
References
PBS. (2013). The video game revolution . Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/index.html
Web MD. (2013). Are tv and video games that bad?. Retrieved from http://fit.webmd.com/kids/recharge/article/screen-time
Jill, I found your article on this matter very interesting. I have always been very curious to see what the long-term effects of video gaming will be. As a child growing up with all sisters, we never really got involved with video games. I think my older sister and I shared a Gameboy, but nothing like an Xbox or PlayStation. According to Greenwood (2010), “99% of boys and 94% of girls play video games.” I remember going over to friends’ houses and learning how to play some Mario Cart and other games like that and when we would play, it would be for hours. Even when the sun was shining, it was hard to stop playing. We would keep playing “just one more round.” I never knew about the whole dopamine release when playing these games. To be honest, I have never wanted to be the person or be in a group of friends where all you do is sit and play games. Yes, it may sharpen the brain and increase activity, but from a health stand point I still don’t see much benefit. I would much rather send my kids outside or go for a family bike ride than huddle around the TV. You made some very good points about the negative side effects. Games such as Grand Theft Auto may be one of the worst exposure children can have. Greenwood (2010) says, “50% of boys and 14% of girls prefer games with ‘mature’ violent themes.” Some of the violent themes Greenwood (2010) talks about are urban dystopia of gun fights, car chases, pole dancers, and prostitutes… “Where blood splatters realistically on the camera lens.” This type of exposure to young minds can corrupt and distort children’s views of women, anger, and empathy toward others. Greenwood (2010) states, “violent games reduce empathy and effective anger management skills, and promote aggression.”
ReplyDeleteAlthough violent games may have more cons than pros, that doesn’t mean that all video games are 100% bad. What we as nurses should do is continue to educate on the importance of exercising for at least 30 minutes five times a week. Moderation with these games is okay as long as balance is made with physical and “mental” exercise. Also, we can educate parents on how certain games may not be the best for social and psychological health in a developing child.
References
Greenwood, D. (2010, June 22). Grand theft auto is good for you? Not so fast... Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=grand-theft-auto-is-good
Jillian,
ReplyDeleteI liked the history that you provided at the beginning of your post. I was unaware that videogames were from that long ago. I think that the educational games are very helpful in aiding in children’s education, but how much is too much? I think that it enables the children to learn more because a lot of children are competitive and want to do their best in any game that they play. I agree that they can apply what they learned to the real-life situations and that their test scores would increase. I don’t think that Nintendo’s Wii Fit makes children much more active. Unless they play for an extended amount of time, children can get much more exercise if they were outside playing tag, football, etc. I think they are on the right track with those games that require more activity, but I think children should be outside interacting with other children while being active rather than playing against one or two friends or a virtual person.
You touched on the point of not getting this interaction with other children their age. I found the fact about dopamine, the “feel good” hormone, to be really interesting. It explains the addictive behavior children exhibit while playing videogames. They sit down maybe thinking they will play one or two games and end up sitting there for hours on end. A person might say they will just play for a little bit, but then get sucked in and end up playing for an extended amount of time. The violent behavior in some of these games is disgusting. No child should be able to shoot other human beings or see blood being splattered across the television screen after they do so. It promotes violent behavior in the real world.
I agree with what you stated nurses would do in this situation. Educating the parents on the adverse effects of these games is crucial. Monitoring what your child is playing is highly important and parents should pay attention to the age limits on games.
Jillian,
ReplyDeleteGreat post! My ideas on the topic were very similar to yours. In today’s world it seems that video games are almost unavoidable and most children do play them. Some video games can be incredibly violent, addicting and harmful to a child’s psyche, social development and overall well-being. Games like these should have a strict policy, enforcing age limits, that is followed by companies and retailers to avoid underage children having access to these games. Although some games are not beneficial to the child’s health and growth, this is not the case with all video games. Some can be used as educational tools while others promote physical activity.
It was interesting to see that when video games are used in the classroom teachers noticed higher test scores. I believe that games are helpful in the school environment because if kids view something as fun then they will be more willing to participate. If children enjoy the experience they are more likely to remember it and therefore remember the information they learned. Also children have different types of learning styles. Many do not benefit from listening to a teacher talk all day, especially at a young age when their attention spans are short. Introducing active learning tools, such as video games, may help these types of children to improve in their learning skills.
One very popular learning-focused video game is the LeapPad, which you brought up in your post, which can help children learn to read. Thinking back to my childhood my grandfather is the one who taught me to read. I was fortunate to have someone who was able to take the time to teach me, but not all children have this luxury. Busy parents may be able to use tools such as these to facilitate learning with their children. Also kids who don’t enjoy reading, and who don’t pick it up as quickly as others, may shy away from books. Reading in an interactive game form could help encourage children like this to spend more time practicing and improving their skills.
I was intrigued to learn that playing video games releases dopamine, triggering the child to want to play the game again. This may lead children to become addicted to play video games, which may create strain in the family environment. As nurses we can use our knowledge to help a family dealing with this situation. Our job should be to educate parents about the pros and cons of video games. We can inform them that not all aspects of video games are bad and that they can have some positive effects. Letting parents know about educational and activity-focused video games is helpful and doesn’t totally do away with all games, which will create an easier transition for a child who may be too reliant upon them.
Hey Jillian,
ReplyDeleteI liked your detail on the pros and cons of playing video games. The initial thought I had as I was reading this was something I heard a few years ago about how video games can improve the skills of surgeons. I decided to look into it more. Turns out a study I located involved “33 laparoscopic surgeons found that those who played video games were 27% faster at advanced surgical procedures and made 37% fewer errors than those who didn't.”(Leblanc, 2008). This isn’t a large sample, or the best indicator, however another study yet to be published had 303 laparoscopic surgeons that also found “those who played video games requiring spacial skills and hand dexterity performed better at those skills when tested later compared to surgeons who didn't play videos.”(Leblanc, 2008). I believe while yes there are pros and cons to video gaming, there is plenty of room for exploration in the area that video games should not be ruled as a useless form of time for children.
A lot of responsibility is put on parents to monitor what their children are playing and being educated on the side effects gaming can have on children. Education on these signs can be given by the nurse. Cautious evaluation for social isolation, restless sleep, displays of violence and addictive personalities toward the games should be identified and addressed. If behavior becomes an issue for children, a new approach to how children play video games should be suggested and observed for improvement.
Leblanc, S. (2008, August 18). Studies: Video games can make better students, surgeons. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2008-08-18-video-games-learning_N.htm
Jillian,
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a great job of organizing this post. I really liked how you started out talking about the history and how older generations view up and coming generations. I grew up pretty old fashioned, so I tend to view video games how the older generations do. My parents only allowed us to watch TV if it was lightening outside, and I think the closest I ever got to owning anything video game related was a Giga Pet.
I thought you touched base on a lot of interesting viewpoints to get everyone thinking. The aspects that most people think of when talking about video games are the negativity such as violence and social isolation. I enjoyed how you brought out some positive aspects such as how video games can be used as learning tools.
This topic got me thinking about the physical developmental effects on children that play video games. According to Dr. Sabella, watching a screen for prolonged periods of time can cause serious vision and eye problems. He also noted that sitting in one place for long periods of time can cause bone, joint, and muscle problems, such as carpal tunnel syndrome (2013).
Sabella, R.A. (2013). Negative potential of video games. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/negative-potential-video-games/
Jillian-
ReplyDeleteNice job organizing the post and explaining the history of video games! I can remember playing my dad's Nintendo system when I was younger! And who could forget Spiro the Dragon!? :) Video games were great entertainment for my brothers and I as we grew up. Not only did it encourage us to problem solve, but it also forced us to play nice and engage in friendly competition. As Hannah mentioned, video games are also helpful outside the living room in the classroom setting. Children are able to concentrate, participate, and retain the information more readily when the material is presented in the game format. So what about video games with "big kids"? Particularly, what about nursing students?
Our generation has been brought up with multitasking and networking. So much in fact that Vital Simulations, a video game company, has partnered up with the University of Minnesota nursing school to "develop Web-based games which the school will ultimately use to train students" (Grayson, 2011). The simulation allows students to use situations like "a patient arrives at the hospital. He just had a heart attack and you're the nurse on duty. His heart rate is plummeting. What do you do first?" (2011). With the software, students are presented with a set of tools that they can use to treat the person. Students earn scores based on if procedures are performed correctly and the time it takes to complete the tasks.
The games take the place of the simulation machines which are expensive and can only train a small number of nursing students at one time. The video games, as in the case of children, would have to be used in moderation. It doesn't take the place of working with real patients, however, the games would engage students and make the training more fun.
References
Grayson, K. (2011, August 26). Nurses train with video games. Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. Retrieved from http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/print-edition/2011/08/26/nursing-students-to-train-with.html?page=all