Good Or Bad: video games and the brain
Video games are an activity that over 1 billion people do in their free time; Whether it’s a kid or an adult, people play video games all the time. Parents around the world have been arguing against video games by saying they, "aren't good for your brain” but is that actually true? Multiple researchers have found that video games are a mixed bag but it depends on the type of games you play.
Pediatric behavioral health specialist Micheal Manos and PHD, and child psychiatrist Joseph Austerman, DO, found reasons why video games are a mixed bag for your child's brain. Games like, “City Skylines” or “Civilization VII” require critical thinking skills and strategy. Games like, “Call Of Duty” and, “Rainbow Six Siege” require good hand eye coordination and strategy too. “When looking at video games in general, we tend to find visuospatial effects, like hand eye coordination, and directed attention tend to get a little better when we’re playing video games,” Austerman explains. Studies have also shown that people tend to socialize and make friends more online. According to Austerman, “What kids are able to do now is connect to people around the world who share their interests and share their belief system,” Austerman continues by saying if children aren’t getting these in person relationships they can get that through multiplayer gaming. There are multiple good things video games bring to the table, but sometimes the things it brings just aren’t good.
Mr. Manos and Austerman has also found that video games can also cause video game addictions. Younger people who get video game addictions usually face a problem with lower grades. Austerman states, “It becomes a problem if you see consequences to the kids being on the screen and getting off the screen”. Violent video games can sometimes make kids have less empathy for others or less reactive to real world situations. Austerman explains, “What we do see is that anytime young kids are exposed to violence, they can begin to have anxiety symptoms. They can begin to have mood symptoms. And they tend to be less reactive to real-world violent situations". Side effects to gaming too much can be: signs of depression, social withdrawal, sadness, irritability, increased social anxiety, video games can also interfere with personal and professional relationships.
Whether video games are bad, depends on perspective, the games your child plays, and whether your child is revealing red flags because of video games. Parents are encouraged to monitor their kids screentime. Austerman suggests, “Generally, the younger your kids are, the more strict you should be with their exposure to on-screen, including video games, social media and other videos”. Video games aren’t good or bad, it’s just a matter of the games you play and how much you play them and act outside the virtual world.
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