Children who play more than one hour of video games a day suffer from at least slight decreases in mental and social health. According to a new study, children who play more the one hour of video games a day suffer negative effects while children who play three or more hours per day score even worse on both mental and social tests. Unlike some studies that attempt to blame video game playing on a rapid increase in bad behavior, this study only claims that a sliver of a child’s behavior can be blamed on extensive video game playing.
Andrew Przybylski, an experimental psychologist and research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Oxford Internet Institute in the United Kingdom, explains, “It is probably more important knowing how much (game play) is happening than controlling how much is happening,”
Researchers believe game content and whether or not a parent plays with the child may be more important to mental and social health than how long the game is played.
In the journal Pediatrics, Przybylski writes that no full-scale study has looked at a balance of effects among children. For his research, Przybylski analyzed data from about 5,000 UK boys and girls between the ages of 10 and 15. Each child reported how much time they spent playing video games, and the researchers then assessed the children.
The research found no difference in scores between kids who played between one and three hours of video games and children who reported no video game play.
The research did, however, find that children who played less than one hour of video games scored better on both mental and social assessments than children who played no video games.
When examining children who played three or more hours of video games per day, researchers found that they did not fair as well as children who reported no video game play.
So, parents can see to it that kids play games for a fixed time period, and they could even bond with children by playing a few fun games with them. […] interested, parents can explore a few online or crypto games that they can enjoy with teenagers. This can help parents to connect with kids, understand their interests and encourage them to follow their dreams.
Moreover, if the study is correct, it would suggest that some, but not a lot, of video game playing are actually good for a child’s health. In any case, Przybylski believes that just 1.5 percent of a child’s psychosocial health is influenced by video game playing time.
The study does not reveal why such mental and social factors exist, although the assumption is that children who play fewer video games tend to spend more time with family and friends and involve themselves in other creative pursuits.
On the other hand, there are studies that have been reported saying, playing video games is good for creativity and boosts intelligence among children. We can not generalize that all kids who do not play video games are social and healthy. It can be far from the truth. In fact, there are many children who take video games to a professional level and they participate in global events. There are many games to play. Whoever is interested to know about games that are popular, can check them out here.
It is expected that this study could be an eye-opener for parents and would promote a culture of equal work and play. It is also likely that the parents will now take active participation in ensuring that their kid gets the required play time he deserves. Those who aren’t very keen on video games would possibly take their kids to tennis lessons, badminton tournaments, and similar other games of their child’s interest. The aim should certainly be to foster an environment of growth.
It will also help kids to explore other areas of interest. In fact, those who aren’t very good at academics can even get a chance to excel in other fields. Besides, opportunities are abundant be it in the sports field or video gaming industry. All a child requires is a little support in order to grow and achieve all that he can.
References
Who Believes Electronic Games Cause Real World Aggression?: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/cyber.2013.0245?journalCode=cyber&
Image Credits
Gaming Television: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/999218
