When should kids start playing video games? It’s a question every parent must consider, and how that question is answered could affect the child’s life immensely. This is an argument in favour of gaming in moderation for the intrepid young’un.
Digital Journal, Op-Ed — Video games have been derided by Hillary Clinton; they’ve been attacked by religious groups for indoctrinating children with violent sadistic messages; and they’ve been criticized for promoting laziness and obesity. Amidst the gaming-is-horrible controversy, parents need to ask themselves an important question: When should my kid start gaming?
The issue was recently raised on the MTV Multiplayer blog, where several mothers discussed their opinion on how often their kids should mash buttons. Some parents were reluctant to give their kids time to play games: “I’m kind of hard-pressed to find a game that’s like reading a book or something like that. I understand the kids like it, so I allow them to do it; it’s monitored but it’s not my favorite thing for them to be doing.”
Another parent took a less stringent attitude: “My boys can get obsessed with reaching a level or winning a game, and unchecked have the ability to play it for hours. We believe in an ‘everything in moderation’ attitude when it comes to video games. If you make too big of deal about them not playing, they obsess. If you relax a bit, they’re not so worried about getting it all in when they can.”
Both interviewed parents had children under 10 years old, and allowed them to play games in moderation at some level, whether it was on PC, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii. Children can only play for a limited amount during the week.
It’s admirable these parents are giving their children a chance to play video games, as opposed to outright banning games from their lives. There is no easy and fast answer on when children should be allowed to play games, although a recent CES discussion pegged the age at 7. Educational psychologist Jane Healy told a special summit last month that children should be kept away from computer games “to allow their brains to develop normally.”
But does Healy know about the mind-enriching potential of most video games on the market today? It’s an opinion long held by author Stephen Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good for You. He argued that pop culture — including video games — doesn’t dumb us down; in fact, it makes us smarter. Looking at video games, Johnson says modern games are full of puzzles and problems that require critical thinking and strategizing. Halo might look like a shoot-em-up gorefest but in fact the successful gamer needs to manage a complex array of information and options. He wrote that playing a video game is an exercise in “constructing the proper hierarchy of tasks and moving through the tasks in the correct sequence. It’s about finding order and meaning in the world, and making decisions that help create that order.”
And while violent video games have long been blasted for its senseless displays of blood and murder, those games can actually teach kids about the world. Two professors tabled a study (opens in PDF) that showed aggression in kids can increase after playing violent games, but researchers also say violent games can use the same techniques that really great teachers use when teaching kids about aggression. There’s an educational value to even the most violent games that often go ignored when adults simply see news stories about the gore, regardless of the context (the kids who play games also say they disagree about increased aggression).
As researchers concluded: “[The study] documents how violent video games motivate learners to persevere in learning and mastering skills to navigate through complex problems and changing environments — just like good teachers do. The study describes seven parallels between video games and effective teachers, including the ability to adapt to the level of each individual learner — requiring practice distributed across time — and teaching for transfer to real-world situations. ”
The argument of games enabling obesity doesn’t hold water with popular consoles like Nintendo Wii, which promotes quick hand and arm movements. Some people are playing so much Wii they’re losing weight simply from spending hours on Wii Sports, for instance. And when Wii Fit hits the market, the stigma of games as fat-friendly hobbies should dissipate.
In light of the next generation’s propensity to go online and interact via technology, parents have to be reasonable about the time allotted to games. It would be short-sighted to cut off gaming completely from a kid’s life; on the other hand, it would be irresponsible to allow a child to play games every hour of the day, sacrificing real-life relationships and duties. A sensible parent will see the educational potential in video games and allow their young children to learn for themselves the good, the bad and the ugly parts of modern gaming.
Sure, there’s going to be games that would make us cringe. But there are also games to teach us about evolution, civilization, spatial thinking and social activism. Children will play video games, regardless of parental restrictions, so an open-minded home will find a way to let youth express themselves through an age-old pastime. Gaming technology might have changed but the fun of diving into another universe will never disappear.
