Are video games good for kids?

Are you a gamer? Do your parents think it's bad for you? If so, you just have to show this! I believe that games are actually good for kids! Of course, some people think that video games are bad, but the pros overpower the cons! Video games are good for kids because video games help kids feel happier, it improves your hand-eye coordination and reaction time, and games can be educational.

Games make kids happy.

One of the biggest reasons that video games are good for kids is that many psychological experiments have been done proving that video games are good for kids. In one article on WebMD, it says, “Researchers found that kids who played video games for less than one hour a day were more likely to be happy, helpful and emotionally stable than kids who don’t play.”

I even have personal experience proving this. So, I once kinda quit gaming and I got sadder and less motivated. This proves that games can make you more happy and more motivated.

Games improve hand-eye coordination.

Many other articles mention the benefits of gaming. One article by Understood.org mentioned that gaming increases your reaction times, motor skills, problem-solving, creativity, and sometimes even hand-eye coordination. But how is this possible? You’ve always thought that games are only for entertainment, right? Well, this is possible because video games can convince you to try your best to beat a level, in which case you have to learn these skills! Plus, you don’t even notice because you are having fun! This makes you improve in many things while having lots of fun!

Games can be educational.

But that's not it. There is one more reason. Video games are not always bad. There are many games that are educational. For example, Minecraft Education Edition has a library in which you can find many pre-made worlds where you can learn many things. There is math, science, and social studies. You can learn many life skills from this while having fun.

For example, there is a world called Fintropolis in which you have to pick a job, pick the right paths for college, and then you have to live in the city. While living there you have to learn about making good financial decisions like taxes, credit, saving, identity protection, and investing. Two of the things I learned in this was credit and mortgages.

But Minecraft itself isn’t really educational. One of the most educational games is Prodigy! Prodigy helps you learn math or English skills while going through your journey in retrieving six crystals to defeat the puppet master, who is the villain in the game. This game makes learning fun.

Are games actually bad for kids?

Although we clearly know that games are not bad for kids, we have to see the other side. The people who think that gaming is bad for kids. These people are right at the same time. An article by WebMD mentions that kids who overindulge in games or just play video games for more than three hours will have the exact opposite effect, like being violent, aggressive, sad, angry, and very rude. But, if parents put restrictions on their children for one hour or less, their children will feel better and happier. So, games are still good in moderation.

Conclusion

So in the end, I think that the pros outweigh the cons. Considering all that, I think video games are actually good for children. It will improve many of your skills while you are having fun. It will also improve your social skills and will make your mood better. So, in my opinion, gaming is good for children. So keep on gaming everyone! Just don’t play for more than two hours!

References

belsky. (n.d.). 6 Benefits of Video Games for Kids. www.understood.org. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/surprising-benefits-of-video-games

Contributors, W. E. (n.d.). Are Video Games Safe for Children? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/parenting/are-video-games-safe-for-children#:~:text=Video%20games%20can%20improve%20children

Olson, C. (2011). 8 Reasons Video Games Can Improve Your Child. Parents. https://www.parents.com/kids/development/benefits-of-video-games/