Research on the Influence of Video Games on Children’s Growth in the Era of New Media

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Research on the Influence of Video Games on Children's
Growth in the Era of New Media
Ailin Wan1,* Fangjie Yang1 Siyang Liu1 Wenyi Feng1
1College of Humanities, Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya'an, Sichuan, China
*Corresponding author. Email: 374926312@qq.com
ABSTRACT
The age of technological advancement has led to the rapid development of new media. Among them,
video games have both positive and negative effects on children's growth and development. Research
shows that: playing video games has a positive bearing on the basic mental processes such as decision-
making, perception, memory, and attention; by inculcating some idea development skills into the little
minds, video games make children's thinking ability more acute; in cognitive development, video games
facilitate the social development of children and avert risks such as stress and depression; in
cooperative model of video games, children can understand the value of cooperation in the process of
growing up, so as to achieve better results. However, the longer the time children spend playing games,
the poorer they become in school; video games will also lower children's attainment of information,
promote children's violence, antisocial behavior and social isolation. In a word, it has been proven that
video games contribute to the positive development of children through the inculcation of values such
as resilience and positive competition. These games have also taught children the value of teamwork
and cooperation, which are important skills in child development. At the same time, video games also
promote violence, reduce professional social behavior, and even cause poor performance in school. It is
in this context that video games should be rationally evaluated.
Keywords: video games, children education, thinking model, mental processes, violence, antisocial behaviour
I. INTRODUCTION
The age of technological advancement has led to the
rise of many things that children and adults can do on
phones and computers. In the gone eras, children would
congregate together and play ball games, athletics, or
other games that involved physical interactions. The
modern era has led to the current phenomenon where
children are locked up in houses, with little chance of
knowing their next-door neighbours. With such a turn
of events, leisure times are used either connecting with
friends using social media platforms or playing virtual
games such as FIFA and Need for Speed (NFS). The
virtual games have created a distance between the
thinking capabilities and development of children in the
modern era and in the past times. Video games have
educational impacts as well as some negative effects on
the growth and development of the child. The games
may influence their ability to interact in real life, either
positively or negatively. Not only do video games
affect the ability of a child to cope socially and
physically, but they also lead to both positive and
negative long-term effects in their development.
II. ADVANTAGES
A. More acute thinking ability
Playing video games affects the thinking of children
because it causes them to be more calculative before
they take any actions. They have a positive bearing on
the basic mental processes such as decision-making,
perception, memory, and attention. According to Gray
(2015, p. 1), most video games require children to be
focused on the virtual object with which they are
playing[1].By keeping track of common mistakes that
lead to the early termination of a game, a child can
easily avoid some of the mistakes in the course of the
game. The games affect a child's decision-making
process by requiring them to choose between several
tools. For example in NFS, a child may be required to
choose between several roads or even buy spares for
their virtual vehicles. The ability to make the best
choice will definitely have a bearing in the real life of a
child. The perceptions of a child are augmented by the
fact that video games require children to hold a lot of
information in their mind. They are at liberty to decide
which information to act upon first, or in what order
(Gray, 2015, p.1) [1]. Gray further asserts that children
who immerse themselves into active virtual gaming
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slowly acquire the building blocks of intelligence.
Video games require children to make split-second
decisions, failure to which they are considered losers. In
a bid to remain at the top of the game, the child
sharpens their skills, which affects their mental
development out of the scope of the game.
Video games, due to the rate at which children are
consuming them, should inculcate some idea
development skills into the little minds. Hughes states
that a child's involvement in gaming helps them to
become more accustomed to their environment, and
may even give them some survival skills (2014, p.
1)[2].Children who are accustomed to phone and
computer video games have basic ideas about some
aspects of life such as reading the small print and
driving. As such, they get some ideas on how to survive
in risky environments such as busy highways. Real life
requires children to be exposed to some early life
lessons such as doing several things at a go. Hughes
reiterates that children who are involved in video
gaming get used to multi-tasking (2014, p. 1)[2]. At the
beginning of the game, the players are expected to set
some objectives and follow a rapidly changing
environment. This sharpens the thinking capabilities of
children by exposing them to the kinds of decisions
they are expected to make some years later. Due to the
benefits of video gaming on quick thinking, the United
States military has been using warfare simulation
games to train their officers on quick decision making.
In children, video games act to arose these skills and
create some mental awareness of hard situations in
children.
B. Avoiding the risks of stress and depression
Although video games are treated as pastimes in
most homesteads, sometimes attracting scolding from
parents, they are important in cognitive development.
Carras et al. (2017, p. 71) state that games such as the
Solitaire game Free Cell is an important therapeutic tool
in addressing some forms of cognitive impairment[3].
Not only are the games useful in promoting the
mental/cognitive development of children, but they are
also important tools in molding the physical
development of a child. Games such as Pokémon Go
have been shown to promote physical involvement
among children who have the problem of engaging
(Carras et al., 2017, p. 71)[3]. One of the characteristics
of video games is that they are appealing to look at and
engage in. with this appeal, they facilitate the social
development of children and avert risks such as stress
and depression. Children need to grow up in a loving
environment for them to function optimally in the
future (Carras et al., 2017, p. 72)[3]. Video games,
when played together, foster strong social relationships
that are important in predicting the health of both the
children and the older population.
C. The value of cooperation
The digital era has ensured that children shift their
focus from physical playgrounds to digital virtual ones.
Even with this paradigm shift, it is important to note
that children do not play alone. The video games are
played either cooperatively or competitively. Children
bond with one another and learn the value of
cooperation together (Lobel et al., 2017, p. 886)[4].
Video game designers have come up with cooperative
game modes where children can combine their
efforts/ideas to overcome some hurdles. With such
game modes, a child grows up knowing the value of
working together to achieve better results. A child
cannot develop their thinking abilities without going
through some learning experiences. Hughes (2014, p. 1)
points out that video games have learning experiences
and are stimulating[2]. They are unlike passive
pastimes such as watching television. According to
Hughes, video game developers have come up with
practical video games such as driving and pilot
simulations that expose children to the real
environment. Video games are laced with scientific,
historical, political, and general educational information
that is helpful to children in sharpening their wit and
intelligence. Children who participate in active video
gaming such as "Shooter" have been proven to have
more accurate attention allocation than those who rarely
participate in video games. This is because, as Granic,
Lobel, and Rutger argue, gamers acquire skills such as
focus, resilience, and mental visualisation skills (2013,
p. 68)[5]. Such skills are also taught in formal schools,
and video games seem to be slowly catching up with
education in promoting child development and thinking
skills.
III. DISADVANTAGES
A. Lower grades
With all the benefits that video games have, they
also have some negative roles to play in the
development of children. Parents who allow their
children to spend most of their leisure times playing
video games report that the high-frequency results in
poor performance in school (Karimpur and Hamburger,
2015, p. 1747)[6]. Several studies have shown that the
longer the time children spend playing games, the
poorer they become in school. Children tend to imitate
all the behaviours they pick from activities they involve
themselves in. As such, children who play games too
much become addicted and score lower grades.
Karimpur and Hamburger write that addiction to video
gaming results in a lot of time spent playing and may
skip doing their homework (2015, p. 1747)[6]. Like
everything other game, video gaming affects the
personal, social, and physical development of an
individual. If the child and their parents are unable to
strike the balance between leisure time and study time,
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it bears on their performance. Also, studies have
revealed that active video gamers pick issues with their
teachers, such as arguments and fighting with fellow
students. This lowers their attainment of information.
B. Violent behaviour
Another negative impact of video games on child
development and thinking is that they may promote
violent behaviour among children. According to Kuhn
et al. (2018, p. 1), video games occupy a very vital
position on the development of a child, and they result
in both internalising mental behaviour such as
depression and externalising behaviour such as
violence[7]. Not only do children become violent, but
they also portray waning Prosocial behaviour, increased
aggression, and antisocial tendencies. Simulated
violence in games such as shooter tend to make the
children immune to violence, and they can start acting
guided by the tendencies they see on the games. This
violence that is meted on their peers, siblings, and
parents creates social boundaries and may present the
child as a lone ranger who keeps their feelings of hurt
to themselves. Kuhn et al. state that most young bullies
have viewed violent content and their behaviour
become inclined to what they watch (2015, p. 2). The
video games are interactive, and ones that involve
violent acts such as shooting reward the children for
high levels of violence. The minds of children receive
these points/"rewards" for appreciation. This leads to a
learning behaviour that prods children to become more
self-centered and ready to release aggression upon the
slightest provocation.
C. Anti-social behaviour and social isolation
Thirdly, video games promote anti-social behaviour
and social isolation. Due to the nature of modern
society, people prefer to spend their lives within the
confines of their compounds, away from the
disturbance of the outside world. These behaviours
have been generously passed down to the children. Due
to the addictive nature of video games, children may
spend a lot of time on them and in this way neglect
social interactions, even with family members
(Kimmig, Andringa, and Derntl, 2018, p. 736)[8]. This
could particularly be the case when children participate
in competitive games. If a child does not understand
that competition in games is actually healthy, they may
isolate themselves and prefer to spend a lot of time on
the phone and computer screens. According to Kimmig
et al., ongoing violent video game users have reported
higher inter-personal deficit traits as opposed to those
who have recently quit consumption of video games
and those who have never used them (2018, p. 736)[8].
The society shapes an individual, aligning them with
the values it is made of. Due to the high amounts of
time spent playing video games, there is delayed moral
development in excessive consumers. This isolation has
led to immature moral reasoning and moral
disengagement. The result of this is that society has
produced individuals who would rather interact with
peers on social platforms rather than on a one-on-one
basis.
IV. CONCLUSION
The change in times from the analog to the post-
digital era has brought good tidings in the age of human
development. The innovations that man has come up
with have resulted in the betterment of life by making
things more efficient. The modern parent is engrossed
in busy money-making affairs, meaning that their
children get to see them only once in a while. The
compensation for this, surprisingly, is in the form of
gadgets that have made children more antisocial as they
interact with games and other forms of information.
Well, it has been proven that video games contribute to
the positive development of children through the
inculcation of values such as resilience and positive
competition. These games have also taught children the
value of teamwork and cooperation, which are
important skills in child development. With such
positive contributions, video games have also
contributed to violent behaviour, a decrease in prosocial
behaviour, and even low performance in school. It is at
this backdrop that video games are evaluated. Since
they have two sides, regulation should be at an all-time
high if parents are to see the best they have always
wanted in the development of their children.
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