Moderation is key in gaming | Valley life

By Anna E. Armstrong Last updated Nov 22, 2022

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Venturing unprepared into a discussion about video games is discouraged. Yet people who don’t play video games generally argue that the long hours spent focusing on digital toys, especially by children, are brain rotting. This is an uninformed view.

There are many misconceptions about video games. This label itself is obsolete. Video games have evolved in many different directions and ‘gamification’ is quickly becoming one of the most important aspects of society, from education and healthcare to banking and retail.

But what about those isolated children in their bedrooms or basements playing endless games?

Recent research, published in Open JAMA Network, suggests that the children will be fine. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study is a long-term study involving 11,880 children ages 9 to 10 and their families at 21 locations in the United States to participate in research that tracks their biological and behavioral development from adolescence through early adulthood.

The new findings from nearly 2,000 of these children indicate that those who reported playing video games for three hours or more a day performed better on tests of cognitive skills involving impulse control and working memory. compared to children who had never played video games.

But should these kids buy into Gifford-Jones’ longstanding advice to practice “everything in moderation”?

The ABCD study is ongoing and will help answer this question in the years to come as these children become young adults.

But the evidence to date suggests that video games have many benefits for young and old.

Students gain expertise in subjects like history, literature, religion, math, and science through games without knowing they are learning. They also learn skills in strategy, creative thinking, problem solving, hand-eye coordination and, of course, concentration.

The games also provide opportunities to learn about topics such as cooking, politics, agriculture and urban planning that people may not have been exposed to in school.

Many games can help people become more physically active, not less. From simple and fun games that get people off the couch to dance to virtual reality games that require physical prowess and stamina from participants, there are opportunities to use games to make fun. ‘exercise.

Studies have shown that people who play more games report better mental health. Critics overlook the social elements of the games people play, and it’s those game features that involve team play and social networking that participants see as driving better well-being.

Online games have played an important role in helping friends and families stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic, socializing together while keeping a distance.

But there are also concerns. It’s hard to find humanity in violent video games. The link between games that offer rewards for repeated goal achievement and the development of addictive behaviors is still hotly debated. And the gaming industry has struggled with the way it has dealt with gender and race.

Julius Caesar said, “Experience is the master of all things.”

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book Outliers, suggested that it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice to master a skill.

Children in the ABCD study who did better on cognitive tests played at least three hours of games a day. That’s just over 1,000 hours a year.

According to people trying to measure these things, it takes about 700 hours of learning to be an expert in yoga and about 42,240 hours to be an expert in neurosurgery.

Those 1,000 hours of video games don’t seem so bad in light of it all.

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