In an age of technology where video games are becoming more and more prevalent, I often wonder what the effects of video games are on a child’s development. There is a mixture of information out there and I found a few articles that look at everything from physical development to their creativity and imagination to the importance of play for kids. These articles still didn’t answer my questions and I think that’s because there is good and bad that can come out of playing video games. The Wii Fit encourages kids to start exercising which is a good thing these days with childhood obesity on the rise, however what are they missing out on by not getting out and playing outside or actual sports? Are they missing out on quality social interactions with their peers?
I have also always wondered if the ability to restart a game when it doesn’t go the way you want it to carries over into a child’s ability to handle obstacles that go along with gross motor development? There isn’t a restart button in life but we can pick ourselves up and keep going. I often see kids who are learning a more complex task like jump rope or monkey bars, or even riding a tricycle/bike want to give up after they haven’t mastered it on the first few tries. It takes enrollment skills to keep them going, such as pointing out what they did master and encouraging them to go for the next step. I think this relates back to developing a child’s resilience.
I do know that video games can improve hand eye coordination but do we then encourage our kids to go out and utilize that hand eye coordination away from the video console? It can be as simple as playing catch, or frisbee, or hopscotch.
I think the conclusions I’ve taken away from looking at the information out there as well as observing a plethora of children is that video games can be a good tool although the question is how much are they being used and what other tools are you utilizing with your child to encourage their fitness and physical development? Does anyone else have thoughts on this topic?