(1) emotional, (2) physical, (3) social, (4) academic, and (5) learning in general. .... Arnseth cites that âgames such as SimCity enableâ¦experimentation and ...
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Video Games: Effects on Child Development Brandon T. McDaniel
Phi Kappa Phi Annual Student Paper Competition 2008
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Video Games: Effects on Child Development The electronic age is creating what could be called a new race of individuals, but what sort of an effect will such an age have on them? In fact, many are beginning to call them Generation M, M standing for media, because the world that they are growing up in is completely different from the world their parents knew and understood (Roberts). They spend vast amounts of time on computers, cell phones, television, and games—much of which is ever developing anew and at alarming speeds. In fact, the debate continues to rage on in the media and in the scholarly world over the effects of video games on our younger generation—that video games affect our children’s development is clear, but is this effect positive or negative? Further, some may wonder if video games are important enough to examine in great detail, but research is finding that games are consuming a vast amount of our children’s time, are contributing to a generation gap between parents and children, and are thus undoubtedly affecting the development of our children. For instance, Roberts and his associates found that in 2005 “just over half (52%) of 8- to 18-year-olds play some kind of video game on an average day” (35), and many of them have these games in their own bedrooms (45). Another author goes as far as to call video games “this generation’s TV” (Snyder 26). On the whole, it would appear that that a moderate amount of game play is not harmful to children’s development. However, an excessive amount may impede exercise or social activities, and violent or sexually explicit video games may lead children to more high risk behaviors. Before we progress any further, we must understand that there are limitations to the research on video games. At the present, most of the research has focused on adolescent youth, but there have been some studies on young children. For example, Roberts, in working with the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2005, looked at our nation’s youth—ranging from age eight to 18—
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and Morford went as far as to examine children beginning at age four. Additionally, in inspecting the prior research, many scholars have determined that the “literature on young children…does not portray a clear argument in favor or against…video game use [and its specific effects on] children” (Bacigalupa 26). However, Anderson and his associates state that this limitation refers more to the debate on violent video games and their effects on aggressive tendencies in children than to other aspects of video game research (26), and Bacigalupa admits that specific effects are difficult to determine because of individual differences in children (26-27). Moreover, one must remember that although more girls play games today than in the past, boys continue to dominate the gaming market (Fromme para. 6). Thus, much of the research has been limited to boys. In the development of a child, there are a few key components it is necessary to examine: (1) emotional, (2) physical, (3) social, (4) academic, and (5) learning in general. In observing children’s emotional development, Roberts cites that “low-contented kids report significantly more exposure…to video games,” but is quick to clarify that low contentedness does not mean that they are necessarily unhappy or alienated (52). Additionally, Mahood and associates found a strong effect on adult’s emotional states when using sexually explicit video games—especially that men are more likely “to view women as sex objects” (1). It can then be inferred that such games would also affect our children’s developing minds. One example of such an effect is contained in research completed by Harrison and associates in 2007, which examined the gaming magazine culture that accompanies children’s gaming habits. They found that boys’ emotional drive for muscularity increased significantly the more they were exposed to video game magazines (274), showing that it is possible for games to affect the beliefs and self-esteem of our children—sometimes, more than we think. On the other hand, a few studies have found that
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video games can assist in the release of certain emotions and in coping with anger (Olson 63) or certain disorders, such as ADHD (Erwin 108). It would appear that some children today get less exercise and have different play habits than children of the past. Again, video games can be claimed as the culprit, but only for heavy gamers—those who play games more than usual. On average, it has been seen that children spend at least an hour playing video games per day, but heavy users spend at least an hour more daily (Roberts 56-57). Video games can severely limit the amount of time spent on other beneficial activities, such as exercise, if not controlled (Bacigalupa 30). This could create potential health issues in the future for these children. However, Fromme’s recent research is comforting. It shows that most children choose not to allow video games to “replace other leisure activities like sports or reading” (para. 26). Recently, to counter the view of games as exercise impeding agents, some are now being designed in order to actually facilitate fitness—such as the Wii Fit by Nintendo. Moreover, it has been shown that heavy gamers tend to seek sensation in their play, meaning they take more risks (Roberts 111), which has the potential of being dangerous to their physical wellbeing. However, with this sensation seeking comes a “lack of imagination” during play, says Snyder in her study published in 2000 (26). This lack may come from the fact that much of the action is ‘fed’ to the gamer, creating an environment where very little interaction occurs between children (Bacigalupa 27). In other words, their imagination is not needed, because the game system can do it for them. Bacigalupa gives us a brief explanation of what kinds of attributes must be acquired by children in their social development: “social skills,…dispositions to be friendly, helpful, and cooperative, and feelings, such as competence, confidence, belonging, and security” (25). Many
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times, video games are the “focus of social activities” for boys (Olson 65). Thus, the question becomes: how do video games affect this development? As stated in the paragraph above, video games produce an atmosphere of little interaction and speech between playmates (Bacigalupa 27). She also found that the children playing games “rarely looked at one another” and were “easily distracted” from social interactions (27). All of these items impede the development of social skills. However, she also noticed that games can become a social agent for boys in that they converse with each other about them afterward (26). Additionally, Olson states that games help boys develop cooperation skills and create healthy competition (63). Others argue that there is a different type of socialization which occurs. Morford states that “in game playing, one can socialize with other friends who are playing at the same time, with an online community of people one has never met in real life, or in discussions around specific games” (1). Morford is quick to illustrate though that this may create a “dedication to online life [causing] real life to feel like an intrusion” (1). In fact, parents become alienated as the generation gap widens and as children look only to their peers for gaming interactions, since parents are not particularly interested in the gaming culture (Fromme para. 29-30). Anderson and his associates in their review of the literature found studies supporting and opposing the connection between aggression and violent video games (772). However, they state that there appears to be a moderate correlation between the two for both males and females overall (782), increasing aggressive thoughts and feelings especially for those with violent tendencies (787). They also cite other studies that have shown this same effect. Anderson goes on to state that although adolescents can distinguish fantasy from the real world, young children may not have this capability. Thus, Erwin asserts that the research shows an increase in “high risk behavior (e.g., drug and tobacco use, early sexual activity, [and violence])” (107). There are
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extreme examples of this that sometimes occur. For instance, Morford cites an illustration: “a teenager shot three police officers and stole a patrol car to get away, later citing Grand Theft Auto [a video game] as his inspiration” (1). Yet, most researchers agree that there is not a significant amount of evidence for actual aggressive behavior—the crime rate among juveniles has “plummeted” even as the violent video game use has increased, states Ferguson (261) and Kutner affirms this same fact in his book Grand Theft Childhood (18). This may be due to the fact that the increase in aggressive feelings and behavior diminishes as time passes from the moment of game play (Polman 263). Also, we need to remember that not all video games are violent, and Morford states that “specifically brutal game plots appeal to only a small portion of game players” (1). The content of sexually explicit games can also affect children’s social development. As stated earlier in the paper, Mahood has shown that men who are exposed to these types of games view and treat women differently (1). There is an “increased tendency to engage in sexual harassment [and]…to view women as sex objects” (1). Thus, it can again be inferred that sexually explicit games would affect children’s social interactions as well. Shifting to an academic focus, Roberts and his associates noticed that “kids reporting the lowest grades also tend to report the highest levels of media exposure” (51). More specifically, they found that “grades are negatively related to video game exposure. Kids who earn mostly Cs and Ds or below spend about 20 minutes more daily playing video games than A or B or B and C students” (51). We must note, however, that correlations do not signify causation. Hence, Anderson states that “there is no definitive answer to the question of whether video games disrupt academic performance” (788). Nevertheless, it would appear that video game use is capable of negatively affecting children’s academic performance.
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In relation to children’s learning, there are aspects of games that appeal to children and that may encourage learning—although we must remember that some games tend to distract children rather than encourage learning (Bacigalupa 27), as was explained earlier in the essay. Larson mentions that “interactive media [such as video games] have more of an effect than passive media” (150). In other words, “interactive learning is more effective” (150) in teaching children. Yet, to what does learning refer? Bacigalupa cites Katz’s article in 1999 which points out that healthy developmental activities should “promote children’s learning in four areas: skills, knowledge, dispositions, and feelings” (25). We have already discussed some of the dispositions and feelings that may arise from video game use, such as violence, aggression, or lower contentedness. Therefore, we now turn to skills and knowledge. Bacigalupa refers to a study done by Natasi and Clements in 1993 in which they “argue that elementary-age children learn perspective-taking and conflict resolution skills” from video games (26). Olson also cites that “video game play may facilitate exploration of rules and consequences” due to providing “situations not typically experienced in the real world” (58). For some fields, video games or video game-like media are very successful ways of training individuals, such as military training, health care games, flight simulations, etc. (Arnseth para. 2). At least to a smaller degree, this same type of training can be effective for children as well, but it would clearly need to be applied to a younger generation. James Gee recently published his book, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy, which speaks of 36 learning principles that can be found in video games—even violent ones. These include principles such as (1) active, critical learning—where Gee explains that video games require children to actively learn as they play—(2) committed
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learning—which refers to the way in which gamers become committed to their virtual character and learn how to engage a new environment as that character—and (3) probing—where children learn to explore and interact with the environment of the game, make hypotheses about it, and then evaluate these hypotheses through further interaction and thought. With 36 learning principles, it would appear that there is much that children can learn from video games. In his article, Arnseth agrees with Gee’s ideas, stating that it is “the interactive and multimodal features” of games that motivate children to use them to learn (para. 3). He then cites the example of SimCity, a game in which the user creates and manages his or her own city. Arnseth cites that “games such as SimCity enable…experimentation and facilitate the development of skills in mathematics, urban planning, economics, engineering, environmental planning and so forth” (para. 26). Thus, we observe that there are examples of games teaching skills and knowledge to users. Further explaining why games are more effective motivators for learning than traditional schooling, Gee gives an illustration where a gamer attempts to learn a game by only reading the manual. To any gamer, this is clearly ineffective and completely misses the point of the game. He cites that students experience something similar when they first encounter textbooks in school. Many times, schools utilize textbooks—the game manual—as the authority on a subject and forget to provide concrete, practical, and meaningful activities to which this textbook can apply—the game. To Gee, this is an enormous flaw in our educational system, and we need to learn from the way games facilitate learning in children (96-98). It would appear that games facilitate learning, because knowledge and skills are always grounded in application to the greater whole. In other words, games allow the users to see the ‘big picture,’ the reason for learning particular skills, whereas schools may fail to make this connection clear.
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Like most things in life, there are two sides to the video game debate. Researchers have found many negative effects, especially from violent or sexually explicit games, whereas positive effects have also been seen—mostly in the more effective learning that occurs in interactive games. In summary, it would appear that a moderate amount of game play is not harmful to children’s development. Game play may actually produce critical thinking, healthy exploration, and skills development in children. However, an excessive amount may impede exercise or social activities, and violent or sexually explicit video games may lead children to more at-risk behaviors.
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Works Cited Anderson, Craig A. and Karen E. Dill. (2000). “Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78.4 (2000): 772-790. Arnseth, Hans Christian. "Learning to Play or Playing to Learn - A Critical Account of the Models of Communication Informing Educational Research on Computer Gameplay." The International Journal of Computer Game Research (Dec. 2006). Game Studies. Retrieved 2 Dec. 2008 . Bacigalupa, Chiara. “The Use of Video Games by Kindergartners in a Family Child Care Setting.” Early Childhood Education Journal 33.1 (Aug. 2005): 25-30. Erwin, Elizabeth J., and Naomi Morton. "Exposure to Media Violence and Young Children with and without Disabilities: Powerful Opportunities for Family-professional Partnerships." Early Childhood Education Journal 36.2 (Oct. 2008): 105-112. Ferguson, Christopher J. "Closing the Door on the Media Violence Hypothesis?." PsycCRITIQUES 53.35 (2008). Fromme, Johannes. "Computer Games as a Part of Children’s Culture." The International Journal of Computer Game Research (May 2003). Game Studies. Retrieved 2 Dec. 2008 . Gee, James Paul. What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003. Harrison, Kristen, and Bradley J. Bond. "Gaming Magazines and the Drive for Muscularity in Preadolescent Boys: A Longitudinal Examination." Body Image 4.3 (Sep. 2007): 269277.
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Kutner, Lawrence, and Cheryl Olson. Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth about Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008. Larson, Reed. “Children and Adolescents in a Changing Media World.” Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 66.1 (Feb. 2001): 148-154. Mahood, Chad, Daniel Linz, and Mike Yao. "Sexual Priming, Gender Stereotyping, and Likelihood to Sexually Harass: Examining the Effects of Playing a Sexually Explicit Video Game." Conference Papers -- International Communication Association (2006): 1. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Olson, Cheryl K., Lawrence A. Kutner, and Dorothy E. Warner. "The Role of Violent Video Game Content in Adolescent Development: Boys' Perspectives." Journal of Adolescent Research 23.1 (Jan. 2008): 55-75. Polman, Hanneke, Bram Orobio de Castro, and Marcel A.G. van Aken. "Experimental Study of the Differential Effects of Playing Versus Watching Violent Video Games on Children's Aggressive Behavior." Aggressive Behavior 34.3 (May 2008): 256-264. Roberts, Foeher, and Rideout. “Generation M: Media In The Lives of 8-18 Year Olds.” Kaiser Family Foundation (Mar. 2005): 110-111. Retrieved 2 Dec. 2008 . Snyder, Beth. "FCB Puts Looking Glass on Kids' Digital World." Advertising Age 71.6 (07 Feb. 2000): 26. Communication & Mass Media Complete.
