Play video games for children: Parents need to consider the pros and cons!

When it comes to video games, most parents think of the negative side but forget that, if children play in control, these games can stimulate creativity and teach children a lot. problems in life.

Along with the development of technology, video games are also becoming more and more diversified, serving many different purposes. There are games that entertain and relax, while others are great for learning and brain development in young children .

Do you fully understand the benefits and harms of video games or are you just leaning to one side? See the following sharing of aFamilyToday Health, maybe you will have a new perspective on this issue.

5 benefits of video games for young children

Many parents prohibit children from playing video games because they are afraid that their children are addicted to games and then neglect their studies and leave real life. However, these consequences only happen if you let your child play too much. If you let your child play at a reasonable level, playing the game not only does not harm but also brings the following unexpected benefits:

1. Make friends and improve teamwork skills

Today, the majority of video games are played online with the participation of many players from many regions and countries around the world. This will encourage your child to make friends and build essential skills such as teamwork skills to think together how to solve game tasks.

2. Exercise your ability to make decisions

Most games are fast-paced and require players to make a decision in a short amount of time. This will help children practice judgment and analysis skills to give correct solutions in specific cases.

This skill will be extremely necessary if in the future, the child intends to pursue jobs in fields such as sports or medicine, assertive jobs with precise decisions made under very much of pressure.

3. Increase creativity

A study done on 500 children published by Michigan State University (USA) in 2011 demonstrated that playing games will significantly increase children's creativity .

This statistic also shows that it is the tasks, instructions ... in the game that stimulate children to self-explore and learn to find solutions, thereby promoting brain thinking ability.

4. Increase hand-eye coordination

There have been studies showing that video games, especially role-playing games with intense action, can help improve players' reflexes. The handling of situations that require precision as well as agility in the game will help the child's hand-eye coordination become more flexible.

This is one of the important skills to deal with situations that need extremely fast reflexes in real life. Not only that, it also creates a positive impact when playing outdoor sports.

5. Stimulate brain activity

During the game, a certain skill will be repeated over and over again, causing the brain to begin creating new neurotransmitters to optimize its function. Not only that, the high concentration when playing games also helps the brain train the ability to solve problems quickly, from which the child's cognitive ability is also much higher than that of other children.

5 harms of video games for young children

Although it can bring children many benefits, as mentioned above, if parents let children play "innocent" without proper control, children will be very vulnerable to:

1. Health problems

Spending a lot of time playing video games instead of going out and exercising will cause your child to have many health problems. Specifically, the child's cognitive ability will be affected, not only that the child is at risk of being obese , the weakened muscles and joints, hand and finger numbness caused by playing too long.

In addition, many studies also show that children can experience impaired vision if they play games too much.

2. Problems of learning

The infatuation with video games can cause children to lose interest in anything else, including studying at school. Children are not interested in doing homework, and can even drop out of school to play games. This situation, if occurring for a long time, can affect the child's learning performance, even the intelligence of the child.

3. Exposure to negative things

Some video games on the market today may contain too much gore, violence, revealing characters, vulgarity, racism, and more that your child wouldn't recognize without. parental guidance. If you do not control and let your child play for a long time, these scenes can be ingrained in the mind and cause the child to follow.

4. Away from society

Online games can connect many people but all play through a virtual world and most children play by themselves with a computer or smartphone. If children keep playing like this for a long time, real life communication skills will be severely affected.

Over time, children will become lonely, just enjoy being alone and interacting through the screen. Children will not have friends to share, as a result, their risk of suffering from psychological diseases such as depression , anxiety, and stress is also increasing.

5. Engaging in aggressive behavior

The violent content in video games and the immediate gratification they provide can cause children to become impatient and impatient. When things don't go according to their own plans, children begin to have negative behaviors and thoughts.

Signs that children are addicted to games

Young children are more likely to become addicted to video games if their parents let them play often without control. If you notice that your child has the following symptoms, you should seek immediate intervention:

1. Hide your emotions

When there is an unpleasant emotion or a bad situation, children often play games to hide these feelings. Children use the virtual world in the game to not have to deal with problems that arise in life.

2. Spend a lot of money on game play

Children can ask for money from you to upgrade or buy many different game-related items. If you don't give it, your baby can even steal your money to invest in games and game equipment.

3. Not interested in other jobs

Kids addicted to games often don't care about anything other than the game, they neglect and alienate themselves from family and friends. Learning can be delayed or neglected. Not even eating and personal hygiene are practiced.

4. Can't control game time

Children may promise you they will only play for 15 minutes or until a specific level has been completed, but they cannot fulfill their promise and stay caught up in the game and not realize it at all!

5. Get angry when the game results are not satisfactory

Children may show aggressive behavior when they lose or fail to complete a task in the game. Children who are excited and excited may also feel unreasonably angry and frustrated.

6. Play stealthily if you ban

If you scold or forbid your baby to play, he or she will try to find a way to play in secret without letting you discover. Your baby may start to lie or make excuses to play a game in just a few minutes.

7. Pay too much attention to video games

Even when they stop playing, children often appear distracted or often think about something related to the game or constantly talk about the game, not interested in other things.

How should parents let their kids play games to avoid having unexpected problems?

For young children, video games have many advantages and disadvantages. However, as a parent, you have complete control over these so that your child can get the most out of gaming:

Do not let your baby play video games when they are kindergarten .

Before downloading a game, review the reviews, age restrictions and content warnings that the producer provides.

Play with your child so you and your baby can discuss game problems.

Control your child's play time.

Track every online interaction your child makes with strangers and make sure he or she doesn't reveal personal information.

Do not leave electronic devices in a child's room, especially at night.

Let your baby play in areas that are easy to see.

If you also enjoy playing games, follow the same rules for yourself to set an example for your kids.

Only allow your child to play after they have finished homework and other chores.

Encourage your child to participate in more physical activities or outdoor sports.

Video games are not recommended for young children as the screen light can cause negative eye effects. In addition to letting your child relax with electric games, you can encourage them to read , participate in outdoor activities or sports that they enjoy.