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Ashlee Keith Amber Lemiere English 101 3/13/14 Video games are good not all bad There are a lot of things being argued over today in the US. Not very many people actually look deep into these subjects that they argue about. Many adults believe video games are bad influences on adolescents and others who play them. If one person were to look into the studies done on video games, they would find that there are more positive than negative effects towards adolescents and others in our society that play video games. In all senses of the studies done to look how video games affect the brains of people who play video games, there are findings that prove there are more positive than negative effects. Many studies have been done to look at how these effects on the brain affect peoples interactions and choices in the real world. These studies actually look into in depth on the effects; the things that affect the brain are thoroughly studied in each case. One study done by Chacha Tumbokon, shows the many positive effects of video games on adolescents. According to Chacha, many of the effects included, problem solving and logic enhances, hand-eye coordination increases, planning and resource management increases, and etc. The list goes on and on about the many positive effects on the brain of adolescents. When looking at the negatives listed there arent a lot listed. As reported by Chacha, some of the negative effects include social isolation, more violent behaviors, and lessened activity in school activities and work. These negative effects can always be avoided; this certain study allows the reader to know just how to avoid them. If parents look carefully before allowing their child to play the

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game, they can look for signs that suggest violence in the game. So in other words, all the negative effects can be avoided and dont have a huge effect on people who play video games. Many of the effects from video games help stimulate different parts of the brain to help adolescents to become more knowledgeable and have a brighter future. Being a leader today is the most looked upon as being a good quality, most of the positive effects from video games help stimulate kids to become a better leader. Video games intensify the ability to solve problems in a logistic way and plan sufficiently. These qualities are looked for in a good and well-balanced leader. In addition, being a leader is a good way to advance quickly in life and make a good living so you can provide for your future family. So these qualities can highly affect the future of adolescents today. To excel in school for children in elementary and further, is a big and exciting accomplishment to their parents and to themselves. Video games help children develop higher reading and math skills, stated by Chacha. Chacha states that young gamers force themselves to read to get instructions, follow storylines of games, and get information from the game texts. Also, using math skills is important to win many games that involves quantitative analysis like managing resources. In other words, Chacha is explaining that when a young gamer is playing video games, they are forced to read and use their math skills to excel and win their game. Having a good memory also helps adolescents with everyday life, especially their school work. Adolescents that play video games increase their memory capacity. Chacha explains that playing games such as fist person shooters, enable adolescents to judge what information should be stored in their working memory and what can be discarded considering the task at hand Chacha is stating that children who play video games can use memory skills while playing and also can apply these skills in their everyday lives. Even with these skills that adolescents obtain and can use, they need self-confidence and high self-esteem to use them in the real world. Video

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games also help gain self-confidence and self-esteem as they excel and master their games. So their new obtained skills can be used in real life situations and help adolescents to excel in school and the rest of their life. It is well known that video games were also known for their influence on violence in adolescents. Well this is true but if parents were to inspect their childrens games for violence then this can be avoided completely. Violence can appear in more mature types of video games, having this in mind you can look for games that are rated for your childs age and appropriately allow your child to have fun but in a smart and safe way. In addition, social isolation is another effect from video games; this can also be avoided. Only allowing your child to play on a time limit allows them to fulfill their video gaming cravings and also allow them to play with their friends in the real world. Looking further into video games, these games arent always so antisocial. Xboxes and Playstations, and even PC games, have ways to play with friends while they too are playing on video games. Your child can play video games and chat with friends, which is the opposite of being anti-social. So all in all, negative effects from video games can be avoided and arent a huge threat to adolescents. Video games are not all bad, in most studies they prove to be quite the opposite and are a good influence. Many parents, or adults, believe video games are bad news and arent good for their children and the rest of society. However, parents need and also want to know more about media and other goods that can affect their children; these parents want to help keep their children safe and help stabilize their development. A great collection of subjects are argued today without any well laid out facts and arent always well argued.

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Works Cited
Demaria, Rusel. Reset: Changing the Way We Look at Video Games. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2007. Hirumi, Atsusi. Playing Games in School: Video Games and Simulations for Primary and Secondary Education. Eugene, Or: International Society for Technology in Education, 2010. Hotz, Robert Lee. "When Gaming Is Good for You." The Wall Street Journal (2012). Website. Hutchison, David. Playing to Learn: Video Games in the Classroom. Westport, Conn: Teacher Ideas Press, 2007. Tumbokon, Chacha. Articles: The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games. 29 November 2011. Article. 4 March 2014.