There’s been an ongoing debate on the impact that video games have on children. People question whether or not video games have an impact on child behavior, academic performance, social development, etc. These question have become more frequently asked as video games have continued to rise in popularity over the years. I myself am a fan of video games and play a decent amount.
A study done in Britain studied around 11,000 children as young as 5 years old. The study used surveys of mothers in a massive millennial survey to track behavior over time. They were looking to draw a connection between the time children spent playing video games and watching TV and behavioral problems. The study found that video games had no effect on behavioral and emotional issues. The study did find however, that watching 3 or more hours of television at age 5 did lead to a small increase in behavioral problems at ages 5-7. Contrary to this study, a study done by Dr. Craig A. Anderson of Iowa State University showed that there was a connection between violent behavior in children and violence in video games. The study observed a large number of kids ranging from 9-15 in the U.S. and Japan. It was found that the kids who played violent video games became more aggressive in the months after.
As someone who enjoys playing video games in my free time, the debate is interesting and both sides have backing data. I think that video games can have an effect on child behavior and development but in moderation i believe that they are harmless.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/11/03/healthmag.violent.video.kids/index.html?_s=PM:HEALTH
I find it interesting how there is data to support both claims in your article. I myself have played my fair share of video games in my life and I think I can say that I have never become more violent because of it. What I do think is important is what age parents let their kids play certain games. Video games are classified into three categories: E (for everyone), T (For teens and up), and M (for users over 18 years old). I believe that parents should not let their seven year old kid be playing an M game because, it is classified in that category for a reason and maybe the game will negatively affect him/her. There is always the debate about whether shooting video games makes kids want to use guns in real life. I personally have never experienced that with myself or any of my friends but, it is definitely in the realm of possibility.