Addiction to video gaming occurs among a small percentage of young people. Still, many feel that gaming should be regulated somewhat, to avoid addiction, and, as well, to avoid the fear of greater aggression and lower sensitivity to violence and killing on the part of younger students. For this reason, there are now “ratings” assigned to specific games, much like movies.
But is the impact of gaming all negative? Actually, it is not.
So, let’s unpack the negative and the positive impacts of video gaming on students and their performance in school.
Negative Impacts of Gaming
Excessive gaming consumes time – time that prevents students from other productive activities:
Gaming usually begins in earnest at the middle school level.
It then continues through high school and into college and adulthood. It’s much easier for college students to become addicted, because there are no parental controls, and five-six hours a day are spent in school. The independence and flexibility of college life lends itself to addiction. It is estimated that about 6.9% of college students (more men than women) are addicted.
Gaming can impact academic performance
If college students spend too much time gaming, they may skip classes and miss assignment deadlines. And even though they may be able to find free essay examples from online resources, these will have to be fully rewritten to avoid plagiarism charges. Poorly prepared, late, or missed assignments impact course grades.
Gaming can result in social isolation
At a time when students should be developing relationships and engaging in campus activities, serious gamers often sacrifice these things, become socially isolated, and miss important networking activities. Such networking can be important later on in life.
Gaming that continues into graduate school can have disastrous results
Graduate studies require serious and consistent focus. While moderate gaming can provide a respite, too much is a disaster, especially as students face theses and dissertations. And while it is common to get dissertation writing help, students still need to conduct original research and defend their final pieces before committees.
With all of these negatives, are there any positives? Interestingly, some research says so.
Positive Impacts of Gaming
There are both physical and mental advantages of moderate gaming for college students.
A Welcome Break from Tough Study
Stress and potential burnout are common issues with the demands of college study. Taking breaks to a game can relieve that stress and keep students more emotionally “even.”
Improved Eyesight
Some studies show that students with “lazy eye” show improvement in the use of that bad eye through gaming when improvements are not shown in other therapeutic activities.
Cognitive Skills
Problem-solving, critical thinking, strategic planning, and mental flexibility are all skills that are needed for good academic performance and in the adult world of work. Gaming fosters all of these, especially the more sophisticated games that college students play.
Communication Skills
This may seem contrary to popular opinion. But many games have large communities, and individuals interact with one another throughout their gaming times. While it is not a face-to-face communication, it still involves certain social and intellectual skills – introductions, formulating opinions and expressing them, negotiations, etc. These can carry over into adult life.
Final Thoughts
Aristotle was right. And most career professionals in psychology agree. Moderation in all things keeps people balanced. This goes for gaming too. If it can be kept to a moderate level, there are actually some positive effects from this activity.
Author Bio: Michael Carr is a researcher, author, and blogger, with a focus on anthropology and sociology in contemporary society. In his spare time, Carr plays guitar in a local band and dabbles in gourmet cooking.
No comments:
Post a Comment