Educational benefits of video-gaming

In many nurseries and primary even secondary schools video games are now an essential way of teaching students subjects and basic life skills. This is because the current younger generation are in the communication and technological era so the easiest and most efficient way for them to pick up things fast are through online power points and games and this is because children find them highly motivating as games are interactive this allows the child to be involved in the game which is better than normal talk and listen teaching. The video games can be played repeatedly therefore the information sticks in the childs memory and the child can be rewarded for being the best at the game with a high score table beating their friends. Video games have been shown to improve attitudes, skills, and behaviours towards teaching. In a study with college students, playing a golf video game improved students' actual control of force when putting, even though the video game gave no bodily feedback on actual putting movement or force. Research into video gaming also suggests that people can learn spatial and visual skills and awareness simply from gaming.
Research has illustrated negative effects of video games on a childs physical health, including obesity, video-induced seizures, and postural, muscular and skeletal disorders. The research also suggests that parents should be take two things to priority: the amount of time that children play videogames and the content of the games. Correlational research shows evidence that the amount of time spent playing video games has a negative effect on academic performance whereas playing violent games has a positive association with antisocial and aggressive behaviour. Content analysis shows a majority of 4th to 8th grade children prefer violent games. Studies into video gaming have shown these 5 major points that playing violent games leads to increased physiological arousal, aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings and aggressive behaviour. However the effects of pro social help have decreased. These studies include experimental studies, correlational studies and longitudinal studies. For example, in a study of over 400 3rd - 5th graders, those students who played more violent video games early in the school year changed to become more physically aggressive later in the school year, even after statistically controlling for sex, race, total screen time, prior aggression, and other variables. The research also seems to show that parents have a role to play. Children whose parents limited the amount of time they could play video game ratings and limited the content of the games, have children who do better in school and are less aggressive. Regarding limiting the amount, the American Academy of Pediatrics say children should not have more than fourteen hours per week in front of a screen based entertainment system such as a TV or video games console. On the other hand he average school child spends over 37 hours a week in front of a screen. The Academy also state that video games has a negative effect on children.