Why Video Games Are Not Bad for Children

Let’s discuss why video games are harmful to children or not.

Examples

• Gunter’s study reveals that, despite several decades of research, scholars found no definite link between video game violence and violence in real life.
• Mass shooter Adam Lanza was suspected of committing his crime due to the bad influence of video games, but the game he played most frequently was the peaceful “Dance Dance Revolution.”
• A study by Franceschini et al. shows that action video games may improve the reading abilities of children with dyslexia.

Illustration

“…the research evidence confirming the harmful effects of playing such games with violent themes had thus far proven elusive.”

Statistics

• High video game usage is associated with 1.75 times the odds of high intellectual functioning in children.
• High video game usage is associated with 1.88 times the odds of high overall school competence in children.
• Playing action video games reduces the average word reading time of dyslexic children from 88 to 74 seconds.

Testimony

Society for Media Psychology and Technology of the American Psychological Association:

“Research evidence available to date indicates that violent video games have minimal impact on violent activity in society.”

Summary Statement

Despite being portrayed as a negative influence on children, playing video games does not demonstrate any clear impact on violence or antisocial behavior but correlates with many positive indicators of child development, from higher intellectual functioning and academic performance to better reading skills.