focusing on the positive

Hello all Rachel again, with a few more musings.

Today I was considering a comment Kevin made in class the other week about his younger brother. Kevin was joking about the potential of World of Warcraft to wreak his life and his advice to his parents that they should not purchase the game for his younger brother. Having experience the loss of a boyfriends to the World of Warcraft I can understand Kevin’s reservations. However I found it interesting when he commented that his brother had made connections around the world and was informing himself on important international issues such as the U.S health reforms through the medium of the game.

In my perspective the overwhelming amount of criticism of video games appears thoroughly unbalanced. Little attention has been given to the positive outcomes of playing video games. Firstly videogames appear to have positive ramifications for cognitive development. Researchers have shown that game players have elevated hand eye coordination. C. Shawn Green & Daphne Bavelier have conducted experiments into how video games players had heightened visual skills in comparison to non players. Experiments were also conducted on non-players who showed marked improvement from their pre-training abilities after using games over a relatively short space of time. Furthermore game players have better visuo-motor skills, such as their resistance to distraction, they are better about to focus in on a task until completion.The Daily Mail a British Newspaper has trumpeted the value of gaming in increasing brainpower in the elderly. Using strategy and problem solving keeps a brain active. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1094166/Playing-video-games-improves-brainpower-older-people.html)

Psychological well-being can also be enhanced. People can pay games together. Kevin made a point in class this week that games can be a father son/daughter activity and a way of spending time together whilst learning important skills of team work and strategy. The rise of MMO have ensured that people can make connections whether fleetingly or meaningful with other people nationally or internationally. It is almost like a modern day form of penpals.

In short, the negatives of videogames are well known but perhaps it is time to look to the positives.