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Ian Smith

Professor Hellmers

English 1201

25 April 2020

How are Video Games Affecting Today’s Youth?

While researching how video games affect today’s youth, I found many prestigious

resources and websites. Everyone has very different opinions when it comes to this subject

and it is difficult to get through them all; although, there is a fairly even amount of

information that says whether video games are good or bad. Most people that I have talked to

about video games have told me that video games are bad for children and keeps them from

doing important things, like exercising. There is a surprising amount of studies that show that

there are many positive things that can become from video games. Video games are having a

positive influence on today's youth by, teaching them many important life skills, keeping kids

from drug use, and giving kids a way to express who they are without judgement.  

Video games are a great way for kids to learn how to communicate with people that

they have never met before. One of the most important things you can have in life is a strong

social network. All successful people typically have super strong social networking skills,

since it is required for people communicate and get business projects in motion. In 25+

Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games, Ronaldo Tumbokon states many different

examples of how video games are good and have positive effects on people who play video

games. “Problem solving and logic – When a child plays a game such as The Incredible

Machine, Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, he trains his brain to come up with creative ways to

solve puzzles and other problems in short bursts.” (6) This is a very big upside to video games.
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Hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills are very important to learn, and children can learn

and refine these skills even easier through video games. In video games like first person

shooters, multitasking is tested when playing this game. The character is usually running and

shooting at the same time. Multiple activities make the player use a lot of their senses like

judging the characters speed, where the weapon is pointing, and if the weapon is hitting the

enemy. If these games are played long enough, then it will improve players senses. First person

shooters are really a great brain exercise because they can be very fast paced, the player’s brain

must take in all of the actions of other players. The player must decide the best course of action,

and then send a rapid decision to the fingertips. This process requires great visual-spatial ability

to succeed. Sometimes players are moving at this fast pace throughout the entire game, which

can give the brain a real workout.

Research has proven that people can exceptionally learn spatial and visual attention

skills from video games.  “There have been even studies with adults showing that experience

with video games is related to better surgical skills. Also, a reason given by experts as to why

fighter pilots of today are more skillful is that this generation’s pilots are being weaned on video

games.” (7) In today’s world, in order for people to become commercial pilots or fighter

pilots, they must do so many hours in a simulator. A simulator is a video game that is targeted

to a more specific learning. Simulators are the reason pilots today are so good at flying. Video

games are getting so advanced that they can simulate real world skills.  Some of most well-

known simulators are flight simulators, which give the pilot an experience that is very close to

flying an actual plane. All of the pilot’s instruments and gauges that he needs to fly an actual

plane are displayed and there is even a virtual world that they can place the aircraft in to make it
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as realistic as possible for the purpose of learning. The programmers can put pilots in any

circumstance or situation.

In certain video games, the player is taught how to plan things and manage the

resources that they have within the game. “The player learns to manage resources that are

limited, and decide the best use of resources, the same way as in real life.  This skill is homed in

strategy games such as SimCity, Age of Empires, and Railroad Tycoon. Notably, The American

Planning Association, the trade association of urban planners and Maxis, the game creator, have

claimed that SimCity has inspired a lot of its players to take a career in urban planning and

architecture.” (8) Video games also have the power to inspire children and young adults. Like

Tumbokon said, the games SimCity has inspired many to get into urban planning and make a

good living. “According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led by Daphne Bavelier, a

cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events such as those found in battle or action

games could be a training tool for real-world situations.” (9) This study shows how these games

can get the brain ready to make correct and fast decisions in a real-world situation. The study

shows that games can be used for training soldiers or surgeons. “According to Bavelier, Action

game players make more correct decisions per unit time. If you are a surgeon or you are in the

middle of a battlefield, that can make all the difference.” (10) Games like these can potentially

save someone’s life one day and that should not be overlooked when deciding if video games are

bad for our youth.

Today, it is very important for gamers to increase speed while keeping their accuracy.

This challenge is also important in the real world, like in the army, when they need to get

something done quickly and no mistakes are made during the process. “Strategy and

anticipation – Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today’s Popular
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Culture is Actually Making Us Smarter, calls this “telescoping.” The gamer must deal with

immediate problems while keeping his long-term goals on his horizon.” (12) This concept is

what most of the video game world is about. If a problem arises, the player must strategize in

order to get around it or work their way through it. Whether the player chooses to work with

others or figure it out on their own, it teaches the player how to stay ahead of the problems

and keep situational awareness. Sudden changes in situations make the player adapt and become

even more aware of the situation.

Games with storylines is a great way for a challenged reader to improve their reading

level. “Developing reading and math skills – The young gamer reads to get instructions, follow

storylines of games, and get information from the game texts.  Also, using math skills is

important to win in many games that involves quantitative analysis like managing resources.”

(14) A game like Farming Simulator is math oriented because the player must manage all their

money and decide what to buy to keep the farm alive and making a profit. In some games,

pattern recognition and perseverance are greatly integrated. For example, if players cannot

succeed on the first level of a game, they will keep trying until they reach the next level.

Eventually, the player can figure out the patterns that can be integrated into a game and then

succeed by completing it.

Some have said that working through a problem in a video game is similar to solving a

problem in science class. “Inductive reasoning and hypothesis testing – James Paul Gee,

professor of education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says that playing a video game is

similar to working through a science problem. Like a student in a laboratory, the gamer must

come up with a hypothesis.” (18) Games are all about getting to the end goal and players have to

change a lot in order to get there. There are many examples of a player forming a hypothesis to
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defeat an enemy or a game. For example, in order for a player to defeat an extremely challenging

enemy, the player must try out different weapons and tactics to defeat that enemy.

Mapping and memory are two very key abilities to have when playing a video game.

“Memory – Playing first person shooter games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield series

enables the player to effectively judge what information should be stored in his working memory

and what can be discarded considering the task at hand, according to a study published in the

Psychological Research.” (20) Players improve their memory skills by memorizing the map to a

game in their head. If a player knows the map completely, then it is a huge advantage when

playing someone because they know all of the angles. This is much like trying to figure out a

problem is real life because before you fix or make an accusation of a problem, you must look at

every angle. An example of this is when a detective is trying to figure out a murder case. The

detective must make sure that he has all of the angles and information before making an

accusation. Another example of the mind being improved by video games is concentration.

Concentration is a very confusing thing because in most cases, people can focus on something

much more if they enjoy what they are doing. People who play video games usually enjoy them

so they can play for hours on end without needing a break, while if it is something they do not

enjoy, then it will be much harder for them to concentrate.

Studies have shown that people who play video games more regularly, are significantly

better at getting visual information which makes them better visual learners. This makes kids

able to concentrate and focus for extended periods of time and in more distracting environments.

Winning anything in a game or real life, requires some risks to be taken and that person must

have the courage to do those risks. Playing a game safely is not fun and usually games will only

reward players that have taken risks to get to the top.

Teamwork is one of the most important things that a player can have with their

teammates. When a team cooperates, they can accomplish so much in a short amount of time.

Certain games encourage players to use these skills in order to win. These games show kids that

working together is a lot easier then working alone to achieve a goal. Through this teamwork, the

players have the chance to make so many social connections. Social connections are very

important in life and can make life much easier. It is just like working as a team in a game by

working towards a goal, but it makes it much easier to succeed in life. Possibly one of the best

life skills that can come out of video games is the fact that a foreigner can learn English. It is a

fun way to learn English, rather than sitting in a class and learning the traditional way.

In an interview with Steven Smith, he brought up many key points to video games that a

lot of other databases have forgot to mention. Steven mentioned the jobs that video game

companies can produce. Since these games are so popular, it takes thousands of people in order

to keep them updated and ready for others to play whenever they would like. Also, if kids really

like video games and want to pursue their career around games, they could go into digital

engineering. As we are making more advancements in technology, digital engineering has

become more popular. It has become a reliable profession to go into. Video games can also help

with what a person wants to do with the rest of their lives by letting them try out their profession.

For example, there are video games out there for tons of professions like engineering, design,

medical fields, and there are also the games that are just for fun. People can use any of these

games to explore what it would be like in real life as long as the game does a good job at

representing it.
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The infographic above is provided by Darell Richard and provides great examples as to

why video games are a good thing. For example, it states that sixty-three percent of parents think

that games are a positive thing for their kids, and it is actually all of the media that is giving

video games a bad image. Some people believe everything that they see on the news and on the

internet and take other people’s views without doing research of their own. A little over twenty-

five percent of gaming consoles are in homes all across America. Over sixty percent of parents

play video game with their kids and they socialize and can form a very strong bond with their

children by having something in common. In the picture it talks about people having a very

strong relationship with people through video games than in the real world and this can happen

because people are more inclined to be whoever they want to be in a game. People can feel this

way because in a virtual world, anyone can be anything. Another great thing that this infographic

does is show how people get rewarded in video games and how there is a lot of feedback in some

games. In many games, the player can level up, gain health, or gain experience and that shows

how the player is making progress. These can even give players rewards and the feeling of

completing a task or getting to the next level is what keeps players wanting to play.

Video games are a great alternative for young people that have a drug problem. If

someone is addicted to drugs, then they usually have to find something to replace it with in order

to quit. Video games are a great distraction from the outside world and keeps young people

distracted so they do not turn to drug use. In What is the real impact of violent video games, Art

Bamford mentions the ongoing research of how video games can harm the brain. Bamford

makes two great points of how violent video games can spark aggression according to the

difficulty of the game and the content of it can be very violent. If a video games is too hard for a

child, they can get much more annoyed and angrier than a mature adult because their brain is
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much more developed. While both of these statements are very true, it does not compare to the

effects on the brain if someone were using drugs. No matter the age, someone using can have a

significant effect on their brain and that is why video games are a much better alternative.

In Game Theory: The Effects of Video Games on the Brain Amy Paturel says, that a study

done in 1988 showed, when playing video games, a drug made by the body is produced. This

drug is dopamine and it is your brain’s feel good drug. She goes on to say that the amount of

dopamine released while playing is similar to an injection of amphetamine or methylphenidate.

Meanwhile, the drug of dopamine is like a healthy replacement to an unhealthy physical drug

that some may be addicted to.

Because of video games, kids now have a great way to express themselves without

getting made fun of or bullied physically. Video games may involve some smack talk, but in the

end, the others in the video games have no idea who you are. It is a great way to learn how to

take other’s comments and disregard them like nothing even happened. Most people that play

video games and talk a lot of smack or bully others are either overconfident or taking out their

anger on someone they do not even know. Usually they have something going on in their lives

and making others feel bad makes them happier because they want everyone to experience the

pain that they are going through. It is quite sad and that is how video games help people. They

show that in real life and in a virtual world, if someone is being mean for no reason then just

ignore them. Continue on and make sure nothing ruins your day because having happy days are

the most enjoyable.

Cyber bullying can be a serious issue that cannot be ignored in this new era of

technology. This topic is fairly new because of the new ways people can talk to each other now.

Older people and politicians do not really understand the consequences because they did not
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grow up with technology like today’s youth have. This is one of the reasons why elder people do

not approve of video games and technology because they are not used to it. Also, video games

are not the only place cyber bullying takes place. Most bullying is done through other

applications on the internet like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. Cyber bullying in video games

is like facing an opponent in a sport and that is mostly just being competitive, not bullying.

In conclusion, video games are not going away nor are they a totally bad thing to our

youth. There is a very small chance that a group of people could get video games shamed upon

because of the benefits that they can provide and there are millions of people in this world that

play them. Video games are so popular that they are becoming a sport that people can win big

money in. In 6 Surprising Benefits in Video Games for Kids the understood team says that a very

young kid won the very first world cup that Fortnite held and got three million dollars. There is a

pretty small chance that someone can become a professional gamer, but there is a chance and it is

growing. Throughout the research that I studied; all of my sources said a lot of the same things.

They all mentioned the good and bad parts about video games and how they can affect young

people. In my opinion, the only way video games can affect a young person is if they let it.

Playing a video game and real life is two very different things and I am speaking from

experience. It is not the same. People use video games as an escape from the real world, but they

cannot stay in a fake world forever. In the end, video games have mostly positive effects and are

mostly good and quite enjoyable for young people.

Works Cited

Bamford, Art. “What is the real impact of violent video games?” Fuller Youth Institute, 17

October 2018, https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/blog/the-real-impact-of-violent-video-

games. Accessed 7 April 2020.

Darell, Richard. “Why Gaming is a Positive Element in Life.” Bit Rebels, November 2019,

https://bitrebels.com/entertainment/gaming-positive-element-life-infographic/. Accessed

7 April 2020.

Paturel, Amy. “Game Theory: The Effects of Video Games on the Brain.” Brain & Life,

June/July 2014, https://www.brainandlife.org/articles/how-do-video-games-affect-the-

developing-brains-of-children/. Accessed 7 April 2020.

Smith, Steven. Personal interview. Accessed 7 April 2020.

The Understood Team. “6 Surprising Benefits in Video Games for Kids.” Understood For all

Inc, 2014, https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/learning-at-home/games-

skillbuilders/4-surprising-benefits-of-video-games. Accessed 7 April 2020.

Tumbokon, Ronaldo. “25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games.” Raise Smart Kid, 28

December 2019, https://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-

and-bad-effects-of-video-games. Accessed 7 April 2020.