Dilemmas in Playing Video Games

We, as parents, had some interesting discussions with our relatives and daycare teachers because we allowed our four- year old playing Indiana Jones (Wii) video game. Similar to the movies, Indiana Jones and his pals need to run around to seek for treasures and explore all the mysteries to solve the puzzles. In many occasions, they would need to defeat enemies, avoid dangers and check every possible clue. The recommended age for the game is ten and older.

To us, properly playing video game actually poses a good exercise for young kids to develop problem-solving ability, practice the hand-eye coordination and refine their motor skills. At the same, the little ones can have some fun. One of my twins (Tom) loves video game and his brother who does not like playing the game, but he enjoys watching the story and actions. We restrict the play time is 45 minutes at most and he can play the game only when he does well in the daycare and he remembers the spelling of today's new word. To Tom, playing video game is a reward for his good behaviors.

The counter arguments from daycare teachers on video games are:

• The Indiana Jones Video game is too violent for four years old; it displays too many explosives and battles.
  
• He has video games in his mind and does not want to play other things at school.
  

The counter arguments from my relatives on the video games are:

• Video games are bad for their eyes.


• They may become addicted to video games.


• There are other activities better than video games.
  
  
  

I a kind of agree all of above, but I do see the improvement of Tom on verbal expression, attention span, team building and fine motor skills after he started playing the video game. The boy is only paying attention to the things he likes and ignores most of thing which he is not interested in. He wants to be alone at school if the circle time is not interesting to him and he does not want to be involved. I had a few of conversations with teachers on his stubbornness. My husband does not think that the Indiana Jones video game is any more violent than some of the superhero cartoons shown on TV. He also claimed that he played video games as well when he was a child and there were no bad effects. I need to support his points, because my husband is so clam and patient. He is nerdy and he does play "Halo". Tom did much better at school after we rewarded him to play video games; he is good at school because it is only way he can play the game. It may be O.K. if we monitor his progress and control the playing times. Also we provide them plenty of activities after school and on weekends, such as swimming classes, sport lessons, play dates with little friends, museum visits (including, Aquarium, Museum of Science, and Children's museum). Maybe too many activities sometime, my children want to be at home only to get some rest.

Can video games improve learning, motor skills? A study led by assistant professor of psychology and computer science, Paul Schrater, in University of Minnesota in 2007 said " Yes". The excitement and fun that we experience in action video games can engage learning in a way that other things do not. It could take thousand times to try if people are learning in boring ways, in contrast, the process speeds up if it is fun. On the other hand, some experts said video game addiction can be a dangerous problem for gamers who start playing early in their childhood. Compulsive video gaming is a psychological disorder. No parents want to see this happens.

We, as parents, will need to monitor closely on children's "video game behavior" and work with them to develop their other many interests. Tom likes playing video games but he also like to play assemble toys, tools, ride his bicycle, go to museum of science and go hiking. As long as playing video game is only one of his many activities, he can always have fun and learn something at the same time.