What are the benefits of video games? Have you seen any?

[LauraEMumsnet]

Hi everyone,

We all worry about how much is too much when it comes to screen time for children and it can be hard to know which video games are appropriate. But there are some benefits to video games - cognitive and educational ones for the players, and peace and quiet for the rest of the house.

We’re writing an article on the effects of video games on children and we’d love to hear your views. Do you think there are any benefits to children playing video games? What skills have your children learnt or developed through screen time? And do you have any advice for parents who are uncertain about how to approach this subject? Please share your thoughts below.

Thank you!

MNHQ

They have proved valuable during lockdown as both my dc are interacting with friends whilst playing.
My eldest is autistic and games help him to interact with his friends in a way that he can control.
I have also found that my dc play collaboratively together on online games much more than they do in 'physical' games.
Finally the games my eldest chooses are often loosely based on historical settings which has helped him in some of his school work as he has a visualisation of how people and settings may look.
That's for starters, I may be back with more.

The main benefit has been we use it as a bargaining tool during lockdown - if you do your work, you get to play computer games kind of thing. Also has kept my daughter in touch with her school friends.when things go back to normal we won't be using them as much.

Online games have been the main way for my dcs to socialise with their friends during lockdown, and have also been their reward for completing school work.
Their screen time has escalated inevitably during lockdown, but they are still not allowed on the PlayStation within school hours and they only have one between them so they have to negotiate with each other as to who plays when, depending on whose friends are on. They also police each other!
During lockdown when ds10 and ds14 have had to spend far more time together than usual, it has also given them a shared interest and something to talk about. When we are out on walks they will often talk about their games, because it is the main interest that they have in common that they've actually been able to continue with.

It’s been proven that they don’t affect behaviour and can enhance a lot of skills. There are numerous studies on Google but many posters on here completely disregard them because it doesn’t suit there agenda

Improved bilateral coordination.
Improved coordination in general
Sparked interest in history and geography. (Some computer games have a huge amount of educational content Civ series, Hearts of Iron, Total War series etc).
Improved typing ability.
Wii fit recommended and incredibly useful for doing some aspects of physio routine without noticing.
We've socialised over online board games

I don't play video games but my husband does. I believe it keeps the mind nimble. He has better cognitive function than me and I credit that to his years of playing video games.

I think it helps my DC think on the go, problem solve, strategise.

Along with the more obvious skills of team work, co-operation, sharing, managing wins and losses, hand eye co-ordination and strengthening hand muscles.

I do wish people weren't so down on playing video games. I'd far rather DC did that and kept their mind active rather than veg out in front of the TV.

It's another thing in their development of social skills. Obviously it's helpful for a child to be able to interact with other children and most children game. Ds 25 still games as do I. I learned when he was young to give us a shared interest. He has a job a degree, a girlfriend and own accommodation- not at all a recluse. His gaming friends include a gym owner, a fashion buyer, police officer and politician.

It is really good if people can talk about things that interest others. He doesn't know much about football. That rules out a major way that men especially can bond. He copes! But make sure your child has the experiences that allow them to form easy relationships with lots of people.

My 5 year old son enjoys playing lego games on the ps4 (e.g Harry Potter, avengers, lego movie). They have really developed his problem solving skills and I am always amazed at his ability to remember which character he needs to use depending on the skills they possess.

Me or my partner will often play the games with him in 2 player mode and it encourages lots of communication and conversation during the games.

Agree. Only way my son would keep in touch with mates in lockdown. They give boys a reason to talk and common ground.

Plus his reaction times and cognitive skills are very good. Fitness not so much at the moment but hope that will change when lock down over.

My DSs play minecraft together on a split screen. They are incredibly creative with it and work together to design cities, fairgrounds, farms etc. They discuss their ideas as they're going and collaborate to create large projects. They also do this with Lego but it adds another dimension.

I am an education psychologist. The games vary wildly. You can't compare and draw simple conclusions. In my recent experience some games help with logic/mathematical intelligence and others with team work etc.

Reading has definitely improved and co- ordination skills for my 7 year old.

I think it depends on the type of video game.

We aren't a fan of shorting games, more "point and click" games with puzzle and problem solving, and the decision based games are good for considering how your actions have bigger affects.

online play co-op games can be good for communication and team work

Yes...reading improvement here too from reading the storylines and the character dialogue.

I've been a member, leader, of a top-world guild in World of Warcraft for some eight years. I've played European and American servers extensively. My son grew up playing the same game.

The playing field, the crux of so much enjoyment, sport defining much enjoyment, except for those slightly build, those with insecurity and those craving wisdom rather than sporting acumen. When I was at school, I'm 42, sport was the bastion of 95%, there were outs such as drama/music but you had to seek them out.

Following a childhood of prevalent abuse I entered the online gaming world in the halcyon days of the internet (when 1 minute over a phone line was slow and cost 12p a minute), and gravitated from game to game finding both friends and that it was something I was good at.

I can directly attribute my time, and level, in WoW to enhancing my ability working and managing a large team (and not in the same office), finding what makes people tick and the art of encouragement and lending an ear. The cognitive input, and improvement.

The most important though, my son is mildly autistic and has dyspraxia, is the feeling of belonging, the barriers that exist in real-life are not present, the opportunity to develop and self-grow in multiple areas, the sheer feel-good feelings simply from playing (I'd be lying if I said winning wasn't important, but the search of success is a choice, one I followed, one my son has not - yet the "perks" remain the same.

Gaming is awesome, and I find in my experiences that sex isn't important, and have played with super-great of both, of course the whole online platform is rife with misogyny and other bigotry simply by its very nature, but gaming platforms have introduced outright bans for such behaviour, although admittedly there's still a long way to go.

I was surprised to overhear and learn that my shy, quiet, wouldn't say boo to a goose DS15 is considered the leader in his group of friends that play online. They defer to him for strategy and he really commands his troops.

They have helped my autistic child socialise and build friendships. He has learned to negotiate and is able to have meltdowns when he gets upset when things go wrong in the privacy of his home rather than in public. This has helped him deal with disappointment more in the real world.

It also means that, for a child who is never going to win a sports prize or be chosen as team captain or house captain or any of the other many popularity-based awards that litter a school career, he has something that he excels in which is admired by his peers. And that's done wonders for his self-confidence

It's not something that I'd encourage, but, DS (15) really comes out of his shell. He's shy and quiet, although he does have good friends in school as well.
He got international friends.
He feels part of a community.
He's learnt some coding.
He started making his own videos and has learnt about editing, copyright, etc
I can see that he can persevere while pursuing his goals and experiment trial and error.
Although he has some screaming sessions, most of the time he's laughing and chatting.

Of course there are disadvantages.

At the moment my son gets to chat with his mates that he cannot see at school

He is twelve and I used to worry he would be addicted to it however he has learned to self-regulate.

Just glad at the moment he gets to talk with his friends he cannot see

I taught a kid once who was not a native English speaker and spoke excellent English (limited vocabulary but really good grammar) which he had learnt 100% from gaming 😮

They socialise over it. DH has a very strong core group of friends from gaming days.

DS1 used it when his friend moved back from our (non English speaking) country to his own English speaking one. Being able to play online helped language exposure for both kids, as sometimes they would play in our local language, sometimes in English.

They keep kids in touch with their friends as they can play together online and talk to each other, this has been so valuable during lockdown. When they meet up in person it's something they all have in common as they all play the same games. My DS plays with his stepdad as well so it helps to build their bond together.

Teamwork ; problem solving; communication