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

[Happyralphymummy]

Online gaming is currently the only contact my son has with school friends. They all arrange to play at a set time. My kids game on pc and it's great for their overall computer skills. DS has dyspraxia and really struggles with handwriting so good computer skills help him to keep up in school using a laptop. Minecraft has taught both kids a lot about different materials and the reality of where our food comes from. My 5 year old delights in telling us what animal our meat comes from.

[Charles11]

My ds was able to give the correct answer of ‘Obsidian’ at school to a question. He learnt about it from mine craft so I’d say educational
It’s also got my dcs interested in coding and the social and fun side of it is great.

I don’t think many on mn have a problem with gaming itself, just if it starts to become addictive and dcs don’t want to do anything else.

[3LittleMonkeyz]

During lockdown my eldest has played with other kids online, played games, watched YouTube and read gaming magazines. This is a child who was struggling with reading and now come on leaps and bounds. It gives us an avenue to talk about things (I use gaming metaphors a lot now!) and also a much better bribe than sweets. Sometimes we play together which is a good time to talk about our feelings. Eg. "It's frustrating when you lose a level isn't it? A bit like when you get frustrated with your little brother" that kind of thing.

There are some sulking episodes and toddler like meltdowns on occasion, but they have enhanced our lives generally and we had meltdowns before Over tv, toys, food etc. Before anyway. We couldn't have got through lockdown with no devices.

[strugglingwithdeciding]

When my son was little he had no interest in learning to read at school but when we started refusing to read instructions or words that came up on his games his interest in learning to read suddenly appeared but the balancing game of how much time
Is too much is hard work and as they become teenagers even harder
During lockdown glad they have had as they have something to do and can communicate with friends etc still but in normal times most teenagers spend more time than they should on them

[BertieBotts]

I got cut off earlier, but also, a love of games has got my ADHD 11yo into coding. He's been interested in it for a while but hadn't got too far with it, and would never focus long enough to finish a project anyway. This evening he showed me what he's been working on for the last few days. It's a zombie shooting game which he's built from scratch, using a tutorial, but he's never been able to follow a tutorial before, and he's been adding his own bits into it - changing some of the ideas from the tutorial to suit the idea he had in mind. He was showing it to me and something broke, the zombies were moving towards the player and then just stopped so they all piled up making some kind of weird zombie hedge :o and he actually went and found the problem and fixed it I'm not exaggerating, I've not seen him do that kind of problem solving since he was a toddler. He usually just gives up at the first sign something might be hard.

[msmith501]

@MNHQ why try to revisit this topic with a mixture of anecdotal and subjective evidence when there is a large multinational body of empirical data-based research and results regarding the social, emotional and developmental aspects of video game playing - both "good" and "bad". I'm sorry but this just seems like pseudo science from a social media forum which in turn may lead people to believe it is a scientific fact-based important piece of research.

[Letthemysterybe]

My 7 year old loves his wii. Lots of the games if there can be played as a family and in that regard it isn’t really that much different to a good old fashioned board game.

I’m not particularly bothered about any perceived benefits. I’m happy that he is having fun. Obviously, as with everything, it should be enjoyed as part of ‘a healthy diet’ of other activities.

[LadyMonicaBaddingham]

Right now, online games are the only contact my teenage sons have with their friends. Not all games involve fighting and violence, some are much more constructive and collaborative.

[thenamesarealltaken]

There are 100's of peer reviewed papers on this, going back years. I used to teach college and uni level game design and development too and there's no exact answer. I'd start with analysing different characters and temperaments, understanding what each genre offers in terms of story and gameplay and consider impact in relation to well known, highly researched categorisations/classifications.

[BasiliskStare]

DS - Oxford got a 1st has played some games - in moderation they are not a bad thing. (IMHO ) & also relaxing at times

[Shopkinsdoll]

Keeps my 9 year old son happy as he can play and keep in contact with friends in his free time. There has been a bit of competitive tears along the way though

[totallynotchanging]

Lots of disadvantages, of course, which I'm always wanging on about to the DC, but it's nice to think of some advantages too! Increased knowledge of building materials, and surprisingly, a good knowledge of aspects of the natural world through minecraft type games. Confidence and a talking point with which to help socialise. Helping others improve their game - I suppose that helps build team skills, understanding others and leadership. Improved upper body strength through active games like boxing type games.

[Clymene]

@HaddawayAndShite

"Couldn’t have said this better. Hundred of peer received studies and journals about this and MN thinks asking a very biased audience is a wise idea? Baffled."

And yet pretty much every poster on this thread has talked about the benefits. I'm baffled you didn't bother reading the thread before posting

[tinierclanger]

They are fun. Which seems like a pretty big benefit.

[YesThisIsMe]

DD credits the Professor Layton games for her gold certificates in the Junior/Senior Maths Challenge.

[HaddawayAndShite]

@Barnabeeboyo

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

Couldn’t have said this better. Hundred of peer received studies and journals about this and MN thinks asking a very biased audience is a wise idea? Baffled.

[Destroyedpeople]

Teamwork ; problem solving; communication

[Crystal87]

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.

[BertieBotts]

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.

[FarquarKumquatsmama]

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 😮

[chickedeee]

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

[Lweji]

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.

[Clymene]

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

[waltzingparrot]

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.

[SimplySteveRedux]

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.