The Positive Value of the Games
There have been several prejudices and controversies in existence for years concerning the negative effects of the computer games. Among the accusations of igniting the violence and spreading the sedative lifestyle among the young, the games have also been accused of shifting their overwhelmingly to the gameworlds, forcing them to pursue isolationist lifestyles of game-addiction. Of course, nothing is good if it is too much, but spending balanced time playing certain and appropriate games should not have negative effects on the youth and in fact some of these games can be used to develop certain skills, knowledge and positive values among them.
The strategy games are a good example. “Europa Universalis” is a game praised for its complexity of the gameplay, as well as the accuracy of the historical detail. The players is taking the role of an European Monarch in the Age of Discovery, regulating the taxation, corruption, various lords, diplomacy, army maintenance and various aspects of the medieval “kingdom management”, as well as knowing more about the real historical background of Europe. Of course this is just a simulation and a game that is by no means completely realistic, but by playing it players will become acknowledged about various historical aspects, as well as the way the states have worked in the past. The game has got a glowing review on the Gamespot and was praised for the qualities mentioned above..
There are also plenty of educational games that teach children read and write, as well as develop essential skills and knowledge. Unlike television, the very essence of Computer and Videogames is highly interactive and interesting for young children, so it can be used as a powerful tool to teach them positive values that are acceptable in the society live in. The suggestions of the scholarly value of the computer games are widely expressed and there are already programs in some of the developed countries that install the games in the schools for educational purposes. Considering the rapid growth of the game market and the technological development of the field, we may even speculate that the games will play even more prominent role in bringing the positive values to the younger generation.
The strategy games are a good example. “Europa Universalis” is a game praised for its complexity of the gameplay, as well as the accuracy of the historical detail. The players is taking the role of an European Monarch in the Age of Discovery, regulating the taxation, corruption, various lords, diplomacy, army maintenance and various aspects of the medieval “kingdom management”, as well as knowing more about the real historical background of Europe. Of course this is just a simulation and a game that is by no means completely realistic, but by playing it players will become acknowledged about various historical aspects, as well as the way the states have worked in the past. The game has got a glowing review on the Gamespot and was praised for the qualities mentioned above..
There are also plenty of educational games that teach children read and write, as well as develop essential skills and knowledge. Unlike television, the very essence of Computer and Videogames is highly interactive and interesting for young children, so it can be used as a powerful tool to teach them positive values that are acceptable in the society live in. The suggestions of the scholarly value of the computer games are widely expressed and there are already programs in some of the developed countries that install the games in the schools for educational purposes. Considering the rapid growth of the game market and the technological development of the field, we may even speculate that the games will play even more prominent role in bringing the positive values to the younger generation.
We cannot ignore the negative sides as well, of course (Everything has positive and negative sides). Games can be highly addictive for both adults and children, so there should be certain self-control from the parents side, as well as the adults who play the games themselves. Indeed, young children might respond too emotionally to certain aspects of the violent games and some games are definitely not supposed to be played by children, so once again - parent control is crucial here. But according to Dr. Jonathan Haidt, a psychologist in the University of Virginia - "We overestimate the malleability and fragility of children. We think that any or every bad event will leave some trace or scar. It doesn't. What does matter is longstanding conditions of childhood, activities that go on for hundreds of hours, that encourage or discourage certain virtues and values". I think there is a point here - Games can have good or bad effect and the balance of lifestyle in general is probably more important here - the development of personality is certainly a very complex issue that is influenced by many factors.
So once again – if the young people will devote moderate amounts of time playing the games that are educational and entertaining at the same time, there is little chance that it will somehow force them to become more violent. Good balance of healthy lifestyle and involvement in their children's gaming activities is probably one of those things good parents must control and after that it is highly possible that the stereotype of a videogame that is making killing sprees out of children will be broken in favor of games being mediums of education, entrainment and good values at the same time.
Works Cited:
“Europa Universalist III for PC Review”. Gamespot PC. Gamespot. Jan 23. 2007. Jan 6. 2008
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/europauniversalisiii/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review
Brown James. “Schools to test the scholarly values of the Computer Games” Computing. Computing.co.uk . Aug 17. 2005. Jan 7. 2008. http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2141251/schools-test-scholarly-value-pc
So once again – if the young people will devote moderate amounts of time playing the games that are educational and entertaining at the same time, there is little chance that it will somehow force them to become more violent. Good balance of healthy lifestyle and involvement in their children's gaming activities is probably one of those things good parents must control and after that it is highly possible that the stereotype of a videogame that is making killing sprees out of children will be broken in favor of games being mediums of education, entrainment and good values at the same time.
Works Cited:
“Europa Universalist III for PC Review”. Gamespot PC. Gamespot. Jan 23. 2007. Jan 6. 2008
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/europauniversalisiii/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;review
Brown James. “Schools to test the scholarly values of the Computer Games” Computing. Computing.co.uk . Aug 17. 2005. Jan 7. 2008. http://www.computing.co.uk/computing/news/2141251/schools-test-scholarly-value-pc
Linnea Sharon. "What Violent Video Games Teach Children About Morality". Beliefnet. Jan. 7. 2008. http://www.beliefnet.com/story/130/story_13096_4.html
posted by Akatosh86 @ 2:31 AM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Hey Alex, I must say I myself mentioned video games in my blog and it is not an easy subject. There is a lot of speculation going around, but one is sure on both sides, parents control is always needed. It doesnt matter if the child plays games with positive or negative effects, either way children need to be limited not only in the content but also to the amount of exposure to video games. Unfortunatelly, it is not easy for parents to do so. There can be always ways for children to get around their limits, whether it is a pin code they have to work out or they can easily go to their friends houses and play there. Still, lot of speculation, but probably the easies way would be to not play video games at all:) Barb
Hi Alex,
it is good that someone finaly showing also the positve side which computer games can have. It can be great teaching tool and not only how to quickly and precisely shoot someone.
Yes, also computer games have positive site. Unfortunately, lately we see much more of negatives. It seems that in order to sell computer games are more and more out of normal. There are enourmous number of games which seem to encourage violence in our society.
Anna
I don't think it is so important to discuss if the PC game is positive or not as every product of high-tech must bring both positive and negative sides. I think the most important thing is how can parents and educators do best to help and control children about PC game , for my own opinion , i agree with Barbora, it is really hard to do so sometime.
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