As technology advances, many people come to the conclusion that computer games have little educational value and can be harmful to minors. I partially agree with this notion because computer games can cause both physical and mental health problems, also they contribute little to children’s educational benefits; however, they can be helpful to children by improving their soft skills and digital literacy.
First of all, video games have visible harm to people’s well-being. This is because they lead to addiction in people and make them to spend more time behind the screen. In other words, this addiction reduces their physical activity which is essential for a healthy life. Therefore, over time, they face visual impairment, posture problems and other medical conditions associated with sedentary lifestyle. As well as this, games can have mental side effects for children such as anxiety and depression since most of the popular games contain aggressive content that is not suitable for juveniles. As a result, computer games can harm to children’s physiology as well as psychology. To illustrate, researches prove that because of increasing video game addiction, many children become depend on glasses from young age and become more anxious.
The second reason why I believe games have negative outcomes for children is because of their limited educational value. In the first place, the majority of video games are not designed for education, their main purpose is entertainment and keep users occupied as long as possible. This is because of the fact that game companies make more profit when as many people as possible are engaged in their games. Therefore, they try to make games more appealing by adding thrilling content instead of educational things which might bore players. In addition to this, games become the biggest distraction for children and make it difficult for them to concentrate their studies. For example, recent findings illustrate that children with high-playing hours tent to perform poorly in educational institutions.
However, there are some positive aspects of games that cannot be denied. The main arguments of game supporters is that games can boost players’ soft skills such as critical thinking, teamwork, problem solving as well as communication. The reason for this is that games require players to come up with solutions and overcome challenges by creating different situations. Additionally, video games improve children’s computer literacy which is one of the essential skills of modern world. As an example to this, it is well-knowing fact that children who have been engaged in games are more familiar with computers.
In conclusion, although games may have positive effect on improving children’s soft skills, I accept the opinion that they are lack of educational benefit and can be harmful for youth’s health in the long run.