Band 6+: Nowadays many people have access to computers on a wide basis and a large number of children play video games. What are the positive and negative impacts of playing video games and what can be done to minimize the bad effects?

Computers have become an essential part of day-to-day life in the modern era. They are used for professional as well as personal purposes. Thus, younger people are exposed to computer games at an early age. Playing these for more than a limit has harmful effects on a child’s physical and mental well-being.

Firstly, computer gaming is extremely addictive and kids play several hours a day. Hence, they don’t spend much time in outdoor activities such as cricket, football, badminton etc, all of which are vital for their physical well-being. Secondly, those who are addicted tend to avoid socialization and be isolated, which is not good for their mental health. Thirdly, some of the eSports are promoting violence and extreme measures of sexual pleasure. For example, a few years back one of the famous online games led to the suicidal deaths of several young ones. Also, certain companies were banned for producing content which contain torture scenes and graphic scenes. Spending several hours on a digital screen might harm vision and well as brain development. Video gaming can divert the focus away from education, physical activities, household work and family gatherings.

To reduce the bad effects I can suggest the following measures. Parents can allocate limited hours per week for their kin to play under their supervision. Meanwhile, the father and mother have to encourage them to play outdoor sports like football, basketball, cricket etc. The introduction of other useful hobbies like reading novels, drawing, singing, learning and playing a musical instrument and swimming etc can break the addiction. Punishing them or verbally harassing them might actually do more harm than good. Having parental control over the internet and having a close relationship with their offspring will help avoid unwanted effects.

In conclusion, video gaming can be harmful to children and if not supervised, can become an addiction. Therefore, the negative impact can be minimized by the encouragement of other hobbies, limiting the time spent on the desktop or laptops and having a friendly relationship with young ones.