Since the invention of video games, video games have been giving a bad reputation by parents because they feel that video games slow down children’s developing minds, raise aggression levels, and increase the violent acts committed by users. Due to the violent nature of some games parents feel that it would raise aggression in their child or encourage them to commit a violent act after playing.  Recent research in to video games have established a new basis that video games are in fact better for developing minds of children.  Video games help their users improve in cognitive skills, release aggression, and lessen the chance of users committing violent acts portrayed, in games, in the real world.  Video games are better for children then watching television because the user is partaking in some sort of action instead of sitting idle and watching television. Majority of scientists argue that video games help sharpen the cognitive skills of users and help lessen the chances of the committing a violent crime portrayed in game.  Video games help children develop skills like inductive reasoning, making faster decisions without loss of accuracy and, develop and test hypothesis.  Video games provide users with different task that cover many different aspects and force user to engineer ways to deal with them.  Users playing fast action games are tasked with figuring out multiple things that are happening at once, while listing them in an order of importance before finally acting on the objects within sometimes split seconds.  Violent video games contribute to lower crime rates because they allow the user an outlet to act on their violent urges within a controlled environment.  Some scientists and researchers argue that video games have a negative impact on the health of users both physically and mentally. The American Academy of Pediatrics published in one of its studies that depression, anxiety, and poor grades are a result of too much video games.  Poor grades can be a result of playing too much video games that is why parents must moderate the time in which their children are playing these games.  With proper moderation video games help user improve but just like anything that helps only in moderation can it be useful.  When users binge on video games and play for hours they then begin to impact their health and physical.

To understand why video games are helpful one must understand why some researchers say they are not. Researchers believe that children who play a violent video games are more likely to reenact the violence depicted and commit a crime in the future.  Professor Craig A. Anderson, director of the center for the study of violence at Iowa State University, compares the effect on playing violent video games to smoking cigarettes stating that you don’t feel the effect immediately but instead the present themselves overtime.(Bern)  Studies in 2012 showed that nearly 8 percent of teens in the U.S. showed signs of becoming addicted to video games.  The study stated that these teens were more focus on when the would be able to get back to gaming rather than the lessons being taught in school.  The study also stated that scores for SAT linked to communication were on the decline, since students were replacing the time spent reading with playing games.  Research has presented valid reasons to parents why video games can be considered bad especially violent games. Without a set time limit or even restricting a child from playing violent games, parents could possibly see these signs in their child.  Even if your child finds a way to get around the set time limits or even the age restriction on games all hope is not lost.

Video games and gaming consoles have measures already in them to help parents with both moderating their children’s time playing and restricting them from being able to access violent games.  Gaming consoles and some video games help the user keep track of how long they have been playing by suggesting when a user should take a break. I personally know that on the Xbox systems parents can set content restrictions and also time restriction so that their child can only play between certain times of the day.  The Entertainment Software Rating Board, ESRB, is a non-profit organization that assigns content ratings and age restrictions for buying  video games in nearly all north America. The ESRB rating systems rates video game content based on the Industry adopted guidelines. The rating range from E for everyone to M for mature even including early childhood and adult only.  Most violent video games receive a rating of M due to their containment of violence, stronger sexual themes and partial nudity.  M rated games can only be purchased be a person of age 17 and older, and the buyer must present a valid id at time of purchase.  Video game creators have also added settings in to their games to were parents can turn off the blood in a game and even set time limits on the console itself.  However, even with all this measures children can still find was to get around them. That is why it is the parents job to stay vigilante and watch over what games they children are playing.

As a someone who regularly plays video games I have noticed some of the effects that they have on me.   I played my first m rated game at the age of 8. I did know at the time that I was playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice city, I only played it to use the cheat codes for the cars and guns. When my dad found out he punished me like any parent would but that didn’t teach me because after watching him play Halo: Combat Evolved one day I thought I would try it out when he wasn’t home, that night I had the worst nightmares ever.  I learned early on how to get around my dad’s rule about me playing M rated games, and know that is the fear most parents have about letting their kids play video games.  For me though playing this games was more about me hangout with my friends and trying to unlock cool helmet on Halo 3 or using cheat codes for cars on Grand theft auto. However, what we didn’t know was that these video games were testing and strengthening our brains different ways.  Whether it was playing a game that involved me solving a puzzle to unlock a certain reward or just making sure that we map out the different areas a target would travel to before attacking. I have personally played a variety video games throughout the years and have notice that more games are inputting challenge puzzle to unlock a special reward or to complete an achievement. The skills that i have improved from playing video games have help improve my grades in STEM or science, technology, engineering and mathematics based classes. In high school, I noticed that most of the people taking STEM driven career courses had at some point been an avid gamer and went down this path due to the skills that they had developed from video games.  Also setting time limits have become a major part for me because  if I am not careful and set a time limit for myself, I could potential waste hours playing without even noticing.  That is why it Is important to moderate the time that is being spent playing so that you do not over indulge.  

Video games can help improve the developing minds of children that play them; different games present kids with different challenges to test their minds. There is no denying that many boys like playing first person shooter, or fps, games due to their competitive nature and violence.  However, these games have a deeper impact on them then they understand. In a study conducted by, brain scientist, Daphne Bavelier she discovered that fps games increase the focus in users for up to five months without use, after gaming for ten hours over a two week period.(Bavel C.Shawn)  Steven Johnson describes in his book telescoping and how video games enhance this skill in the players. (John) Telescoping in when a person is managing immediate problems while still maintain a long distance view on the end goal and consist of order. Johnson writes “it’s all about perceiving relationships and determining priorities.” (John)  This concept is present in games such as Zelda which involve having to complete small quest in a certain order to be able to complete the main quest.  Children can develop this skill and apply to the real world by understanding that in order to reach a major task if they break it down into smaller tasks it will make their work easier.

One are in which video games are helping when they are viewed as a culprit is crime.  Video games are having a positive impact on the crime rate in the U.S. and Canada.  This is happening because children more likely to release there aggressive urges in video games causing them to become more aggressive later.  Some researchers claim that games  have the opposite effect on children by making them want to recreate what they see in game however that is not the case.  According to Zoe McKnight, Crime rates around the world have decreased my half partly due to video games. In McKnight’s article, Ken Pense, British criminologist, states "Frankly, there are more interesting things to do indoors now than going out and nicking things,”. (McKnight) Video games being on one of the interesting things from Pense statement is keep children inside during the night time when most crime is committed.  Also as children become older they realize that the things they do in these fantasy worlds can’t be carried over to the real world.   Children are less like to get aggressive for playing violent video games but are likely to become angry if they feel that they game mechanics are working against them. (Klein) We as a society want to be the best in anything we do, when we feel that everything is working against us then we become angry and frustrated and video games are no exception.   

Children are more likely to make faster decisions after playing video games. As stated Fps games require children to track multiple targets are list them in order or importance and act all within mere seconds. Researchers from the university of Rochester have discovered that these games help train the brain to make the correct decision faster.  According to the article players develop a heightened sensitivity to what is going on around them. That heighten sensitivity and benefit them in the real world with everyday activities like driving, reading small print, and keeping track of friends in a crowd. Newer fps games further improve this ability to make quick decisions without out loss of accuracy with the introduction of game modes like Hardcore.  Hardcore game modes take away the name tags that distinguish friend from foe giving the user another tack to complete before pulling the trigger and they only get two chances to mess up. Today video games are more helpful than once thought to be.  The gaming industry is also working to rid the idea that all violent video games and easily accessible for all children by continuing to implement strict content restrictions.  Companies are also starting to focus on was to provide content that both the child would like to play and the parent would be willing to purchase without fear of it negatively impacting their child.  The competition for jobs in the workforce is and will only continue to be fierce and as a parent it is your job to provide your children with a step up on the competition. Video games are that step up and with more jobs opening in STEM careers it would be foolish allow them the opportunity to play video games. As a gamer, I know that they are not for everyone but they help develop crucial skills in young minds that further down the road can give them a step up on competition.  Also providing children with a way to have fun while learning concepts like telescoping, which was once taught through reading the Iliad or Odyssey.  Unlike this epic tales children will be more willing to engage with video games, which will lead them to come away with more knowledge of how to do things and connect them to the real world like the tales.
