Are video games harmful? 🫣
Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist Spartak Subota answered questions about the impact of video games on children on his Telegram channel.
📌Video games harm a child’s mental development
No. A long-term study (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11341-2) conducted by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has shown that the causal effect of video games on cognitive abilities does exist and is positive. Children aged 9 to 10 who spent more than average time playing video games increased their IQ scores by 2.5 points above average two years later. At the same time, other forms of spending time behind the screen, such as watching videos, have neither a positive nor a negative effect on a child’s intelligence.
📌Teenagers who are fond of video games are not socialized
No. The UK National Literacy Trust conducted a survey (https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/video-game-playing-and-literacy-survey-young-people-aged-11-16/) among 4,626 teenagers aged 11-16. As it turned out, young people who actively play video games, on the contrary, feel more confident in communication. Young people indicated that the game helped them build social connections both “in real life” and online.
📌 Video games only harm your eyesight
No. In fact, they can be useful. Research (https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fscience%2Fscience-news%2F9088262%2FPlaying-video-games-improves-eyesight.html) , conducted by scientists at McMaster University, found that video games can help improve vision by training the brain to notice small details, follow movement and subtle changes in light.
📌Gamers live only in the virtual world
No. A study (https://news.ncsu.edu/2014/03/wms-taylor-gamelife2014/) conducted by researchers from North Carolina State University, York University, and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology concluded that online gaming does not replace offline – social life, but on the contrary, they expand it.