Video Games
and Children
James Dalton
Fall 2009
Separate from traditional media
 They are separate from television or movies because they allow
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players to become a part of the action rather that just passively
viewing it
Users can manipulate movements and environments
There seems to be a divide within the gaming industry, games
tend to be purely educational or meant to be entertaining
Educational games are usually made for children
There are advantages and disadvantages to children that play
video games
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsMFsdS3aqU&feature=rela
ted
Violence and aggression
 There are many opinions and studies on this subject
 May teach kids of different ways to be violent and ways to get away
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with it
Repetition of violent acts may cause violent behavior
Aggressive or violent kids may be attracted to violent games
Blurs the line between real and fiction
With out an adults explaining to kids that it is not ok to act like this in
public they may not understand what is acceptable conduct
Catharsis Theory – Emotional release from viewing violent acts
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH38gqvPUuA
Social Interaction
MMOG and MMORPG have features that can let kids talk to others
Within the game socially
Club penguin – Offers a safe chat mode where kids can select their
comments from a menu. Filtering within the game prevents swearing
and personal information from being divulged
- Criticized for teaching kids consumerism – earn coins within the game
and spend them on virtual products
Interaction with technology
 Interacting with games and computers at a young age will help
kids with becoming familiar with technology early
 Interactive pets
 Webkinz – a new generation of toy that kids buy from a store
then use a code to access the website where they are able to take
care of the pet In various ways like improving its health
Motor Skills and Spatial Cognition
 Studies show that there is a correlation between the development
of motor skills and video game use
 Nintendo Wii is a great tool for strengthening hand eye
coordination
 Spatial Cognition - concerned with the acquisition, organization,
utilization, and revision of knowledge about spatial
environments. These capabilities enable humans to manage
basic and high-level cognitive tasks in everyday life. Numerous
disciplines work together to understand spatial cognition in
humans and in technical systems.
Addiction
 A 2007 Harris Interactive survey suggest that gaming addiction is on the
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rise
Nationally, 8.5 percent of youth gamers (ages 8 to 18) can be classified as
pathological or clinically "addicted" to playing video games.
Most youth play video games and many feel that they may be playing too
much.
Nearly one-quarter (23%) of youth say they that have felt "addicted to
video games", with about one-third of males (31%) and a little more than
one in ten females (13%) feeling "addicted.
" Forty-four percent of youth also report that their friends are addicted to
games. With nearly 8 in 10 American youth (81%) playing video games at
least one time per month, including 94 percent of all boys playing, this
certainly raises concerns about video game addiction.
 Video game addiction is not part of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
of Mental Disorders
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18joS1IP2oc
Addiction…
My social experiment
I asked my roommates a couple of simple questions while they were playing video
games too see how they would answer me
Both my roommates have played videogames since childhood
The questions:
- What classes they had next week
- Was temple on a mon-fri or mon-wed schedule next week
-Both of my roommates were immersed in the game and didn’t break eye contact
when asked the questions.
-The first time I asked each question they responded with one word
-The second time they seemed to understand the questions but had a hard time
coming up with a legitimate answer
Physical effects
 obesity
 video-induced seizures.
 postural changes
 muscular and skeletal disorders: such as tendonitis, nerve
compression, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
Tangential Learning
 Learning by being exposed to something that the user might already
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enjoy.
Example:
- WW2 games
- using dead space - loading screens
- databases within games
- referential objects in game that are more obvious may clue users that
other things within the game are “real”
Questions
 Do aggression and violence in games cause aggression and
violence in children or are aggressive and violent children
attracted to those types of games?
 Do you think video game companies should be more responsible
by create games that are educational and entertaining?
 What gaming system or platform do you think is most beneficial
to children.
Computer, Wii, PS3, XBox360