Video Games and Kids: What Every Parent Should Know
Author: Jonathan Mauger
Since the release of Pong on the Magnavox Odyssey in 1972, home video games have become an ever-growing presence in the lives of children, adolescents, and teens. The Entertainment Software Association estimates that in 2023, 76% of children under the age of 18 play video games. As tablets, phones, and consoles continue to become mainstays in our daily life, that number is likely to rise.
Parenting around video games in the modern era is no easy task. Games are more accessible, complicated, and prevalent than ever before; gaming devices are increasingly varied and complex; and gaming is more central in our youth’s social life, and culture at large, than ever before.
What are the benefits of Video Games?
Social Connection and Growth.
Video games can be a great structure for social engagement. Many multiplayer games require teamwork and communication to achieve goals. The use of games can also accommodate and support youth who are neurodivergent or living with disabilities to engage socially, as the structured activity and joint attention can serve as a way to connect with their peers. Even as an adult, many of my own social interactions are focused around video games.
Brain Development.
While there is no clear consensus in the professional literature around the effects of gaming, and more generally screen time, on brain development, video games can support youth in developing many different cognitive skills. Navigating large two and three dimensional worlds can improve spatial-reasoning skills. Utilizing controllers can support youth building hand-eye and fine motor coordination. Overcoming challenges in games can help build youth’s problem solving skills and support development of executive functioning, the brain’s ability to plan out and execute a task. Many games also involve dialogue and text which can support youth’s reading comprehension.
Stress Relief and Emotional Regulation.
Video games can also be a tool to support youth and teens in practicing relaxation and emotional regulation skills. Game mechanics, such as being able to save and reload, allow players to make, and then correct, mistakes. Other games utilize checkpoints where players can return to if they fail their objective. These features allow and encourage players to repeatedly overcome challenges which can support youth in building resilience to their frustration.
Video games also offer clear, predictable goals and progress which give players a structured sense of progress. These mechanics give clear goals which can support youth who struggle with ambiguity or anxiety. Game mechanics often are repetitive in nature, and these gameplay “loops” can be regulating for youth.
Many video games also allow youth to experience a sense of control and confidence. Unlike other forms of media, games require active input from players. Youth who play role playing games, for example, can explore taking different actions and approaches to conflicts and challenges. More creative games, such as Minecraft, allow players to modify the environment of the game and create their own narratives.
Games can also support youth in building empathy and understanding of other’s experiences. Many games have systems for providing feedback on how the player’s actions affect other characters in the game. For example, Stardew Valley, a roleplaying game about a character who takes over a farm in a new town, has “friendship meters.” These meters go up when players take pro-social actions, such as talking to the characters regularly and giving them preferred gifts. Conversely, the meters decrease when players ignore characters or give them non-preferred gifts.
What are some of the risks of Video Games?
Violence, Adult Themes, and Graphic content.
Like movies, video games come with an age rating scale. Videogames are made for a wide array of target audiences, and it is important to consider youth’s age and development when making decisions about the content they are exposed to in their games.
Not all games with the same topic are the same. For example, Fortnite and Call of Duty are both games focused on shooting opponents with guns, but are rated differently (“T” or Teen, and “M” or Mature 17+ respectively) due to differences in their portrayal of violence, death, blood, and gore.
It is important to note, as Professor Daniel Johnson writes,
The current scientific consensus is that video games do not lead to aggression or violence in person. While video games have received a lot of negative attention over the years, a landmark report in 2020 brought together 28 studies on the topic and found that the long-term effects of violence in games on youth aggression is next to zero.
Toxic Language and Public Matchmaking.
Many games involve some element of online play. Some games utilize a “public matchmaking” system where players can be put with other random players from around the world to play the game with or against one another. This means that it is possible for youth to play with complete strangers and to even be able to talk with them while playing the game. While most in-game text chats have filters to block out harmful and inappropriate words, no such system exists for voice chat. In my personal experience with video games, the anonymity of video games with the ability to talk to strangers can bring out the worst in people. Swears, Slurs, and targeted harassment can, and do, happen.
The Rise of “Live Service” Games and Microtransactions.
Video games are a multi-billion dollar industry that has seen significant evolution in the past two decades. In the early days of video games, the economics of these games were similar to that of their board game counterparts: A game would come with all its parts as is. In the early 2000s, The industry started to introduce expansions and “Downloadable Content (DLC)” These packages often served as official add-ons where players could get access to additional content for games through online services for an additional cost.
Today’s market has largely moved away from the classical form of game development to modern “Live Service” games. These games seek to generate revenue through the use of Microtransactions: small purchases, often using an in-game currency, that allow players to access different in-game items, cosmetic features for their in-game avatar, or boosts to increase the effectiveness of their in-game time. If your child has ever asked for “V-bucks” (Fortnite) or “Robux” (Roblox), then you’ve had experience with Live Services games.
While live-service games are not inherently bad or risky for youth, they employ many tactics that encourage impulse buying, recurrent purchases, and excessive engagement. The use of premium in-game currency obfuscates the real dollar amount of any in-game purchase and incentivizes large bulk purchases. Most games offer so-called “bonus” in-game currency when more real world money is spent. In game currency is purchasable in different “packages” often tied to specific dollar amounts. Packages costing $100 and $200 are common among many live service games. For example, the table below shows a breakdown of package costs for Robux:
Many live service games also utilize a “battlepass.” Battlepasses are a reward system that gives players rewards based on the amount of time they have spent in the game or in-game challenges. Battlepasses give cosmetic rewards to players that they then own in perpetuity, though the battlepasses themselves are time limited, which requires players to engage with the game frequently and consistently to get the most out of the pass. Most battlepasses also utilize a “free” and “premium” version, the latter of which requires a purchase using in-game currency.
How can Parents and Caregivers Navigate and Minimize the Risks of Videogames.
Learn about the games your children are playing.
Talk to your children about the games they are playing, or want to play. This can be a time where you connect around their interests and learn what they like about the games. You can also utilize resources such as Common Sense Media, to get more information about content of individual games. Youtube is also a great resource for seeing games for yourself without having to play them. Almost every game can be watched with a simple search of “(Game Name) Gameplay)”
Utilize Alternate platforms for communication.
If your child wants to talk to their friends while playing, consider using phone calls, Facetime, or services like Discord. These resources let your child stay engaged socially with their friends while removing the risk of interaction with strangers.
Utilize Parent Control Apps.
All major Video Game consoles have apps and settings geared towards parent control and safety.
Xbox
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