Especially with the current circumstances with the COVID-19 pandemic, the youth of our nation is spending more and more time confined within the limits of their homes. And what better to do at home than play video games? For years, we’ve heard the common phrase that video games are detrimental to young minds and that we should stop our children from playing them. Maybe you’ve heard those same words come out of your mouth as well! But are we sure that that’s true? Are video games really that bad?

According to playing video games is proven to increase the players’ ability to identify distinct yet subtle differences in shades of gray. This seemingly absurd phenomenon, called “visual contrast sensitivity”, actually serves to strengthen eyesight of players, especially increasing their ability to detect movement. In addition, video games can help players learn to rapidly and efficiently solve problems, building on their problem-solving skills – skills that are essential in any career and just in life. Video games help build hand-eye coordination as well, improving working memory and lengthening attention spans as well. The popular news outlet, reported that the well-known game Tetris was shown to possibly ease symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Forums like Geek and Sundry add that video games helped those diagnosed with anxiety disorders to assimilate into common life by learning how to initiate relationships and social cues.

Okay so I now know the pros of video games. But shouldn’t I encourage my kid to join a sports team instead?

Now while it’s essential for children to spend time with nature to receive the natural nutrients their bodies need and to take a break from their fondly held screens, there are pros of playing video games too. In fact, much to many peoples’ surprise, video games teach players many skills that are learned through sports as well. So, if you’re keen on your child joining a sports team instead of spending hours on playing their video games, consider the following facts first! You might be surprised by how much there is to learn from playing video games!

The top three skills that many sports communicate as their biggest lessons to teach are teamwork, personal growth, and resilience.

1. Teamwork:

Many sports cite teamwork as their core value. And it’s absolutely true too! From playing on a team with others, players learn the important skills of communicating their actions, working with others, and establishing and pursuing common goals. However, these crucial skills aren’t unique to athletic sporting activities – video games teach them too! Games like Overwatch by Blizzard Entertainment, Rocket League on the Nintendo Switch, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Team Fortress both by Valve, are popular video games that highlight teamwork. Not only do players learn to work with others, they also learn valuable communication skills that are useful in any activity.

2. Personal Growth:

Sports that are more individualistic, like running track, cross country, and golf, are sports that focus on personal growth. Players learn to challenge themselves and to push themselves to the limit. This skill, however, is crucial in video games as well! Especially in games that focus on players reaching new levels and improving their scores, these games encourage players to keep persisting to improve themselves. They learn from their past mistakes and learn to improve on existing strengths. These valuable skills can be learned from both sports and from video games too!

3. Resilience:

Resilience is another skill that many sports teach implicitly. Learning to come back from a loss is one of the greatest lessons that sports teach, and it’s such a crucial life lesson as well. And guess what? Video games intertwine resilience too! In every video game, there is always a winner and a loser, a winning squad or a losing one. And, learning to handle winning and losing, and especially how to come back after a loss is something that video games teach so accurately! How many times has your child gone back to their video game even after a devastating defeat? Every one of those times is an example of growth and resilience and learning to bounce back from failure

So, we now know that video games have a lot to offer and are similar to sports in so many ways! But it’s still important to consider their negative effects as well. Remember, anything in excessive amounts can be bad, so don’t encourage your child to only play video games! The occasional in-person sports game could be effective as well. But, during these times that forces us all to stay at home, maybe you can see the benefits of the games your children love, and identify the ways they grow from playing those games.

And let us help.

We offer classes that focus on Roblox, Minecraft, and even Digital Art! These classes can help your kids get the perfect one-on-one attention to help them grow the most optimal way and enable them to learn programming along with developing teamwork, personal growth, and resilience, in the best ways! Let us help you and your child grow from their video games – join our team now! We look forward to seeing you soon.