Should Video Games Be Considered a Form of Play?
Play is a vital part of children’s learning and development. As such, video gaming should be considered a form of play because it has various benefits, such as improved brain function, better decision-making, and creativity. With the vast advantages that video games bring, they should be categorized as a form of play. Besides, APA (2013) affirms while some argue that people who play video games are intelligently lazy, these games help reinforce cognitive, emotional, and problem-solving benefits and skills. My stance on this debate is that video games should be considered a form of play because they have cognitive benefits, help children develop problem-solving, and have emotional benefits.
Video games have cognitive benefits for children. Most video games focus on cognition (Gray, 2013); hence, young adults and children who play video games comprehensively develop high IQs and perform better on several cognitive assessments of mental and perceptual ability than those who do not play these games. Therefore, children who play video games become more open and can share their issues due to improved cognition.
Secondly, video games help children develop problem-solving skills. A 2013 long-term study showed improved problem-solving skills among children and adolescents who played strategic video games like role-playing games (APA, 2013). Essentially, video games, especially role-playing games, enhance collaboration, patience, creativity, reasoning, and tolerance, which help players develop effective decision-making and problem-solving skills (APA, 2013). This enables such learners to know how to live and play with friends in harmony and individually solve their problems when they arise.
Finally, video games have emotional benefits for children. Gray (2013) affirms that simple video games that are easy to play and access, like “Angry Birds,” improve players’ moods, reduce anxiety, and promote relaxation. In addition, video games help children learn resilience when they experience failure. Children learn to cope with constant failures by playing video games, helping them build emotional resilience they can depend on in their daily lives and troubles.
Further, considering video games a form of play will influence my work with diverse learners in several ways. Firstly, I will be able to engage learners with emotional issues in some video games to help improve their emotions. In addition, video games will help me nurture learners’ creativity; exposing learners to these video games will improve their creativity and problem-solving skills. As such, when issues arise amongst themselves, they will learn to independently solve their problems using the knowledge learned from video games.
References
APA. (2013). Video game play may provide learning, health, and social benefits. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/11/video-games.
Gray, P. (2013, March 27). The benefits of play have been revealed in research on video gaming. Retrieved March 27, 2023, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201803/benefits-play-revealed-in-research-video-gaming.
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Question
n education, there are always ideas and topics that are hotly debated. Play-based learning is usually one of the hottest debates. Along with simply debating whether or not children should engage in play in order to help them learn, grow, and develop, there are several topics within play itself that have generated a lot of interest. In this discussion, you will have the opportunity to choose a topic that relates to play—that you are passionate about—to debate with your classmates.
Should Video Games Be Considered a Form of Play.
Preparation:
Refer to the Week 2 Instructor Guidance for tips and examples that will support your success on this assignment.
Read Chapter 3: Play as the Cornerstone of Development: The Literature in your text.
Read Chapter 5: Orchestrating Play: Interactions With Children in your text.
Choose one of the topics below to debate with your peers then read the additional resources for your chosen topic.
Contemporary Play Issue Resources to Read
Is Children’s Play Today too Violent?
Are Toys Becoming More Violent … and Should We Be Worried?Links to an external site.
Children and Video Games: Playing With ViolenceLinks to an external site.
Do Gender Roles Matter When It Comes to Play?
Gender Roles and ToysLinks to an external site.
Peer Toy Play as a Gateway to Children’s Gender Flexibility: The Effect of (Counter) Stereotypic Portrayals of Peers in Children’s MagazinesLinks to an external site.
Do Children Today Know How to Play?
Whatever Happened to “Go Outside and Play”?Links to an external site.
The Kids Don’t Play AnymoreLinks to an external site.
Should Video Games Be Considered a Form of Play?
Benefits of Play Revealed in Research on Video GamingLinks to an external site.
Video Games Play May Provide Learning, Health, Social Benefits, Review FindsLinks to an external site.
In your initial post,
Identify the title of your topic as the subject line of your post.
Summarize, in three to four sentences, the main topic of your debate.
Describe your stance on your topic. In other words, describe your view related to the topic. Make sure to use the additional scholarly resources you have located in the University Library to support your thinking.
Explain how this information will influence your work with diverse learners.
https://theconversation.com/are-toys-becoming-more-violent-and-should-we-be-worried-60394
https://www.aacap.org/App_Themes/AACAP/docs/facts_for_families/91_children_and_video_games_playing_with_violence.pdf
https://www.education.com/download-pdf/reference/25282/
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11199-017-0883-3.pdf
https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/22/living/let-children-play-outside/index.html
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/why-the-kids-dont-play-any-more/article15446614/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201803/benefits-play-revealed-in-research-video-gaming
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2013/11/video-games