Effects of Restricting the Type and Amount of Video Game Use by Childre

Effects of Restricting the Type and Amount of Video Game Use by Children Popularity of Video Games Playing video games has become almost as popular as watching television. The vast majority of school children play video games; they are part of the daily routine of 65% of American households. Video games account for 30% of the US toy market and the annual earnings from video games approaches nine billion dollars, which is more than the gross sales from box office tickets for movies. This amount is 10 times the amount spent on production of children’s educational television programming (Walsh, 1999). Despite the popularity of video games, parents and teachers alike question whether or not this activity has any educational value. Moreover, as the quality and realism of video games improve with advances in technology, it is likely that children's interest in video games is going to increase, not decrease. For example, interactive video games, multimedia video games, and virtual reality video games are already on the market. It has been, and will continue to be difficult f or parents to keep their children from playing this new generation of video games. The purpose of this review is to explore the issue of whether or not parents should restrict the type of video game their children play and the amount of time their children play video games. Positive and Negative Aspects Clearly, there are several negative aspects to playing video games. Parents have little control over the types of games their children choose to play. Perhaps the only meaningful questions we can ask are "should they control the type of video game their child uses, e.g., traditional versus those with â€Å"proven therapeutic value?" (Parente, 1997). Sh... ...gy 2.1: 69-74. Parente, A. (1997). Does video games improve attention-concentration and hand-eye coordination: Short report? Cognitive Technology 2.2: 41-43. Phillips, C.A., Rolls, S., Rouse, A., & Griffiths, M.D. (1995). Home video game playing in schoolchildren: A study of incidence and patterns of play. Journal of Adolescence 18.6: 687-691. Scientific Research. Retrieved 16 September 2001. http://www.playattention.com/studies.htm. The Effects of Video Games on How Children Learn. Retrieved 5 June 2001. http://pluto.palomar.edu/renteria030/essay2.htm. Twum, M. (1994). Maximizing generalization of cognition and memory after traumatic brain injury. NeuroRehabilitation, 4.3: 157-167. Video Games: Harmfully Addictive or A Unique Educational Environment? Retrieved 5 June 2001. http://www.eeng.dcu.ie/~tcs/Articles/VideoGamesInterview.html.