Illustration by Emily Takara
“Video games help me relax and also provide a way to prank my friends when I want,” Pinewood 9th grader James Chang said.
Like Chang, many Pinewood students have a love for video games in spite of the conventional wisdom that advocates against them. Many people believe that video games increase poor concentration, changes in sleep patterns, and social isolation, which causes many adults to put restrictions on video games. But what if someone told you that video games could actually improve a student’s academic skills?
A recent study at the University of Geneva tested this theory. The researchers created an action video game with minigames similar to ones a child may find online. After splitting up 150 children into two cohorts, where one cohort was assigned to play the video game and the other to code using Scratch, a popular children’s programming language, the researchers tested the children’s reading skills and attention control. They found that the children who played the video game developed faster and more accurate reading skills than the ones who coded in Scratch. Remarkably, the video game cohort saw a sevenfold improvement in attention control compared to the Scratch cohort. These results were surprising, especially since the video game did not require any reading activity. The scientists continued to test the children afterwards in six month intervals and observed that these improvements in reading and attention persisted.
This is not to say that video games do not have negative aspects, as they have been shown to limit social interactions and worsen eyesight. Also, gamers may develop carpal tunnel syndrome, a painful injury, and obesity in adolescents is also associated with video gaming.
However, as the study from the University of Geneva shows, in spite of other concerns about video games, they are not altogether bad and do lead to some positive outcomes. In fact, perhaps some aspects of society’s views on children’s exposure to technology are outdated. As was demonstrated in the study, conventional wisdom is not always right.