How do video games affect socialization skills in children Research Paper

How do video games affect socialization skills in children - Research Paper Example There are five major categories of video games – Sports, General entertainment, Fantasy violence, Human violence and Education. Medicine and psychological experts are divided adverse effects on video games on children especially with regard to their socialization skills. The major pros and cons of playing video games have been highlighted below. Positives Entertainment and Fun learning Promoted even by educational institutions Encourages problem solving skills Interactive Sense of achievement Improves perceptual, motor and cognitive skills Improves planning and handling of complex situations. Negatives Poor academics Addictive Highly aggressive Accepts violence as being normal Leads to health hazards like Obesity and other diseases Increases heart rate, sugar and blood pressure levels Empirical evidence suggests that, more often than not, the negatives outweigh the benefits. Social activists and health experts advise regular parental control over the amount of time the child s pends on playing video games and the nature of games being played. Children are strongly urged to keep away from games portraying too much violence. Review Of Literature A recent study conducted by Cheryl K. Olson, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital's Center for Mental Health and Media in Boston, indicated that fears on the adverse effect of video games on kids were unfounded. He highlighted that video game benefits can include nourishment of self esteem, pride and socialization skills. He concluded that kids can learn academics, social interaction and cooperation and even history from video games. He recommended that parental guidance and control were key to kids’ obtaining maximum benefits from video gaming. Dawar (2010) concedes that evidence exists that playing violent video games makes kids more aggressive and less sympathetic towards victims. But, he argues that video games feature characters helping each other and thereby makes the kids friendlier. He remar ks that international evidence from correlational, longitudinal and experimental studies indicate that kids playing prosocial games were definitely better skilled at socialization. The National Network for Child Care (NNCC) reports that children spending too much time on video games result in compromised social skills. Social skills like learning how to share with others, carry on a conversation etc. are imperative to juvenile development. It further states that social skills need to be modeled on parents not machines like video gaming consoles. Affonso (1999) found that teenagers are much heavier Internet users than their parents. Adults deployed the Interne to seek out job and employment-related information. The teenagers were more likely to play games, listen to music and meet new people. He voiced concern that Internet mirrored television and will intensify the negative effects on our social skills and that we are encouraging our children to become social nitwits! However, he wa s not all skeptical about the effect of video games on children. He also indicated that most children were quite capable of handling themselves and technology had proven to be a positive enhancement to growth. According to him, children used the technology to play, learn, communicate and form relationships as children always have. Development is enhanced in an interactive world." Johnson (2007) argued that gaming sharpened thinking, social skills and perception. It was fun and promoted

Emotional development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Emotional development - Essay Example A multi-agency team, consisting of a play worker, a nursery nurse, and a teaching assistant, worked with Rose to help her come out of her emotional trauma. Fun tools available to the kids and the types of play activities were observed, along with special consideration given to the team’s supervision and other adults’ direct or indirect contribution in play activities. The team saw positive outcomes. 2. Importance of Attachment and Its Effects on Brain The importance of attachment of infants and toddlers with the parents or caregivers cannot be denied in terms of healthy mental development. â€Å"The impact of attachment disruptions on children’s lives can be devastating and far-reaching†, state Kaduson and Schaefer (2006: 148). When the child enjoys vigorous attachment with the caregiver, he will learn how to offer and maintain a devoted and compassionate relationship that benefits the child in both the short and long run. He will learn to rely on others. The long term outcome will be a contented, independent, and confident personality. On the other hand, when the child does not have an attachment bonding with the caregiver, he will learn to fear, to feel guilty, and to feel the world as a place which is not safe and where his needs are not going to be met. The long term outcome is a timid personality suffering from inferiority complex. Hence, we see that the attachment between the infant/toddler and the caregiver has significant importance in terms of personality developmental outcomes. 3. Components of Healthy Attachment According to Kaduson and Schaefer (2006: 267), â€Å"a healthy attachment allows for a balance between the toddler’s developmentally appropriate exploratory drive and need for emotional reassurance and support.† A healthy attachment between an infant and the caregiver has two components. the infant’s needs that he wants the caregiver to fulfill the timely response of the caregiver The attachmen t occurs when the infant has a sure feeling that the parent or the caregiver will always be there to fulfill his needs of hunger, thirst, clothing, cleaning, and the like. When the caregiver gives a timely response to the infant, this gives rise to trust. The infant forms trust on the caregivers when his needs are fulfilled and forms an attachment with them. When the infant feels otherwise, he learns to mistrust others. Attachment also includes such efforts by the infant with which he tries to remain in physical contact with the caregiver, for example, holding a finger tight, clinging to the bosom, sticking to the lap, and etcetera. 4. Parenting Styles and Attachment Parents and caregivers can play very important role in developing and maintaining healthy bonds of attachment with the children (Maccoby 1992). When the caregivers give the children the chance to share their problems and express their needs to them, they are actually ensuring them that they can always depend upon them f or a solution. Parents use many approaches while parenting, most common of which are authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved styles. Attachment occurs when the child feels secure with his parent’s parenting style (Strage & Brandt 1999). Authoritarian parents leave no room for reasoning and communication. Authoritative parents leave room for objections. They listen to their child’s ideas and reason with them due to which the child