Children's Brains on Video Games and the Internet

Video games and the Internet directly affect children's brains! What exactly are the pros and cons of new technologies in children's' lives and how are they being shaped? Arun Rajagopal challenged me to add to his very well articulated post, Is Internet Good for Children?

Positives of the Internet and video games...

Saving the World, One Video Game at a Time Some video games are works of art designed to grapple with issues that tap teens' problem solving brain power in positive ways...

Video games, serious-games advocates say, also possess a persuasive element that is missing from books or movies: They let the player become a different person (at least for an hour or two), and see the world from a new perspective. When Mr. Burak first showed Peacemaker to Israelis and Palestinians, he found that they were most interested in playing as their own “side.” But when he pushed them to switch positions they developed a more nuanced sense of why the other side acted as it did. In Qatar several people told him that “they kind of understood more the pressures the Israeli prime minister has.”

Games like Peacemaker provide users much more than mindless fun, they can be a medium for change.

Video Games Help Develop Children's Brains

When children play video games, they "manage multiple objectives at the same time," according to Steven Johnson, who advocates non-violent games. Children learn to control resources and make split-second decisions throughout the game. Focus and attention is crucial.

James Gee, notes that children who play video games exhibit "fluid intelligence."

"They have to discover the rules of the game and how to think strategically," said James Paul Gee, a University of Wisconsin-Madison curriculum and instruction professor. "Like any problem solving that is good for your head, it makes you smarter."

Computer Games Help Autistic Children Recognize Emotions Interactive games, such as FaceSay™, give children with autism spectrum disorders practice recognizing facial expressions of an avatar, or software “puppet.” You'd be interested to know, these computer games teach children where to look for facial cues such as an eye gaze, a frown and other facial expressions.

Creating Web Sites Stimulates Literacy and Higher Cognitive Thinking

Teachers are using new curriculum, designed by Jennifer Stone, which introduces students to theories and methods of web design. And moving from theory to practical application, they plan and build a complex website. In the final or "informational" phase, each student selects a topic, conducts research to create articles on the topic theme. What's so important about this?

In addition to stressing the importance of planning, this medium foregrounds the role of revision in writing. When creating a website, it can be published immediately and changed at anytime. This is very different from other types of texts where the final product is final and changes require substantial investments of time, materials, and money. Revision is a key aspect of web-based writing, where authors constantly must adapt to ongoing audience feedback, new content, and changing technologies.

When students transfer ideas from one context to another, they tap into higher cognitive skills, those needed for today's businesses to be competitive.

Problems with the Internet and Video Games As They Shape Children's Minds

Video Games Teach Aggression

As children engage in an activity again and again, that learning's stored in the brain's basal ganglia. Repetition fosters learning... And so, as aggression helps children win video game contests, the behavior's programmed the child's brain.

"Should we therefore be surprised that violent video games could teach aggression to players," father and son researchers, J. Ronald and Doug Gentile ask. These games are more harmful than violent television and movies because they are interactive, very engrossing and require the player to identify with the aggressor.

Teens Who Play Video Games Read Less and Do Less Homework

On school days, teen boys who play video games appear to spend less time reading and teen girls who play video games appear to spend less time doing homework than those who do not play video games, according to a report in the July, 2007 issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine... Compared with non-video game--players, adolescents who played video games spent 30 percent less time reading and 34 percent less time doing homework.

Children hooked on video games, spend so much time playing that they fail to develop friendships, get appropriate outdoor exercise or suffer in their schoolwork according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Children Lack Important Cognitive Skills

Could this be a cause of a new trend showing that Americans read less frequently and less proficiently? Reading's important because it affects the brain physiologically... Three ingenious design principles come into play as we read, according to Maryanne Wolf, professor at Tufts University:

...the capacity to make new connections among older structures; the capacity to form areas of exquisitely precise specialization for recognizing patterns in information, and the ability to learn to recruit and connect information from these areas automatically.

To starve reading is to stunt cognitive skills needed beyond school... especially in college and the workplace.

Activities Shape Brains

Video game and Internet activities rewire children's and teen's brains for success or failure in school and beyond. Teachers and parents can guide children to make wise choices...

Arun, thanks for the challenge since it led me to dig deep and learn more on this very timely topic...

Thoughts?