Negative Effects on Children and Adolescents

Many children and adolescents are falling victim to very violent and addictive games.  China now has laws to regulate the number of hours adolescents can play online games because over 30 million adolescents are now addicted (Young, 2009).  Fifteen percent, or five million, American children are most likely to engage in excessive gaming. A study in Taiwan conducted on adolescents addicted to the Internet found that most addiction develops out of boredom, to escape reality, and to emotionally cope. Children and adolescents that have emotional problems, family problems, or low self esteem are more than likely to become addicted to gaming. The gaming world has evolved for these young individuals who have problems because they can go into this virtual world and be whoever they want to forget about reality. This addicted child can have many negative effects from gaming.  For an adolescent or child to miss socializing interactions and hobbies is a big problem. It can lead to difficulties with social and emotional development. These individuals also experience physical effects from lack of sleep, lack of exercise, and poor diet. Many online gamers then have difficulty concentrating in school and doing homework. These adolescents cannot have healthy relationship with family or friends because if they are not playing they can become violent, anxious, or even depressed.  All of these problems have caused lack of self esteem in real life making the gamer play more and more to escape reality. (Young, 2009). Children and adolescents are starting to excessive game at such a young age when they might not know the difference between reality and fantasy which can lead to violence and aggression. Excessive time spent playing in violent video games is linked to troublesome behavior and violent behavior. Internet gaming addiction can have very harmful effects on children and adolescents that could lead to difficulty throughout life.  

Positive Effects on Children and Adolescents

Many children and adolescents play video games that cause some children to have negative effects, but many gamers do learn from playing all the time.  A study conducted on third graders in Taiwan showed that computer based learning games can be used to teach students information.  The third graders in the study improved cognitive learning compared to computer instruction. The games actually were better at improving problem solving, learning, recalling, and differentiating skills. The games improved the students’ comprehension of the information better than learning it by instruction (Chuang & Chen, 2009).  Many children and adolescents with proper instruction in online gaming can benefit from it.  Many children can learn to read better from wanting to play more advanced games, expand their imagination, develop skills they lack in person, and be happier playing online games.