Book Review

 

Tittle: 25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games

Authors: Ronaldo Tumbokon

Published: September 27, 2020

Last Update: November 16, 2020

Source: https://www.raisesmartkid.com/3-to-6-years-old/4-articles/34-the-good-and-bad-effects-of-video-games

25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games is an article by Ronaldo Tumbokon. This article published on Sunday, September 27, 2020. This article is in the non-fiction genre, meaning that this article is the result of research from the author. Education for children is a theme raised by the authors in this article. This article is especially suitable if read by parents of children aged six to seventeen who like to play games.

If we talk about games, of course, there will be many positive or negative responses. Many people feel that games only destroy generations. This assumption usually comes from parents who complain about their children who often play games. But on the other hand, gamers who are usually children to teenagers think that games are useful and fun for them. The first impression after reading the article 25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games is that I feel that this article can mediate between children and parents.

I will start discussing the title of this article first. 25+ Positive effect of playing games, at first when I just read the title of this article, it makes me wonder, is there this much benefit from playing games? After I read this article further, it turned out that the author of this article listed 26 benefits of playing games. It's following what the author promised in the title of this article. However, the word 25+ only applies to the positive effect, and the negative impact when playing games described by the author in this article are far less. Is this a way for the author to say that games have more benefits than disadvantages? Well, let us discuss this article further.

This article begins with the question "Are video games good or bad for you?" then answered with "It can be both". Then continued with the author who stated that "Video games are frowned upon by parents as time-wasters, and worse, some education experts think that these games corrupt the brain". Then the author also included the opinion of University of Wisconsin psychologist C. Shawn Green. Namely "Video games change your brain," which was followed by the statement of other experts. Then the author describes the benefits of playing games in terms of mental skill development and continues with another advantage. Then finally, the author describes the disadvantages of playing video games.

After reading it thoroughly, Ronaldo Tumbokon as the author of this article explains it well. The writing in this article is easy enough for many people to understand. The use of words is not too complicated. I can say that the purpose of this article is right on target, namely for parents who have children who like to play games.

I think this article this article can open the eyes of parents that not playing the game has a negative impact. As explained in this article entitled 25+ Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games, there are also many positive sides. Such as increasing the child thinking power to set strategies, so that the child can thinking before acting in the future. Today many job opportunities rely on someone gaming skills. The job in question is to become a Pro Player, Youtuber, and Streamer. Many people have proven successful in these jobs.

In this article, Ronaldo Tumbokon intends to invite parents to be freer for their children to play games. Parents must be able to understand the wishes of their child. In this era, learning does not have to be with literature from books, because there are many educational games for children. I think educational games are more interesting for children than books. Another positive impact is as a parent can be closer to their child. Parents can play together while supervising their children.

Apart from the statements made by the author in this article, there are several statements which I feel agree and disagree with it. It was from my own experience. The following is my opinion on the opinion presented by the author.

Let us start with the point "Problem solving and logic". The author suggests the game Angry Birds or Cut The Rope to build logic skills. It is true that in this game, many levels require the child to think about solving these obstacles. However, in some cases, some stages in the game are too difficult for children to solve. Many children tend to be emotional because they fail too often when playing the game. Well, this is where the role of parents in supervising their children is soo important. Parents must be able to calm their emotional child while playing games. Then how? By helping their children to finish the game and always giving encouragement to their children. Please do not tell your children to leave the game when the child loses when playing the game. By encouraging your children, one day children will grow up to be a person who does not give up easily.

Then go to the point "Hand-eye coordination, fine motor and spatial skills". I agree with this point that playing a shooting game like Counter-Strike can improve Hand-eye coordination. However, in my experience, I have played quite a several games, including shooting games like Counter-Strike. It turned out that after playing a game like that several times, it turned out that the coordination ability between the eyes and hands was not that good. I prefer to say that this skill is more like the talent of someone because I have seen many pro players who are very good at playing shooting games. They have quick reflexes because in shooting games it is needed. In any case, for a child who wants to improve the "Hand-eye coordination" skill. Do not worry "Hand-eye coordination" can be achieved with enough practice. As the saying goes "Hard work always pays".

The next point that will discuss is "Multitasking, simultaneous tracking of many shifting variables and managing multiple objectives". Well, I differ with the author when he said "multitasking" is an advantage that can we obtained when playing games. In theory, I believe it is possible, but in many cases, someone who is playing the game will only focus on their game.  When playing games, many people tend to finish their game first before starting another activity rather than playing a game while doing other activities. Though in some cases where people forget their main activities or responsibilities because they are too focused on finishing the game. Again, the role of parents in educating their children is crucial. Parents must be able to teach their children how to manage time well, such as prioritizing homework and studying before playing games. It does not mean that this can be used as an excuse by parents to prohibit their children from playing games. A child needs a brain refreshing, but it still has its portion.

Continue to the "Memory" and "Concentration" points. I can say that I agree with this statement, where Ronaldo Tumbokon, as the author, said that playing games could improve children memory and concentration. But in my experience, the memories that get while playing games often interfere with other memories. This condition happens because the brain of your children is only concerned with the games he plays. This scattered memory will affect the focus of your children while doing other work. If this happens, what would you do as a parent? By stopping the activity that your child is doing because it is useless to do an activity if not focused. Then tell your child to take a rest and drink more water. Keep watching your child, don't let him rest by playing games, by sleeping for 2-3 hours the brain will come back fresh. Then after waking up, your child can continue their activities. If symptoms such as dizziness and nausea occur, contact your doctor immediately.

My last opinion for this article is on the sentence "Video games allow you and your child to play together and can be a good bonding activity". I agree with that statement, based on my experience is fun playing games with my parents. By playing games with parents, a child will feel that parents are friends so a child will feel more open to each other.

Regardless of my opinions which I have described above, well, this article is impressive. Happy to read this article. As I have previously explained, this article is very suitable for parents who have children from toddlers to teenagers. This article helps you to be wiser there in caring for your child. I highly recommend that you read this article yourself, and I have also included the article link. If you have disagreements with anything in this review, feel free to comment.