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Wednesday 9 October 2013

Online Gaming






Today I have been asked to discuss and think about my feelings and opinions towards online gaming. When I was little me and my brother loved playing on our Sega Mega and I remember us being addicted to this one game, that my mum could never get us off! It was a multi-player game where you competed against each-other to complete levels in the fastest times. This game was in no way educational and think maybe if it was in some ways my mum wouldn't have minded us playing it so much. I think this maybe how a lot of parents may also think. Some of the online games children can play today are so intense, with fighting, drugs and contain bad influential material I can understand how some people can think that online gaming can be bad.

Online gaming can really be an amazing and enjoyable thing but at the same time it can be extremely addictive and dangerous. Some addictive games could include online gambling where some people will play for real money, and get so draw in and addicted to the game can end up loosing at lot if money! However it is so convenient for them to just log on with their laptop or phone even that I can understand how people do it, even if it's just for the mere fact of boredom. Every single day I see more and more people of all ages on their phone's or tablets playing some kind of game like angry birds, fruit ninja or candy crush. All of these games can be enjoyable and innocent if played in moderation. So many people become addicted to these games and will play them for hours on end trying to complete them. Surely this cannot be good for their health, I know kids that will purely just stay at home as soon as they get home from school and play online games for hours! This kind of approach to gaming I think is so unhealthy as the children or even adults in some cases are shutting themselves off from the real world, and are unable to socialise with other people by actually meeting them not talking over the internet. Also some of the intense games that are being played are horrifically violent and may include graphic sexuality and allow you to kill others take drugs and steal. I know it sounds stupid but there is a possibility that playing these games could initially make some people think that it's okay for these types of things to actually happen in real life, or if they are getting away with these crimes on the game may feel like they could in real life as well. I know it seems mad to think it but you don't really know how some people think!! Online gaming is also linked to obesity, increasing depression, poor grades, addictive behavior and increased aggression or violence.

So although as you can probably tell I do have some strong disagreements with these types of games to a certain extent, I also feel that there are games which can be beneficial and make your brain work and think faster. For example there are so many different apps you can download now to help your memory and brain E.g. Brain trainer or sudoku. Brain trainer lets you answer all different questions, complete puzzles and even tell you your brain age after completing a level these types of games all help your cognitive ability.
Using online games within schools that are educational to the subject being taught can be very beneficial.
What is the purpose of games in education?
• Motivating
• Thinking skills
• Challenging
• Problem solving
• Mathematical Skills
• Language Skills

In addition to the above I have also found out that apart from just being fun, playing video games can reduce stress, lighten depression, increase vision, improve the ability to multi-task and improve decision-making skills.

There are so many positives and negatives to online gaming but I believe the negatives may just consist of the older more violent games that children are playing. I believe that in a few years every school will have Ipad’s or some kind of tablet packed with educational online games. If children are able to put as much time, effort and concentration into the games they play surely there’s a way get the same results with educational games :)




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