So your child has finished their homework, organized their notes and studied for their upcoming test next week. If you’re child is like 91% of other children in the US, you probably know what they’ll do next. Play video games!
While there has been a lot of concern over the effects of video games on children’s minds and behavior, new research shows that perhaps video games can be beneficial. A new study from the University of Oxford shows that children between the ages of 10-15 who played an hour or less of video games a day were better equipped psychologically for social interactions with friends and family than children who didn’t play any video games at all. While it could be that children with good self-control or with a parent limiting their time spent playing video games is what’s also improving the child’s social behavior, the study suggests that video games may also help. It could be that as video games have evolved to become more of a social activity children are learning skills for social interaction through them. However, the study also found that children who played more than 3 hours of video games a day were less skilled at interacting socially.
The next time your child can’t wait to finish their homework and jump into Destiny or their Minecraft world, don’t feel too worried. Rewarding kids for work is a good thing, and playing video games might be good too, as long as it’s in moderation.
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