Tyler Koch
ENG 106
Professor Neuendorf
June 26, 2016
The Controversy of Video Gaming
In the United States, spending time playing video games is widely frowned upon and looked at as a waste of time by many. There is still immense debate today on the affects video gaming has on the psychology of the human mind and whether or not it gives cognitive benefits. The world has improved in many progressive ways since video games first got released and are still benefiting people today. Video games have always allowed humans to have the capability of creating a completely virtual world and bring their users into that different state of reality. The effort put into video games shows how far technology has come and how limitless it can strive to becoming. …show more content…
The violent characteristics associated with video gaming includes gangs, sex, drugs, and killings. There are copious amounts of video games that do not have an ounce of violence in them such as sports games or strategy games that require quick critical thinking and a mission to accomplish a goal in order to beat the game disregarding any violence. According to Christina L. Lyons in her article about Media Violence, “in the wake of a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that said a direct causal link between media violence – particularly video games – and real violence has not been proved”(145). The way she writes is very interesting because she gets to her point very quickly and then explains why, instead of other authors explaining first and then stating what they believe. Logically, video games are far from an unhealthy activity and essentially provide a fun and educational experience for their users. They stimulate emotions better than any other activity one can engage …show more content…
Parents nationwide are concerned that their children who play an unhealthy amount of hours are actually performing worse in school because of the time taken up by gaming. While non educational games may be the case for bad grades as they put all of their time focusing on it and not their homework, there are video games that are valuable for improving one 's literacy. Sarah Glazer states that “some academic scholars claim playing games is good for literacy, problem-solving, learning to test hypotheses, and researching information from a variety of sources”(940). Again she uses evidence to prove her point and the article is set up very nicely. Today, virtuous educational gaming actually benefits students to learn because it offers a visual allowing an easier time comprehending as well as including pictures to make it more fun and appealing to people. Instead of reading and understanding literature to make one smarter, some video games strictly offer learning capabilities and strategies like memory alertness, critical thinking, and opportunities to help aid the brain to function more keenly. Gary Peter from the University of Wisconsin claims in his article that “the mind works like a video game in that effective thinking is more like running a simulation than forming abstract generalizations.” The information he gives
ENG 106
Professor Neuendorf
June 26, 2016
The Controversy of Video Gaming
In the United States, spending time playing video games is widely frowned upon and looked at as a waste of time by many. There is still immense debate today on the affects video gaming has on the psychology of the human mind and whether or not it gives cognitive benefits. The world has improved in many progressive ways since video games first got released and are still benefiting people today. Video games have always allowed humans to have the capability of creating a completely virtual world and bring their users into that different state of reality. The effort put into video games shows how far technology has come and how limitless it can strive to becoming. …show more content…
The violent characteristics associated with video gaming includes gangs, sex, drugs, and killings. There are copious amounts of video games that do not have an ounce of violence in them such as sports games or strategy games that require quick critical thinking and a mission to accomplish a goal in order to beat the game disregarding any violence. According to Christina L. Lyons in her article about Media Violence, “in the wake of a 2011 Supreme Court ruling that said a direct causal link between media violence – particularly video games – and real violence has not been proved”(145). The way she writes is very interesting because she gets to her point very quickly and then explains why, instead of other authors explaining first and then stating what they believe. Logically, video games are far from an unhealthy activity and essentially provide a fun and educational experience for their users. They stimulate emotions better than any other activity one can engage …show more content…
Parents nationwide are concerned that their children who play an unhealthy amount of hours are actually performing worse in school because of the time taken up by gaming. While non educational games may be the case for bad grades as they put all of their time focusing on it and not their homework, there are video games that are valuable for improving one 's literacy. Sarah Glazer states that “some academic scholars claim playing games is good for literacy, problem-solving, learning to test hypotheses, and researching information from a variety of sources”(940). Again she uses evidence to prove her point and the article is set up very nicely. Today, virtuous educational gaming actually benefits students to learn because it offers a visual allowing an easier time comprehending as well as including pictures to make it more fun and appealing to people. Instead of reading and understanding literature to make one smarter, some video games strictly offer learning capabilities and strategies like memory alertness, critical thinking, and opportunities to help aid the brain to function more keenly. Gary Peter from the University of Wisconsin claims in his article that “the mind works like a video game in that effective thinking is more like running a simulation than forming abstract generalizations.” The information he gives