Parents will be somewhat comforted by this week’s report on computer games which says they are not addictive and children playing them will not become more aggressive. The report even suggested that some games could even improve family relations because encouraged joint family activities on a scale rarely seen since the advent of television.
For generations parents have been worried about the latest fad engaging their children. Computer games, like previous fads, were not part of the childhood experience of present parents, so parents are largely ignorant of their influence, perhaps exaggerating it while having an idealised view of their own childhood.
The research, by Kevin Durkin, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Western Australia, indicates that computer games are not all that different from the fads of previous generations … apparently capable of generating obsessions but in fact just one of many activities. Obviously, children might be better off spending less time on the games and more on homework, reading or sport. But computer games appear to be better than a lot of television watching. Television is more passive. Computer games, the report showed, are an entree to the use of computer technology for children and appear to help them learn to think better and improve their ability to solve problems, adding to cognitive, perceptual and social development.
Addictive game play was found to be rare. Most children spent more time watching television. There was no link found between the games and aggressive behaviour, although there was some evidence that violent games played in video arcades had led to an increase in aggressive behaviour, but that might be put down to the atmosphere of the video arcade. The most consistent finding was that boys played computer games more than girls.
The report, entitled Computer Games: Their Effects on Young People … a Review, was commissioned by the Office of Film and Literature Classification to help the office in the process of classifying games for censorship purposes. There are good arguments that the contents of some games are unsuitable for children of certain ages. It is helpful for parents that they be classified, like films, so parents have an idea what their children are viewing and listening to. However, any thought that all games should be banned or restricted because they are somehow intrinsically corrupting is nonsense.
Professor Durkin’s report was largely a review of existing research, much of it overseas, but none the less relevant. His most encouraging finding was that the interactive nature of the games helped children because they had to respond to the game and because they interacted with other family members about the games. Television, on the other hand, is completely passive. The television does all the work.
To the extent that the cathode-ray-tube screen is intrinsically attractive to children, therefore, computer games are to be welcomed in so far as they lure children away from mindless, passive television and on to a more active and mind-exercising occupation.
The hype and alarmism that has accompanied the use of computers by children … as conveyors of porn and violence or as dominators of children’s leisure hours … seems largely unfounded.