There is no dearth of articles proclaiming computer games have all sorts of negative impacts on children from turning them into couch potatoes, inducing violence, hampering their mental growth to downright addiction. What seems to be missing in this analysis is the fact that games are just an addition to the activities a child can indulged in. And like any other activity say outdoor sports, watching TV, chatting on internet, it can neither be bad or good, but it is the usage and frequency that matters.
So parents need to reassess the impact of computer games before making any perception or judgment on the topic.The biggest advantage of playing games is that it is often the first activity that introduces computers to children. It not only builds reflexes as games require high accuracy of visual and hand coordination but also makes children think beyond trivial passive offline pass times. The challengers that a child gamer has to overcome builds spatial capacity, develops ability to follow directions, maps, way-points and may even contain learning opportunities. Think of world conquering games that makes geography fun by immersing the world map in players mind as they go on claiming region after region. Some games have historical angle incorporated in them, such as upgrading technologies to jump to next age of advancement or playing different nations of teh world exploring their unique strengths. This means that the children are active part of game role and characters, and their decisions influence the outcome of the game.
Be it commanding a military force or playing a mayor of city that is being built right from scratch, there is plenty of knowledge in games available today. What else than a game can teach children so effectively about basics of managing a city infrastructure such as real estate valuation according to neighborhood, raising funds, taxing various civic activities, effects of increased or decreased funding for road maintenance, mass transit, police, health care, education etc, monitoring of pollution and crime levels, energy requirements, availability of water through underground pipe networks and distillation plants, water disposal and also trade with neighbours. Similarly, there are simulations specifically for transportation, hospital, hotel, park, university etc that go deeper into each fielf in a completely entertaining and non-classroom way.
Another advantage of games is that children can be pitched against each other or can play with their parents something that is not always easy in case of outdoor activities. Though sports and board games also constitute a major part of what children may like to do in their spare time, computer games are something that brings in variety in terms of themes and complexity both. Take for example Chess. It is now possible to play the wonderful game without a human partner and can even be learned using specific lessons and quizzes built into the games itself. Similarly, children can learn rules of many sport games that may not otherwise play at that age like golf, tennis etc.
As parents, the most important thing is not to ridicule games as a practice that should be abandoned. Rather, regularizing the timings and contents are more than enough just as it is the case with other entertainment modes. Keeping the computer in drawing room is a good idea as it reinforces openness and easier control over defined times. Next, taking a look at games ratings before letting children play them is also important. These are typically E (Everyone), EC (Early Childhood), T (Teens), M (Mature) and AO (Adults Only). Introducing children to games other than the popular genre of First Person Shooter (e.g. Counterstrike, Call of Duty) is essential if it is seen that all a child is doing is mindless shooting all the time. There are a lot of games that develop team work, logic and problem solving skills along with hours of entertainment.
What needs to be realized is that computer games are not bad themselves, it is the usage that can have negative or positive impacts. There are parents who in fact feel proud that their very young children can use computers to play simple pattern matching or mouse games well before they can understand cartoons or play any sport. Proper and controlled exposure to technology from an early age provides an opportunity for accelerated learning that mus not be missed due to misunderstandings about computer games.
