Stop Feeling Guilty, Parents: Video Games Have Benefits

Do not be surprised. It's true. Video games can be good for kids. A study from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, researchers discovered that playing active video games can work as well as doing moderate exercises.

In "Good Games, Good Learning," University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor James Gee writes, "Good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in Cognitive Science (Gee 2003, 2004). Why? If no one could learn these games, no one would buy them-and players will not accept easy, dumbed down or short games."

Gee goes on to give examples of games that were not developed or branded as educational, but required problem solving in order to succeed. Unlike a book where the reader is passive, good video games require action and thinking, problem solving on the player's part or else the player can not reach his goals. When the player fails to accomplish a task or an objective or his character dies, he tries again taking several, different approach knowing why the previous one did not work.

Parents may not have control over applying good learning and design principles into games. Instead, they can follow these six useful tips in finding video games that can greatly benefit kids.

1. Go for "E" rated games: Pick games that the Entertainment Software Rating Board
(ESRB) rates as E for everyone or EC for early childhood.

2. Get physical: Games keep coming out that require players to move around to interact with the
game.

3. Ask teachers and other parents for recommendations: Schools sometimes have games available for the kids to play during recess and free time. Other parents may have checked out games you have not, so you can get their insight before spending money on a game.

4. Try before you buy: Many web sites offer free downloads of games that you can play for 30 to
60 minutes before the trial runs out. This gives parents a chance to assess the game before purchasing.

5. Go with known brands: Educational software publishers tend to put out reliable games that teach. Such companies include Broderbund (The Learning Company), Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited, Scholastic and Vivendi Universal Games' Knowledge Adventures.

6. Read reviews: Visit Amazon, game and parenting web sites to read game reviews. Rely on more than one source and plenty of reviews.

Of course we can not deny the fact that books and classroom learning still remain vital for kids. However, playing video games can challenge the brain because kids have to figure out the rules of a game, know the objectives of the games and navigate around the virtual world and figure out how to be able to accomplish the objective and win the game. Steven Berlin Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter, writes that video games have become more complex, which compel gamers to multitask and keep track of multiple objectives. So give you kids' bodies and brains a good workout with the right games.