The Bad News Research generally suggests that prolonged exposure to violent video games can make people feel more aggressive, desensitized to violence, and less empathetic. Experts also suggest that due to the global pandemic, online gaming and gambling addictions are on the rise . 61 The Good News Video games can provide several possible cognitive benefits including increas ed response time performance and hand - eye coordination, practice in visual - spatial skills, stronger visual memory, improved pattern recognition, and using trial and error to problem - solve more often. Moral of the Story Content and context matter! As parents/caregivers, we need to be involved in which games our children are playing. Enforcing time limits and self - regulation while minimizing exposure to inappropriate and violent content is important. We want to reinforce p ro- social games that can test and grow our children’s creativity and enhance cognitive skills while remaining age - appropriate for our children’s emotional maturity. SST encourages parents to do their research on any video game before allowing children to play them. A detailed description of most games can be found online through Google search. Two of the most popular games played by our youngest children ( aged 4-13) are Roblox and Minecraft which have online multiplayer modes that include chat and messaging features which parents should be aware of and monitor at their discretion. The Ratings Guide from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
ESRB ratings are categorized into three parts: • Rating Categories; suggest age appropriateness. • Content Descriptors; indicate content that may have triggered a particular rating and/or may be of interest or concern. • Interactive Elements; inform about interactive aspects of a product, including the users’ ability to interact, the sharing of users’ location with others, if in - app purchases of digital goods are completed, and/or if unrestricted internet access is provide d.
61 Online Gambling, Gaming Addiction Has Increased During COVID - 19
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