The Influence Of Video Games In Parent And Child Relationships

Some Suggest That Playing Video Games Bring Families Closer

Both children and adults have been entertained by video games for many decades now. We have seen how much technology has changed when it comes to video games, from the early days of computer games and the first versions of Nintendo and Atari. Gone are the days when all we can see are pixelated screens and limited sounds. Nowadays, video games are looking more real and thus, much more enjoyable to play.

As a kid, I used to play Tetris for hours, now my daughter likes playing games in culinaryschools.org, a gaming website which offers a collection of online games to help familiarize children with food, farming, cooking, the culinary arts, the restaurant business and hospitality-related careers.

She likes Cake Design where bakers make a cake to the customer’s wishes including batter type, shape, layers, filling, frosting, toppings, and topper. It’s easier to play on tap touch targets than with a mouse and is fast-paced. I, on the other hand, like Tap Supermarket where the player must manage a grocery store including restocking produce, expanding the line of goods sold, and checking out customers.

The cost of creating a game to run on one of the major consoles has risen as creating video games has become more intricate or complicated. Video games today can cost up to millions, taking into consideration the production and marketing costs.

The video game sector is extremely large, even larger than the movie and music industries combined, and is continuously expanding. Though it doesn’t get the same attention that the movie and music industry does, there are over two billion gamers all over the world.

Since there are a lot of gamers, and many of them are children, can playing video games impact parent-child relationships? Many studies suggest it’s beneficial for parents to play video games with their children. It can serve as a good bonding moment, improve a sense of family, model skills in problem solving and compassion, and help parents in understanding their children’s interests and wants.

One study showed that females age 11-16 who played video games with their parents had higher levels of positive behavior, mental health, and family connections. However, these positive effects were not found with males 11-16. More research will need to be done to know why gender led to different results.

There are also studies that have looked into the role video games play in behavior and health outcomes for adolescents. The current study investigated the relationship between parental co-play of video games and behavioral and family outcomes. Results showed that while time spent playing video games alone had many negative outcomes, co-playing video games with parents resulted in positive outcomes like minimized levels of aggressive behavior.

Gaming can improve the perception and physical abilities of older adults and can also foster relationships and positive emotions when extended to family members. Furthermore, playing video games can be seen by parents as being able to spend quality time with their children. However, the current study showed that this positive relationship is not applicable to all populations. Playing video games by yourself actually negatively affected relationships within families when it came to females who were attending university but living at home.

Results of studies showed that the more frequently family members play video games together, the more they become satisfied with their family dynamics and the more they become closer to each other.