To game... or not to game?!

To game, or not to game?!

Gaming has most certainly been stereotyped as somewhat having too many negative connotations and also being associated with those whom have little to no social life , don’t engage in physical activity and are perhaps part of a different brain wave altogether.

I did partake in limited gaming as a child: Super Mario Brothers ; Pacman and the one which my mother never minded us playing: Majhong. Personally I do feel that if children play games which are informative thus mathematics , language or possess elements of education then I think they most certainly will create positive outcomes for children. However, I do disagree with games being used to ‘kill time’or when parents stick their children in front of the television screen for hours on end with their PS3 in hand leaving them to play games till dinner time, unsupervised thus resulting in the child consuming information which could more than likely not be suitable for a young child and therefore being like a sponge, taking in all the corruptive information that our horrible world has to offer.

I disagree with assumptions made with regards to comparing gaming to watching television in the sense that they are both entertainment forms for one to ‘chill out’ whilst watching. Television is something that one can certainly relax to and also not necessarily partake in.  One can walk away , make a cup of coffee and still hear what is happening in the Hospital at Seattle Grey. You don’t have to be so immersed in the show to understand the relationship between the cast in Grey’s Anatomy. However in comparison to gaming , it needs one’s undivided attention. Most of us can agree with this statement. If you not paying attention then a slayer or a zombie could ‘kill’ you. This exact reason is why children become unsociable, scared of the real world and lose all human interaction ‘skills’ as such. Its fair to assume that a lonely housewife can simply ‘zone out’ to Sim City or Second Life and re-create a world where she might feel dominant , secure , beautiful and engage in relations making her feel worthwhile. However, the realism is that her husband is going to be home in a few hours , the children might need picking up from school , laundry needs doing , groceries need to be bought and dinner needs preparing. All these are day to day routines which most of us follow so games which create hours of ‘zoning out’ can simply not be seen or categorized or labeled as being productive , positive or worthwhile.

I might have waffled a bit but in essence I feel I have communicated my idea as to why I think gaming which is engaged in for hours on end can simply not be seen to have a positive effect in ones life. However I do feel that if it’s a game which for children as an example , focuses on education where they could perhaps improve on their maths skills then I am most certainly all for it. We are living in the real world , why not become the best we can be and use today’s technologies to further ourselves, improve our intelligence and social skills not to shy away from the world and become stale.