According to wired.co.uk ¨There are now more than 2.5 billion active gamers around the world. That’s a billion more than just five years ago. In March 2019, Fortnite, one of the most popular games ever, had over 250 million registered users. In 2020, populations in game worlds will increase as the global population becomes more comfortable with gaming”. There are 7,853,073,258 in the world. Almost one third of the world population plays video games. Video games have many positive and negative sides. They can help with many things, but also hinder many things. Parents have strong opinions w 8hen it comes to video games. Should parents be as hateful when it comes to video games?

Video games can have its ups and downs when it comes to daily life. According to Concordia University Texas  (https://online.concordia.edu) there are some good positive effects, and bad negative effects “Playing video games has been found to enhance hand-eye coordination, lengthen attention spans and improve both working memory and rapid decision-making abilities”. This is just one of the many pros they listed off. They also listed off how video games can enhance executive functioning, they can help ease anxiety and depression, and can help improve basic visual processes. Video games can help with a lot of things in life, and they can help in life. But on the other hand there are a lot of negative effects. Concordia University Texas lists that video games can make people aggressive, they may decrease players’ ability to concentrate, they can become addictive, and they may increase depression and anxiety. There are many pros and cons when it comes to video game usage. 

Parents have their own reasons on why to dislike video games and why they may or may not let their children play video games.  I asked some parents in my friends’ parents and parents in my family for their opinion on video games. My mom says “I think video games are addictive like any other things that give off endorphins in someone’s brain. They should be used in moderation. Like anything given to a child it should be regulated because it can give the child opportunities to access negative content. There are a lot of positives and a lot of negatives. As a parent, I wish children didn’t want to be on them all the time because there aren’t a lot of benefits like working out, or playing a sport, or things like that. They can also strengthen cognitive skills and possibly ward off anxiety. Positive  aspect is hopefully it will open up job opportunities in the future but i also think it gives a lot of false hope for every teenage boy to make millions being a gamer. That’s not realistic.  Video games are a privilege and should be treated like one, not a right.” I took some other inputs from other people’s parents. Brandon Logan’s mom states “Video games are great in moderation and there are some benefits to them as well. But don’t let them be the only thing that you do in your life. If your kid is violent, the video game is not at fault, but there is an underlying issue inside the kid that the parents need to help with.” Some parents’ reasons are very similar to each others reasons to why or why not they should let their kids play video games.

In  conclusion, I believe that parents should not be as harsh on their kids about video games. Their kids are having fun and building some skills that can be used in their day to day lives.