The Contribution of Video Technology to Adolescent Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
The most debated issue in relation to children's attention spans is the negative impact video technology can have. In particular video games, which are a fairly new area of media to consider, and are pervasive throughout our society with usage as high as 160 million users. There is no doubt they are a powerful source of entertainment for children in today's society. In recent years researchers have expressed concerned about the number of attention deficit disorder cases identified in adolescents and its relationship to video technology. While most agree that more research needs to be performed, others disagree and point to the benefits that video games have shown in improving education. Even though research has found that playing video games can lead to improvements in education, video games contribute to attention problems because adolescents who spend more time playing video games display more symptoms of ADHD and research and case studies prove this.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which is classified as a psychiatric disorder affects many adolescents. There has been a lot of research on the relationship between television and the possible harm it may have on children's ability to maintain focus. While most of the television programs are produced purely for entertainment, the violence that is portrayed is the primary message of most programs. This same concept also applies to video games, were the theme of most games involves, shooting, killing and annihilation. It would be safe to say that most of the content in video games has no educational benefit. The Swing et al, (2010) study found the following:
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...y. Psychology Of Popular Media Culture, 1(1), 62-70. doi:10.1037/a0026969
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At this day in age we bask in the luxury of having easy access to advanced technology at our disposal. From the World Wide Web, to cell phones, music, movies and video games the human race has thought of any and everything to keep us entertained. Over the years studies have shown reasonable concerns regarding the long-term effects of video games. These games can desensitize gamers to real life violence, which is usually seen in the younger crowd. The studies especially hit on the games containing player-on-player violence. Though these games are extremely entertaining and can get kids to settle down for a while, if not properly supervised, they can produce adverse effects. Other studies have shown that video games can be used as way to yield positive outcomes such as, good problem solving skills, cooperation in a group and the ability to flow. Although there has been psychological research on children learning through the actions of others some believe that children are automatically able to distinguish between what is just a game and what is reality. The longer they are allowed on their game system the more they become convinced that their games are real. Some researchers believe violent video games can channel the aggression of the child but the parents are to blame for what happens to the child after playing an excessive amount over a period of time. Children can become preoccupied with these violent video games which have been proven to be the cause of poor social skills, uncontrollable aggression and a false reality.
Video games do not make us more intelligent. They may however, make us more prone to violence and sex. Video games are preventing us from screening out distractions and making thinking deeply a difficult task. Our brains become overwhelmed when multitasking. Moreover, Johnson states “... a modern video game can take forty hours to complete”. Forty hours keep kids from homework and as Rachael Rettner states in livescience, “The results show that boys given a PlayStation II are slower to progress in their reading and writing skills and have more learning problems reported by their teachers than those not given a system”. The sole reason studies come back positive for video games being productive is due to the fact that they test a regular video gamer with a non-gamer. Regular video gamers will do better in the study because the more they play, the better they get. Not many realize the effect of these “fully realized imaginary worlds”, it is making it harder for people to differentiate their virtual life with their real
In 2008, 97% of twelve to seventeen year olds in America played video games, thus fueling the domestic video games by $11.7 million. Ten out of the top twenty best-selling video games contain violence. Many of these violent video games have been accused of incidents that include crime, bullying, and behavior problems. As the popularity of violent video games increase, more people become victims of behavior problems such as depression, aggressiveness, and addiction. Although video games were intentionally created for entertainment purposes, through studies and experiments it has been established that they are factors of behavior problems because of the active interaction people demonstrate while playing video games.
There are many people who say that videogames and TV will rot your brain and cause brain damage. Plenty of research and articles are against children playing video games, but there are some that are in favor of video games, and that number is growing every day. Video games can have some medicinal uses from helping patients in physical therapy to improving ones vison. Many people do not see these uses and for every one for video games there are five who are against it, however as that number is slowly growing.
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Researchers, however, have found that gaming may not be completely bad for adolescents. A recent study by Paul J.C. Adachi and Teena Willoughby points out that video gaming may satisfy the same criteria for positive youth development as traditional organized activities such as sports, music or clubs. In direct contrast to this analogy, they demonstrate that there may be significant social benefits of gaming, that adolescents are motivated to play video games and that this type of play requires concentration and mental effort (Adachi and
In April 2004, a journal, Pediatrics, described that the greater the amount of television watched by a toddler, the greater risk for him to develop an attention disorder later on in childhood, as described by researchers at a children's hospital in Seattle, Washington. “For each extra hour per day of TV time, the risk of concentration difficulties increases by 10 percent” (Sprinkle 1). A child is more likely to be diagnosed with an attention disorder like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) when they view a television program. ADHD and ADD both effect the child's ability to stay attentive to one thing for a normal amount of time, which will, in turn, make the comprehension of the education he receives tougher than that of a child who has a normal attention span.
Since the time that video games have come out there has been many researches and experiments to publish their effects on the players of the games. Several psychosocial characteristics, such as hostility, anger, and being diagnosed with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or Asperger syndrome, are suggested to be related to violent video games. The ones that are getting harmed most by these games are the children and young teens. These Violent games affect children’s minds in many harmful ways. There has been a research that has shown that some violent video games can result in the mental disorder known as schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that makes it hard to tell the difference between what is real and what is not real. It also makes it hard to think clearly, have normal emotional responses and also act correctly in social situations. Video games make it difficult for younger kids to understand the difference in real life and the game. There was a boy who went to daycare, he was 8 years old and very into video games. One morning he shot his mother as she laid in her bed. After doing so he called his grandmother and told her “something is wrong with mommy she’s not get...
This is not a new topic and has been looked at by many experts.... ... middle of paper ... ...9 Apr. 2015. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Se http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/26263_3sc.pdf Ferguson, C.J. ; Olson, C.K. Video game use among “vulnerable” populations: The impact of violent games on delinquency and bullying among children with clinically elevated depression or attention deficit symptoms.
Rosser, J, Lynch, P., Cuddihy, L., Gentile, D., Klonsky, J., & Merrel, R. (2007). The impact of
There have been so many experiments and studies to try and figure out if video games have a negative or positive effect on our children. A growing body of research is linking violent video game play to aggressive cognitive, attitudes and behaviors (D.A. Gentile, 2004). The 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of the 'Path of Video games can obviously be dangerous for our children, causing aggression, bad performances in school and obesity. Although we cant blame all of these problems on the use of video games, there have been many studies to prove so.... ...
The second reason video games are an issue is that videogames have been linked to a variety of mental and physical ailments. The most common physical health problems tend to be arthritis from barely moving the fingers while using a keyboard or game controller, and a variety of eye problems due to constantly staring at the game screen. The most frequently occurring mental problems range from delusions to schizophrenia and becoming desensitized to violence. Keegan says that "repeated exposure to violent images can make people less sensitive to the effects of violence" (1). All of these ailments, both mental and physical, can and will occur in many people, but this statement only holds true if the player spends much of his or her free time playing video games. The essay “Violence and the Media: A Psychological Analysis,” shows how the number of hours spent watching a television program may be more influential than the nature of the program itself (Javier 4). While this statement refers ...
Many people believe that too much time spent watching television or playing computer or video games can be detrimental to children’s development. However, video games can also be beneficial. Gaming, in moderation, helps improve cognitive skills, such as attention, vision, and multitasking.
Nowadays, video games are frequently accused of having detrimental effects on children and adolescents. The main arguments against video games are that they lead to addiction, that they provoke violence, and that they impair social development. Whether or not such claims are true has not been determined with certainty as scientific studies have produced contradictory results. Nevertheless, video games also have beneficial effects, which tend to be underrated, as they do not receive the same level of media coverage that adverse ones do, and are thus unknown to the general public. Some of the positive effects of playing video games on mental development include: stimulating analytical thinking, improving concentration, and encouraging planning and anticipation (“Video game controversies”).