Although it keeps them busy but did you think video games are bad for children? Anything in

excess always is as it spoils you. Parents buy all these new video games for their children so

they can ‘have the best’ but soon they seem to complain about it. You can hear them say

how they children are stuck to the television screen all day, almost as though they are

switched off from everything and everyone around them.

Hands down, video games are addictive for children as well as adults. Once you get started,

you feel like going on. When not playing the video games children like to read and talk about

it. Over time, that is all they seem to want to talk about! They get so overwhelmed by the

whole idea of playing a game that the competition sets in them early on. This sense of

competition may only apply to the games if not at school. When the children are barred

from playing games, they get distracted and get sulky which in turn affects their

concentration in academics at home and especially at school. Thoughts of playing games

also affect a child’s sleep.

Video games are bad for children because it can prove to be a financial burden for the

parents. There are only so many games that parents can afford to buy. When children get

better at the games they are playing their desire to compete increases. With time, they

pressurize parents to get them the latest games which are more often than not more

expensive than their school books! With high-tech games such as Xbox and PS3, children

never seem to have enough!

With so much time spent on playing these games children hardly spend any quality time

with their parents. Playing games on school nights and weekends ruins family time. Parents

are unable to plan a picnic or a day at the beach as the children only want to sit in one place

and feel the unbeatable thrill of a video game. That is the only way they know to enjoy

themselves and family time seems boring to them.

One of the most important reasons why video games are bad for children is that they make

young viewers emulate the actions. There are many incidents in the past where children

have imitated violent actions of the characters in the game by jumping or hitting. Such

behavior is harmful for the child as well as those around him and corroborates the fact that

video games are bad for children.

See Post about ”A Parent’s Guide to Video Games for Kids” to know more about good video

games for kids.