Children And Computers - Advantages And Disadvantages

Many studies have been done on the impact of computer games. Researchers are learning the advantages and disadvantages of using them for childhood growth and development.

The good and bad points about letting a child play video games are presented in the next two sections. This will give you a balanced view about this subject, hopefully.

Advantages

Playing video games can be very helpful for learning how to react fast in a situation. This could be especially helpful later in life when driving or taking care of children. It would be a helpful skill in various types of fast-past production or service occupations.

Another advantage is that a child can learn how to visually perceive certain kinds of objects. Learning via video games can also help a child improve memory and attention spans. Logical thinking abilities as well as visual-motor coordination can also be improved.

Disadvantages

Sometimes a child can become addicted to video games-so addicted that homework or house chores becomes less of a priority. It also can put a damper on a child’s social life especially if he or she plays alone most of the time.

Even some of the best educational games can become harmful to a child if he or she cannot do without them. The highest concern besides physiological addiction related to usage of computers is that it can lead to poor vision.

Therefore, a certain limit should be placed on computer usage. These limits are further suggested and explained below.

Limiting Use of Computers

The suggestion is to allow a child on a computer for a certain amount of time. This amount of time should be in direct relation to the age of a child.

A 3 to 4 year old should be only allowed on the computer for about 25 to 30 minutes. A 5 to 6 year old should only be allowed on the computer from about 35 to 60 minutes and a 7 to 8 year old should only be allowed on for about 40 minutes to about 1.5 hours.

There may be exceptions to this above schedule especially if it is a weekend and a holiday. The other exception may be if a child is playing along with a brother,sister, cousin, or friend.

However, a regular schedule should be adhered to otherwise the child may suffer some kind of consequence such as being forbidden to use it for a few days.