Out of Place

In addition to the millions of social development education classes, anthropology classes, english classes, and music classes, I am taking a methods class on incorporating music into the classroom. Surprise surprise it's all girls. Nothing like an all girls class to remind you have how strange and out of place you are.

We discuss the topic of childhood cognitive development a lot in that class, mainly how play and physical activity is important to individual growth.

Somehow video games got on the topic, and everyone was circle-jerking about how terrible video games are for children, and that the only ones that children should play are WiiSports and Just Dance games etc. Because video games 'lead to attention disorders, are bad for eyesight, and promote bad behavior'.

No. No. No. 

I'm sorry, but that's incorrect. It really irks me when people make judgements based on their own biases.

It has been stastically studied (even in surgeons!) that people who play video games have more developed fine motor skills, better critical thinking, better reaction time, are able to recognize patterns better, better eyesight (yes), and are able to better focus on multiple tasks and accomplish them more quickly.

This is not limited to playing educational games, either. Games like Skyrim, Portal, Fallout, Halo: they all rely on quick judgement in stressful situations, problem solving, and fast reaction times. Video games are not mindless, there is so much cognitive development going on, so much strategy and complexities that are really great in aiding brain development.

I just wanted to get this out. Video games were and are such a huge part of my life: my escape, my avatar, everything I wish I could be in real life.