As a child who grew up with video games I always heard the same things, “Get off your game and do something else.” For years my gaming habits were not supported by anyone in my household. I use to cut grass and do little chores to try and get enough money just for the next game. For my birthday I would ask for gift cards to Blockbuster and I was always looking for used games to be able to get for way cheaper. When I was growing up I wouldn’t say that it consumed my life at all because I was still active in sports and maintained a good average in school. It was just something I would do before bed and when there was nothing else to do. My logic always was, why would I stare at a television and watch a television and be totally disengaged? When I could control what happens on the television and be having fun.
When I was younger the type of games I always played were sports games. NHL being my favourite, but I also had NBA and Madden games. I would enjoy taking my favourite teams through seasons as the general manager. I won’t deny a few hours were wasted playing the games, but always for personal enjoyment. Something I was also learning while I played these sports games was money management and fairness of a deal. The way money management was learnt was the salary cap that was set out by a team. Even though you had a ton of money to work with I had to be conscience of the players I wanted on the team and what they wanted. Throughout the year I had to take into consideration the contracts coming to an end and having to project the backlash I would get in the off season trying to re-sign players who I know would want more money. Fairness of a deal was learned through trades and free-agent negotiation. You had to look at the players they have and then compare what a fair deal is to try and get that player. Free agents is giving them money you think they are worth based on their overalls. When I was younger I would always want the best team and had to realize that I couldn’t have it. In that sense the games also taught me not to be greedy.
Other things that were taught to me through gaming was hand eye coordination, decision making, and teamwork. I use to play this game Starcraft on the computer being the youngest sibling at the time that Starcraft came out my ability to click around the screen with ease was mocked because my hand eye coordination “sucked”. After playing this game for a little bit each week I could tell it was easier to click and navigate around the screen. Then after playing it for a couple of months it was very easy to click around and I started to win against other players online. At a young age my hand eye coordination was strong because of computer games. Having the stress of playing against other players around the world as well helped me to problem solve in what I thought at the time were stressful situations. Setting up base coordinating with other players on your team was all part of the strategy as well. Starcraft was one of the first games I ever played online with other people I did not know and the only communication was through text on the screen. Reading and typing were another skill that developed while playing games.
Gaming can be a negative in people’s lives unless it comes in moderation. While young I still was outside every day riding my bike, hanging out with friends, or tobogganing. This was just something I did in my spare time for fun, not saying it didn’t take over a day or two while growing up, but for the most part it was just for fun when I had nothing else to do. I would say video games were a crucial part to the development of simple skills early on that have only strengthened in time and help me in my life today. There is a blog posting that speaks about video games and how they are being used for good in modern society. I believe it is something that can help relieve stress and help strengthen skills in our young children. This is a new world and playing the right types of games can be a great tool to help kids succeed.
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