How many times have we heard others say and repeat the adage, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”? True, it is so boring to be too consumed or preoccupied by work in the office or in school. For the sake of both sanity and good health, it is of utmost importance to take a break from all those tedious work and jobs, unwind and get a rest that one only deserves.
This is where online gaming comes in. With the fun, the enjoyment and the stimulation of the mind that comes with it, online gaming is a perfect recreational activity, especially for the kids and boys on the block. It is highly entertaining as it brings us to an imaginary and virtual world that only we could understand.
Contradicting the popular idea that online games (or computer games, in general) are entirely harmful, there are still significant advantages and positive benefits that one game upholds. One is that it stimulates the mind by allowing the players (mostly kids) to have their own pace of what’s happening in the game. It allows the kids to think of their own strategies and keep up with the challenges and the missions of the game. Depending also on the environment and the type of the game, it allows learning for the kids and an increase in their knowledge on various things. More importantly, the skills of the player of the game are being developed and improved. Players learn to develop and increase their own self-esteem and self-confidence through the games. These games also allow interaction with other players, and so, social skills are also being enhanced.
But knowing that these games are, without a doubt, attracting men more than women, the primary reason for this notion is revealed in a research done by researchers in Stanford University School of Medicine. One finding of it shows that video games, which include computer games, are able to activate that part of the brain that generates the feelings of reward more in men than in women. This explains why the male gender is generally more inclined to video games, computer games and the like than the female gender is.
Studies even show and prove that video gaming (somehow similar to online gaming) principles can be useful and applied to education. These games have positive implications for learning, and thus, should be practiced in the right manner. These games can supplement the activities and the lessons learned in the classrooms in schools.
Computer games are also considered as a therapy for some who might have been away from such an enjoyable activity as these. Even early studies have proven that computer games can even be used as treatment for phobias, learning and language capabilities.
It may indeed only be a matter of how to see things and having a right and positive perspective on things. Online gaming is a double-edged sword. It has its pros and cons, but as long as we continue to focus on, make use and take good advantage of its benefits, online gaming is here to stay.
