Video games have been blamed for many negative things over the years, but none of them have been proven in research. What has been clear, however, is that they can make a positive contribution to many things. There are now new research findings that show that they clearly contribute in several areas that are important for children’s development.
The results come from a survey conducted by the British National Literacy Trust and aimed to map how video games affect children’s reading and writing skills. In addition to finding evidence for this, the study was also able to show that video games improve children’s ability to communicate in general, strengthen empathy and are positive for children’s mental health. The survey showed that boys benefited more from playing video games than girls, and that inexperienced readers had a stronger effect than experienced readers.
– We know that video games are a natural part of children and young people’s lives. Therefore, it is exciting to see the positive effects that video games can have for young people by increasing their interest in reading, stimulating creativity through writing, increasing communication with friends and family and supporting empathy and well-being, says Jonathan Douglas, CEO of National Literacy Trust, to the British Daily Mail .
