Сomputer games/ What for?

Автор: Лопатова Юлия Михайловна

Организация: МБОУ СОШ №9

Населенный пункт: г.Куйбышев

Nowadays personal qualities become the most important in modern society. To be successful we should be communicative, disciplined, educated, creative and we have to know at least one foreign language . But some students are not interested in studying in general and in improving language in particularly . They stay at home nearly all their free time to play computer games, surf the Internet or watch TV. Some people do not approve «gamers» paying attention to that fact that such spending of free time is useless and even dangerous for our health and, of course, there are small benefits for mastering foreign language. What is a real situation? Are all games (virtual or in reality) unavailing and harmful?

The advantages of computer games

On-line games, I`d like to say, have a lot of advantages.

1) They are so entertaining! For example, when boys play the game “Minecraft”, they enjoy cyberspace opportunities and have a lot of fun.

2) Games improve hand and eye coordination, which means you can think and do things more quickly and correctly. For example, when we play the game “Call of Duty”, we practise visual reaction and train our coordination. When we play shooting games, we always have to act quickly and correctly.

3) You feel good when you can move up the levels and see how well you are doing. You feel satisfied every time you reach a new level or fulfill a more difficult task and you are sure that you can become a winner one day. So, many games help you to remember things like, "last time I went this way and it didn't work out - this time I'll try that way."

4) Most games make you think about what you are going to do, and they help your problem-solving skills. Such games make us pay more attention to important details.

5) You can play games with a friend, talk about games with others, swap ideas and 'cheats' - it is a good way to be part of a putter games can be a starting point of a new friendship helping teenagers to socialize better with the people of the same age.

6) You can play games in the internet sometimes with people from all over the world. For example, when you play the online game “World of Tanks”, you can talk with people from other countries and use real spoken English.

7) Anyone can play computer games. Even if some children are not very good at sport or have a disability, or find it hard to talk to others, they can express themselves in cyberspace.

8) You can play whenever you want.

9) You can start all over again if you lose, for example, in such games as “Far Cry”, “Serious Sam”, “Call of Duty”, etc.).

10) Computer games are more visual and audible than a book or a board game. So, it’s more suitable for children to get new information and entertain.

11) The market of computer games offers a wide variety of ideas for people of all ages and abilities. So, when we choose a game, we learn to analyze things and make the right choice.

12) Some games are educational and can improve our study skills in English, Maths, Computing, Drawing etc. Some computer games are focused on a particular issue; kids can learn more about the ancient Greeks, the flora and variety of animals of the world, the differences between cultures and so on.

13) When children play computer games in English, they start memorizing lots of words, phrases and idioms. They begin to understand using spoken English more fluently. They get more interested in English and ask the teachers questions. Some of them look the new words up in dictionaries.

14) People who play computer games can navigate in the cyberspace. Any computer programme is easy for computer games players. They understand more about modern technologies than other children. They can give advice and offer help to other kids and even adults.

To conclude, researchers have found out that frequent game players score better at vision tests than non-players do. It has also been found that playing these games can improve children's logical thinking ability and problem solving skills. Games such as “SimCity”, “Age of Mythology”, etc. where gamers have to build houses, cities and develop war strategies help them to develop their logical skills and also decision making. Educational games help to improve their communication and problem solving abilities, alertness, locating things easily without straining too much and so on. American teachers have also found improvement in their students' mathematics, spelling and reading among children who play these games. The government of this country is researching ways to integrate such games into the academic curriculum.

The disadvantages of computer games

I have also found some bad points in computer games. Unfortunately, many computer and video games are very violent, like the game “Dark souls”, and research shows that this violence can affect kids in many ways. Many games are about beating everyone else, not about working together or helping others. That’s why some people worry that kids may keep these values in their daily life, by being unhelpful, rude, not wanting to share or take turns. Sometimes, frequent gamers have a tendency to lose control and become more aggressive in real life. To begin with, doctors have found a possible threat to frequent gamers, affecting their health. It is so because children don't get out and exercise enough. Doctors worry about kids being overweight and unfit, and eating unhealthy snack foods while they play games. People who spend hours in front of the screen, suffer from weak eye sight. More complaints found among children obsessed with games are wrist, neck and back pain, sometimes even more – epilepsy, headaches, hallucinations, nerve and muscle damages. Specialists also believe that playing games can cause obesity.

Besides, game playing is like an addiction to children. The time passes quickly while gaming, so most children might easily forget about homework or other duties. They play or think about playing games and how they can win for most of their time, which means that they don't learn well at school, don't socialize with others and can become really boring people to be around. The “dark” side of computer games is when children start to prefer playing virtual games instead of games in the park. If he or she prefers sitting in front of the computer, instead of running out with friends, then the effect of computer games is isolation. Children might get too shy in interaction. Then, playing computer games too much can cause low imagination: nothing to imagine, everything is on the screen. People stop thinking, they don’t make their imagination work, games make players lazier.

Sometimes gamers waste money especially when they play in internet cafes.

Finally, some computer and video games are very violent. Teenagers who are involved in such games become rude, cruel and aggressive. Children see blood and dead bodies in the screen. To win they have to shoot, to fight against enemies and to kill cyber heroes. Unfortunately, it develops negative qualities in teenagers’ character. Very often these children attach their classmates and bully weaker students at school. Some of computer games players believe that they won’t do any harm to other children if they hurt them. They mix up virtual reality and real life and think that humans have several lives like cyber heroes.
Children who play games connecting with logic solve problems and take decisions faster than those who are not good at it. Nowadays a lot of children have already taken up gaming as a hobby. Why not using this modern “instrument” to improve knowledge and skills? I proved the use of educational games through creating of our own bank based on the text-book for 9^th form and its successful testing on my class-mates. The result of this research is the creation of our own game-catalogue for helping other students in foreign language mastering.

1. file0.doc (34,0 КБ)

Опубликовано: 05.01.2025