Let’s be real, most college students play video games, whether as simple as a mobile game or as intense as an online console game. There has always been the argument that video games negatively affect students’ studies. What if they also can help? Let’s dive into that.
How can games affect you positively?
Game Quitters provides lots of research for both arguments for it. Oddly enough there are a ton of benefits to playing video games. It improves your Visuospatial ability. That is your ability to recognize and remember objects and the relations between those objects. This is an ability you use everyday with driving.
It also helps your Spatial ability. This is important in several fields of study, including mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, meteorology, and architecture.
Game Quitters calls out a study conducted in 2015 that shows that gaming improves your problem solving skills and logic. Depending on the games you like to play you might experience moments where your choices affect how the game plays out or your choices help save a character.
Of course you gain other positive skills like hand-eye coordination and good multi-tasking abilities.
How can games affect you negatively?
According to The Royal Society, playing violent video games does not increase an individual’s levels of hostility. However after playing video games for hours and hours on end you can feel restless and aggressive.
Having a lack of motivation to participate in other activities or to do your school work is a common issue that students have when gaming for prolonged periods of time. Video games her hyper-stimulating and can be more engaging than real world activities leading games to become more desirable.
Your brain creates a dopamine rush when you play video games. Game Quitters explains in an article about how gaming affects your brain, that when you play games your brain starts to produce significant amounts of dopamine, which is the neurotransmitter that induces the feeling of pleasure.
The constant release of dopamine in the brain creates an addiction to it. The same way a person can get addicted to caffeine or alcohol. Your brain begins to rely on these outside variables to supply you with that rush of dopamine.
How do I have a more healthy relationship with gaming?
In an article called healthy gaming habits, they go through and explain a variety of ways to have a better relationship with games. Here are some things they recommend:
-Make sure your school work and studies are done first
-Stop gaming an hour before bed
-Minimize blue light from screens by using blue light minimizing glasses or modes on your screens, as blue light interferes with our sleep schedules
-Limit caffeine and stimulants while playing
-Keep hydrated and take breaks to stretch and move
Video Recommendations
Game Quitters has multiple resources on how to manage gaming and college.
They recommended this video: How to Balance Video Games and Studying – College Info Geek
In the video Thomas Frank goes through how to balance video games and studying. He has multiple other videos on his channel about studying and gaming, as well as how to create better habits.
Haylie Hackimer
Student Writer - Spring 2024
