Gaming makes young kids dumber

By Mike Bantick
Monday, 14 January 2008 08:01

Opinion and Analysis

Concerns have emerged this past week during a summit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.  They centre around the continued use of electronic games and toys by an increasingly younger population. Could hardwiring of the brain by such devices be leading to shortened attention spans with no education benefit bonus?

Some more bad press for the video game generation has emerged from this years CES.

According to this report from www.news.com.au a special think tank summit was held to discuss the effect on young brains by exposure to electronic games and gadgets.

The “Technology industry experts” who gathered to discuss the issue arrived at the conclusion that kids should not be exposed to such devices and games until they are at least seven.  Up until that point the synapse connections are being wired up, shaping the brain for its life ahead, bombardment of senses could influence this design, resulting in shortened attention spans.

"If you watch kids on a computer, most of them are just hitting keys or moving the mouse as fast as they can. It reminds me of rats running in a maze,'' said Educational psychologist Jane Healy, backed by research that computer games activated the right brain associated “flight or fight” instincts rather than a balanced and considered approach to issues.

Keeping kids from such activities until the age of seven would enable normal brain development to occur according to Healy.

It was not only video games in the line of fire of the group, but also the push for children orientated online virtual worlds and even software normally considered educational for rug rats.

Over 300 products were looked into with a result that only 2 were deemed to employ proven learning techniques, with many products making unsubstantiated claims of educational benefits.