Study Shows Parents Shouldn’t Discourage Gaming, But Rather Join In

Dear Mom,

Please don’t shout at me for playing videogames for too long. All I want to do is relax and have fun. Maybe one day you should join me.

Love,
Your Munchkin of a Son

There’s a great chance that the future could see more letters like this appear on fridges worldwide. A new study has shown that parents shouldn’t shout at their child for playing games, but rather embrace the experience because it could help the family.

Discouraging gaming often leads to fights and hatred. Discouraging gaming could lead a child outside to do bad things with influential friends who also have mothers who scold at them for playing videogames. Ever seen youths get together?

A new study has shown that when parents interact with kids who play videogames, things go right. 80 percent of parents questioned had noted that the time spent playing videogames could be categorized under “quality time”, where one in three parents said that it strengthened the family bond.

“These findings are important because they highlight the social benefits of playing videogames,” said Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Reader in Psychology at Goldsmiths.

“Previous research has tended to look only at the individual effects of videogames, but in the era of social networking, games appear to play a vital role in enhancing social relationships.”

Then, playing games also helped other generations learn about technology. Something which is vital in our day and age, because let’s be honest, the fridge isn’t going to change that much between now and next year.

Parents have claimed that they, and their children, have become a lot more tech-savvy because of videogames. However, despite this, they never neglected the fact that physical exercise and the outdoors is important. For example, the sun gives you vitamins — who would have thought?

Casual gaming has become somewhat popular. Everyone is playing on their mobile or tablet. It’s all about Angry Birds or Plants Versus Zombies. If you’re unfamiliar with these titles, we can only suggest that you have a few kids and play some games. It’ll only help you.

“The fact that both parents and grandparents are using games to connect with their children and grandchildren, and quite successfully, suggests that videogames can improve social skills and make a key contribution to both effective parenting and child development.”