Video Games: Harmful or Helpful?

In this article Gary Butcher and Kyle Dunbar state their views on whether or not video games have a positive effect on children:  

Gary Butcher starts by looking at how children interact with video games. He feels that kids search for ways to defeat the villains in the games, but that this does not transfer very well to education. Butcher also cites a 2003 article that looked at the effects that violent video games can have on children; he feels that this is the type of games that children tend to play and reference most often when they are discussing video games.

 Kyle Dunbar disagrees with Butcher on some of the key points of his argument. She not only thinks that video games are a great way to learn, but has seen some classes where the teacher used video games as a means of teaching the subject. In these classrooms she saw how excited the kids were to learn and how large a role video games played in creating that enthusiasm. She argues that we should focus on how to better implement the use of video games in the classroom, rather than dismiss them.

From my own experiences in the classroom, I can understand the views from both sides of this debate; that being said, I agree more with Kyle Dunbar. While Butcher was correct that there are strong tendencies for present day children to play violent video games, I would say that this does not mean they are only interested in that genre of game. If the students cannot become engaged by the video game that has been supplied, that should be considered a reflection on the caliber of the game, not video games as a whole. This could also be due to the teacher not gauging what sort of game would be appropriate for the age group they are teaching. What may have been a valuable teaching tool when they were in 3^rd grade could be considered mind-numbingly boring in a 7^th grade classroom.


By properly engaging students with the use of video games, the students would be learning critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making skills, which are covered by the NETS standard number 4. By creating simulations of what the students are learning in a video game format, teachers are giving the children a chance to practice their math lesson in a new light, see dangerous or expensive science experiments  at the click of a button, and gain a deeper understanding of the feelings behind their English and history lessons. For some the understanding gained through video games could be a chance at a brighter future.

What do you think? Are video games capable of being a helpful tool in the classroom? Or are there any methods or tools you think would be more effective than video games?

To read the original article, please click here. 

For more information on this topic please watch for one of my future blog posts that will be about the implementation of video games in the classroom!

Butcher, G. & Dunbar, K. (2012, May). Video games: Harmful or helpful?. Learning and Leading, 39(7), 6-8. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Video_Games_Harmful_or_Helpful.aspx