More Than 3-Hours of Video Games Makes Kids Hyperactive, Uninterested in School

Video game addiction can have a negative impact on children. Researchers from University of Oxford have highlighted that the time spent playing video games could be linked with problem behavior in children, and this was more significant than the types of games played. They revealed that children who play video games for more than three hours per day are more likely to be hyperactive, get involved in fights and be uninterested in school.

Researchers examined the effects of different types of video games and time spent playing on children's social and academic behavior. The study subjects had to answer a questionnaire that asked each of the 200 pupils at a school in the southeast of England, who were aged from 12 to 13 years, how long they played games each day and the type of games they preferred. Instead of relying solely on data from the young people, the researchers matched these responses to the teachers' assessments of behavior of individual pupils.

The researchers found that playing games for more than three hours a day increased hyperactivity amongst the children. They were unable to establish a link between playing violent video games and real-life aggression or a child's academic performance. They also found that low levels of play, under an hour a day, might actually promote good behavior and lower the levels of hyperactivity.

The study suggests that parents should pay close attention to the amount of time their children spend on video games. Andy Przybylski from Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute and lead researcher of the study said, "This research suggests that playing electronic games may be a statistically significant but minor factor in how children progress academically or in their emotional well-being."

The findings are published in Psychology of Popular Media Culture.

Source: Medindia