The majority of adults and parents have a very specific view on video games - they are useless, brain- damaging and a complete and utter waste of your valuable time.
What these people do not realise is that video games can actually benefit you in more ways than you think.
Recent surveys into video games and video gamers by scientists have shown that playing video games regularly can help increase specific skills significantly.
On the other hand, scientists have also found that exposure to video games for too long can cause a loss in social interaction skills and attention spans.
So, are video games helpful, or are they hindering humanity as a society and workforce?First of all, scientists have found a large difference between regular gamers and non-gamers in the skill region of eyesight.
In their studies, they found that people who play video games for two or three hours every day, have much better eyesight and visual skills than those who do not spend much time on video games.
On average, video gamers who often play RPG (Role-Playing Games) or action games were 54% better at noticing smaller details and different shades of colours than non-gamers.
This could be very helpful in the workforce, as many of the jobs we have today require the precision eyesight these gamers possess.
A second point: strategic skills are also found to develop much more quickly in gamers rather than normal, non-gaming people.
People who spend several hours a day playing modern ''shoot-em-ups'' or first person shooter games saw an increase in strategic skills twice as fast as their normal counterparts.
Very quickly, the gamers surveyed learned new strategies to counteract or support any situation they found themselves in, quickly turning the battle their way.
These skills could be particularly useful in military jobs or courses, overall improving the nation's army and defensive capability in the case of war or conflict.
Finally, there is the point of social interactions.
Although scientists did find a decrease in social skills and social abilities, it was very small, with the worst case being a 12% decrease, and the average decrease being 4%-5%.
What scientists also forgot to take into account was the gamers' improving online social skills.
Another survey by scientists in America showed that (in the cases studied) on average, regular multiplayer-gamers increase by 25%-30% in their online social skills and abilities.
It was found they were much better at socialising with others online and building relationships with team-mates, and often became good friends via the game.
In conclusion, while there is a slight loss in real-life social ability, as you can clearly tell from this piece, there are some skills that improve very quickly and by a larger margin when you game regularly than when you do not.
From this information, I would personally recommend spending about two or three hours every day (or two) on a varying range of video games in order to improve skills that could help you more than you think in your everyday life, and even career.
• By Joel Brosnan, Year 9, Waitaki Boys' High School
