Perhaps the clearest trend we as teachers have seen in our latest generation of kids is the degree to which video games have inundated our pupil’s lives. Anecdotally, there is definitely concern from the parent and teacher community regarding the large amount of time students spend playing video games and the effect that this has on their time management skills and social development.

A 2003 study conducted by the Psychology Department at the University of Minnesota found that 20 percent of 8th and 9th grade students were “addicted” to video games. These children, who spent an average of 22 hours a week on their consoles, were found to perform more poorly in school than their peers. University of Texas psychologist Carl Pickhardt contends that, “Over-exposure to high stimulating electronic entertainments from an early age can splinter a child's capacity to attend to routine and uninteresting responsibilities at home and at school.” And that this in turn, “can delay young people's growth to maturity.”

In addition to exhibiting ADHD like behavior, video game playing kids may also display and a proclivity towards violence as a means to solve problems. Dr. Craig Anderson, the Chair of the Executive Council of the International Society for Research on Aggression believes that violent video games are detrimental to a developing mind because they “create more positive attitudes, beliefs and expectations regarding use of aggressive solutions.” And, “create aggressive behavioral scripts and makes them more cognitively accessible, and decrease the normal negative emotional reactions to conflict, aggression and violence.”

While the most empirically appropriate studies conducted on television and violence have found little to no causation between viewing violent programs and violence, playing violent video games is different because of the active and first person nature of the experience. Children are not passively watching someone else commit violent acts, but rather they are actively engaging in violent acts via a virtual environment.

Beyond the cognitive reasons to limit your child’s video game consumption are the physical ones. Studies have found that adolescents who engage in “significant” amounts of video game playing have a higher Body Mass Index and lead more sedentary lives overall. Interestingly, a 2009 study of middle-aged video game players found the same, implying that once the habit of gaming and being sedentary is established, it is a hard one to break.

As parents, you should exert your control over the habits your children are forming now, including the amount of time they spend engaged in gaming. Students often cite boredom for their reason for gaming, so challenge yourself and your family to come up with innovative ways to spend leisure time and do all that you can to encourage your child to engage in play and social interaction outside of their computer monitor.