Study: Video games may save the world

OK, so that’s not exactly the conclusion of this new Australian study, but it does confirm what many of us have secretly suspected: video games are good for you!

Penny Sweetser, Daniel Johnson and Peta Wyeth from Australia’s Games Research and Interaction Design (GRID) Lab in Queensland investigated the amount of time children spent watching TV and DVDs, compared to playing video games.

Watching TV was a “passive” experience, while video and computer games were interactive, boosting children’s self-esteem, problem-solving skills and in some cases, physical activity levels, said Johnson, the Australian Journal for Early Childhood reports.

Although mobile games weren’t part of the study, I suspect researchers would find similar results. With the proliferation of iPads and handheld devices, today’s children are clearly getting a head start on problem-solving.

Researchers also found that Kinect, Move, and Wii were effective in getting kids to exercise — and given America’s obesity problem, and that can only be a good thing.


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