Journal of Digital Learning, Volume 2, 2021 by Bedford-School

JOURNAL OF DIGITAL LEARNING VOLUME 2 , 2021

ONLINE GAMING GOOD OR BAD?

CONTRIBUTORS 2

05. LUKE LANGRIDGE, REMOVE FORM 06. JOE HUANG, LOWER SIXTH 07. ERIC BRESLIN, FOURTH FORM 08. JACK CHAPLIN, LOWER SIXTH 10. A R YA N S O H A N P A L , Y E A R 7

P R E FA C E People have played a lot of online games during

gaming as risks can be present in both content and

2020, especially during the periods of pandemic

communication. Young people can also pose a risk to

lockdown.

themselves through choices they make whilst playing

Online gaming is hugely popular with children

online. Advice is regularly provided to parents by

and young people and is still one of the top activities

Bedford School through the Digital Parenting maga-

enjoyed by players, with many of them gaming via

zine, and education is provided to pupils through citi-

mobile devices and going online using their games

zenship days, the IDEA course and through general

console.

pastoral support.

From sport, to mission-based games and quests

The essays by pupils included in volume 2 of the

that inspire users to complete challenges, games cover

Bedford School Digital Learning Journal responses are

a range of interests, and can enable people to connect

insightful and interesting, and we hope you will enjoy

and play together. Most games now have an online

reading them. We are particularly pleased to include

aspect enabling users to compete, collaborate, or chat

for the first time a contribution from a Bedford Prep

to others. Internet connectivity in a game adds an

School pupil.

additional dimension as it allows players to find and

The Bedford School Journal of Digital Learning is

play against, or with, other players. These may be their

an annual publication of papers written by pupils to

friends or family members or even other users from

reflect on digital technologies and how they impact

around the world

our world. We congratulate those pupils whose papers

Online safety advice is especially relevant in online

appear in this journal.

E D I T E D B Y D R A L B I N W A L L A C E , D I R E C T O R O F D I G I TA L L E A R N I N G

ONLINE GAMING - GOOD OR BAD? LUKE LANGRIDGE, REMOVE FORM

I believe that overall, online gaming is negative. This is because it has larger negative impacts on a person, such as addiction, than positive impacts such as communicating with people online. On the one hand, gaming can cause severe problems with mental health including loneliness, poor mental well-being and exposure to toxic environments. Loneliness may be caused by a large amount of time in online gaming being played, and this is due to it potentially being addictive. If you crave the dopamine effects from gaming then you may be more likely to be lonely, as you have less exposure to physical social interactions. Poor mental health may be due to the side effects of gaming such as loneliness, relationship issues and stress. This can cause problems as you constantly think about your life, and this in turn may affect your mental health due to the impact on relationships caused by excessive gaming. Exposure to toxic environments is often encountered in online gaming, as some people suffer from verbal abuse from other people online and this can make people unwell. Over the last two years there has been a spike in illnesses caused by online gaming and abuse. Therefore, the negative impacts of online gaming can be long-term health issues, which is a very bad outcome. On the other hand, gaming may have many positive impacts. However, the scale of these impacts may be smaller than the negative ones, so I conclude that online gaming may cause negative

effects towards an individual who plays a large amount (over two hours per day) of their time. The positive impacts of online gaming may be the development of visual-spatial skills, communicating when it may not be possible to socialise in real life such as in the 2020 pandemic, and problem solving. I find that when I play online games, I am more aware, and this influences me in real life to look around and reflect, and this is shown by people playing games and having the skill to improve at that game and therefore improving physical co-ordination. Although before this pandemic much of the media looked down on gaming as significantly negative, the pandemic has highlighted that gaming can bring the world together through connectivity and has done so over the past year. Although this does fully offset the damage caused by social media and gaming, this is still a significant impact. Games like Among Us has taken the world by storm, and this improves people’s detection abilities and problem solving, which is a minor positive but a good one none the less. To conclude, the outcomes of online gaming are more negative as they can affect the lives of people in more harmful way than the positive impacts, which only help them with small things such as coordination and this is not as substantial as someone’s mental health, I believe that there are greater negative than positive outcomes to online gaming.

ONLINE GAMING - GOOD OR BAD? JOE HUANG, LOWER SIXTH

With the development of technology, the standard of living for human beings has become increasingly important. Many people find that routine, daily activities are tedious and boring, so they hope to explore a new world. Humans are often excited by the unknown mysteries in life, which leads to novel discoveries in society. Since the ancient times, civilization has always been built on innovation and technology. Online games offer us a plethora of ways to immerse ourselves in virtual worlds, which makes it unsurprising that many people find their passions in these games. I completely agree there are a number of benefits to playing online games and I also encourage people to continue pursuing their interest. First of all, because online games are virtual worlds, players can experience new things that they might otherwise be unable to find in their real life. For instance, many children desire to become supermen when they grow up. Even though humans are not able to have the same physical powers as superheroes, they are able to replicate these powers through virtual reality. These technological advances can help them overcome physical obstacles. There are many people who work behind the scenes to ensure the success of the virtual gaming industry. For example, producers can creatively make the program code bring to life a story which is loved by people. Additionally, designers can come up with scenes that people can only imagine in their dreams. When people play games, they can experience the unimaginable.

Secondly, online games, to some extent, provide a fair opportunity for people with disabilities to compete. In the real world, they might be discriminated against by their society. They belong to the vulnerable groups of society, so they need to have greater chances to prove themselves. Online games can provide a platform to express themselves without worrying about their physical or mental disability because everybody starts from zero. They can compete with each other in a fair atmosphere, which may not often happen in their real life. In this situation, they only need to focus on how to improve their techniques because they no longer need to worry about what society thinks of them. On the other hand, some people argue that online games waste people’s time and energy. For example, if students play online games for a long time, they do not have enough time to do their homework, which may affect their study. Additionally, online games may damage the relationship between family and friends. If players lose a game, they may experience negative emotions that affects their attitude towards to their family and friends. Notwithstanding, these emotional issues can be improved by self-discipline so we cannot define virtual games as good or bad by subjective factors. To recap, although there are some drawbacks to online games, they can easily be solved in different ways. Therefore, from my perspective, it is clear that online games are beneficial for people and society as a whole if they use them for the right purposes.

ONLINE GAMING - GOOD OR BAD? ERIC BRESLIN, FOURTH FORM There is a stereotype that online gaming distracts from reality, encourages addictive behaviour and dangerous interactions online. It also wastes time that could be used in more creative pursuits. However, a recent study has emerged that suggests that video games are beneficial for mental health. I will discuss this evidence, backed by my personal experience, that may shed a new light on online gaming. I will then oppose this with factors against online gaming being beneficial. Based on these points, I will consequently provide my conclusion. Firstly, it is now proven that video games are generally good for our mental health. There is a new study regarding online gaming from Oxford University. The study questioned 3,274 people who played up to 4-5 hours of online games a week. The study found that the more people played on games the more they were likely to have a positive mindset. This sense of wellbeing was found to be intensified if the players were socialising with others whilst playing the games. The leader of the study, Dr Przybylski actually states that we shouldn’t be restricted on how much we play. I, myself was able to benefit from online gaming in the first, long lockdown. As I did not go out for any clubs or school, I was in an isolated situation. However, because of online gaming, I was still able to socialise with my friends and perhaps, partly due to this factor, my mental health stayed positive throughout lockdown.

In contrast, the study also found that if a player already had a bad sense of wellbeing, then the online video games would not improve their mental health. It would most likely worsen it. This shows how if the mental health of the player is inherently not good, then playing extensive amounts of games will ultimately hinder it further. Additionally, gaming can sometimes cause an addiction where nothing else but the game matters, meaning you rely on it more and substitute it for other creative activities. This can lead to a less fulfilling life. You could also argue that online gaming is not good because of the potential factor of strangers being able to contact and perhaps take advantage of vulnerable players. Figures from the Office of National Statistics reveal police recorded that more than 9,000 children between October 2017 and September 2018 in England and Wales were subject to sexual offences, with links to contact with the offender online. This is a shocking statistic. However, I would argue there are ways that this can be prevented. For example, only gaming in a communal area or only socialising online with friends. To conclude, I do agree that there is evidence that shows online gaming can be bad for mental health and even personal safety. However, if underlying conditions are right, I believe there is also significant evidence (such as the Oxford UniversityStudy) to show that online gaming can ultimately be valuable for our sociability and happiness.

ONLINE GAMING - GOOD OR BAD? JACK CHAPLIN, LOWER SIXTH

The debate on whether online gaming is good or bad, especially for Under-18s, is a long and tedious argument that has been going on for a while. With new technology and more 'violent' video games emerging, lots of people are asking this question. There are two main benefits to gaming and two main cons. These benefits are improved brain function (e.g., reaction times and problem-solving) and social aspects (e.g., making friends and help with social anxiety). The cons affect a minority but cannot be overlooked. The two cons are cyberbullying and addictive tendencies. Improved brain function is a major benefit of gaming in general which is not a recent discovery, with studies dating back to the early days of arcade games. They have been shown to increase the average reaction times in regular players where

reaction speed is key to the game they are playing, for example, FPS (First-Person Shooters). Gaming has also been shown to improve problem-solving abilities in gamers that choose adventurous puzzle-solving games over FPS. This is backed up by a study from The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute (1) among others, which shows that a decrease in gaming activity can decrease the brain development of the players. Improved sociability is useful as gaming has been shown to increase friendships and help people deal with social anxiety and stage fright, with an increase in talking with new or old friends helping people deal with that anxiety. Online gaming is also a useful tool for mental health as positive reactions from teammates and the community boost dopamine release and can help bring people together from all over the world. There are

multiple, documented instances of people being saved from mental or physical health issues. This shows the supportiveness and importance of the gaming community as it has helped thousands of people over the years, if not more. An article from The Mirror (2) shows this as a man named Faris Khalifa was saved from self-harm by a man he barely knew over the online game For Honor. Now. There are bad sides to gaming, and that is undeniable. The most prominent being cyber bullying, which is present throughout everything online. Toxic behaviour and bullying are major issues in the gaming community, and it is saddening to see levels of it increasing. It can be detrimental to the players affected and though it is a minority compared to the ones positively affected by games, it is a serious problem, with game developers and studios trying for years to get rid of these behaviours

through various means. Another prominent issue is an addiction to video games, especially in young children and teens. It has become so serious that it is now listed on the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Disease (4). Gaming addiction can lead to falling grades, bad hygiene, and lack of sleep. This can also cause a decrease in social and physical activity with multiple health conditions becoming present in some gaming addicts. In conclusion, online gaming is a great resource, has amazing social and cognitive benefits but like everything, there are problems for the minority that they affect, and they can be very serious. Overall, I would deem it to be good but there are potential harmful side effects that do need to be addressed on a more public and scientific level.

References: (1) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00134/full (2) https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/suicidal-man-saved-stranger-met-11938294 (3) https://www.uvpediatrics.com/topics/video-games-pros-and-cons/ (4) https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/addictive-behaviours-gaming-disorder

ONLINE GAMING - GOOD OR BAD? ARYAN SOHANPAL, YEAR 7

Online gaming has many advantages, however there are cons to playing, too. The most important advantage for online gaming is that it is more accessible than traditional console gaming. Gamers don’t have to buy games or consoles. As online games can be free, players have the choice to play different games without spending lots of money and if they don’t like the game, their money isn’t wasted. Most people have phones, tablets or PCs that access the internet for games, and this means that gamers have many opportunities to play. However, the downside is that online gamers are encouraged to keep playing continuously and may not take a break, even when they leave the house. Given that gaming companies are businesses, they have to find ways of making money if players aren’t buying games or consoles. The main methods used are in-game cash and marketing through advertisements. In-game cash is to enhance player performance in the game or for their avatar to look better. However, these can become addictive and can lead to overspending. Last year, Fortnite received 1.8 billion dollars through their in-game purchases, “V-Bucks” . Advertisements are paid for by other companies who want to sell their products to gamers. However, these adverts can be annoying and inappropriate for younger gamers. Players can turn adverts off, but they have to pay. Security is a higher threat in online gaming. In online gaming, you’re revealed to the world. Hackers can access

your personal details through accidentally clicking on something in the chat. The chat in the games can also be used for impersonation and criminal activities. On the other hand, the chat can be used to keep in contact with your friends if you don’t have a phone and could work as a great tool for younger children through the lockdown. Online gaming can be viewed in a positive way as the users can learn coding on tutorials through platforms such as Roblox, where you can create your own games, so you are learning whilst playing. Minecraft is another game which provides users with knowledge on materials and boosts your creativity. Games such as Pokemon Go encourages the user to leave the house and walk ensuring the user gets exercise and fresh air, whilst also creating a community of like-minded people. The advertisements can be seen as beneficial as they show what is available and new in the world of technology. To conclude, I believe that online gaming in moderation is acceptable. However, entering your actual age will ensure that content of games and advertisements are age appropriate. Ad hoc checks by parents on chat forums help avoid any sinister behaviour. Introducing spending limits will take away the desire to spend on in-game extras. During these unprecedented COVID times, having the ability to interact and still play with friends has helped with the mental well-being of many children and for others, it’s been an opportunity to escape to another world anytime and anywhere.

References: (1)

How does Fortnite make their money: https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-does-fortnite-make-money/