Videogames seen good for children

The article, at http://www.reuters.com/...">http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE51A60H20090211?Name..., starts with:

Quote:Videogames can be good for children, encouraging creativity and cooperation, a European Union report concluded Wednesday which ran counter to the violent reputation of some titles.

In conclusions that may either surprise or reassure parents of game addicts, the study by the European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection found a number of benefits and no definitive link to violent behavior.

"Videogames are in most cases not dangerous and can even contribute to the development of important skills," said Toine Manders, the Dutch liberal lawmaker who drafted the report.

"(They stimulate) learning of facts and skills such as strategic reflection, creativity, cooperation and a sense of innovation," a news release on the report said.

However, it also later says:

Quote:The EU report noted that not all games are appropriate for children, but argued that some books and movies are targeted for an older audience. It acknowledged that violence in some games could "stimulate" violent behavior in specific situations.

The report stressed parental involvement by proposing development of a "red button" that could allow parents to control content and how long games are played. It did not elaborate as to what form this button would take.

I got the impression from the article that the report was not examining the effects of video game addiction at all, despite the somewhat flippant use of the term "game addicts", but rather things like the possible negative effects related to the content, especially violence. As I have written before, I don't dispute that some video games, especially in moderation, can have beneficial effects. However, I am disappointed that they have chosen to apparently ignore certain negative aspects such as addiction when discussing the "benefits" of video games. Nonetheless, this article is only a brief summary of the report so it is quite possible that it is giving a slanted view. Given the inappropriate use of the term "game addicts" that I mentioned above, I am not very impressed with this article author and would not be surprised if there were some definite bias in the article.