by Randy Fishell, editor
I've heard some kids try to convince adults that playing computer and video games helps them develop important skill, such as eye-hand coordination. That may be true to some degree, but that excuse may not cover all your bases anymore when trying to convince Mom or Dad to let you keep on playing. Here's another view on the subject:
"Early evidence shows that many computer games teach . . . skills useful for playing more computer games, and not much more."* The same author notes that nearly a third of fourteen- to twenty-one-year olds juggle five to eight media while doing homework." You know, computer, iPod, cell phone, and all that stuff. But it turns out that a lot of those teens and young adults think they are handling all of those electronic gizmos just fine while research suggests something else: U.S. fifteen-year-olds rank 24th out of 29 countries on a certain test of problem-solving skills, and "nearly 60 percent of fifteen-year-olds in our country (USA) score at or below the most basic level of problem solving . . . such as plotting a route on a map."
Well, there is more bad news, but I don't want to depress you. And obviously I am not anti-computer games, as you may have noticed if you've checked out this website. I just want you to be aware that it might be a good idea to shut off the games once in a while and turn on some other brain cells.
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* From Distracted by Maggie Jackson (Prometheus Books, Copyright © 2008).
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