Comparison between Singapore and the USA: On the Use of Video game technology and its Effects on Students.

Introduction

If someone asks a kid about the worst thing, a kid will say the homework because it is too hard to do, and if someone asks about the worth thing, a kid will say a game because it’s too easy.   How video games can make us better or worse, and how they change people, are important questions to ask. You may know the video game industry has surpassed the movie industry in revenue multiple times in the past (Gentile, 2009). This essay will compare Singapore and the USA on the use of video game technology and its effects on students by discussing the three-argument of discussion: parents’ rules on the effect of video games, the impact on mental health, and how the video games genre can have different effects on students’ social life.

Comparison

Parents’ rules on the effect of video games

Parents’ rules on the effect of video games matter because video gaming is one of the most time-consuming activities and it might leave a negative impact. In both countries, kids were allowed to play video games after weekends, after homework, or when friends came over. Apart from this, in both countries, parents have a sense about the standard of the game such as what types of games they should be allowed their child to play. For example, some parents allow their children to buy specific games with specific age ratings. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the maximum time allotted should be under 30 to 60 minutes per day which proves the parents’ rules on the effect of video games matter.

Effect on the situation and mental health of children

Video games may leave a clear effect on the situation and mental health of children, both, in either negative or positive ways. According to a study in the USA, 60% of teenagers play video games to get away from their problems. For example, when someone feels depressed video games can help to relieve their stress. In the same way, many video game players confess that they play video games for minds refreshing by video gaming. For instance, sometimes taking a break from schoolwork can refresh your mind. However, it can also waste a lot of time, such as some students taking a break from schoolwork to refresh their minds. Gentile and his colleagues have suggested that there are at least five dimensions along which video games can have effects: content, amount, mechanics, context, and structure, each of which is likely to have specific effects. So, mental health could be affected positively or negatively because of video games in both countries.

Effects on students’ social life

Video game genres can have different effects on students’ social life.  It was found that prosocial video games promote a prosocial lifestyle in both countries, such as video games that require cooperation with other people have helped to improve social life, on the other side, the students who play violent video games have been caught promoting a violent lifestyle in the society of both countries. For example, video games that require people to kill each other might affect students’ personalities. Apart from the prosocial video games and violent video games, solo games also have different effects on students’ social life as introverted students prefer playing alone as they are anti-social in both countries, so the results were very similar for the two countries.

Conclusion 

This essay is a comparison between Singapore and the USA in the use of video game technology and its effect on students by emphasizing parents’ rules, its impact on the situation and mental health, and different effects on students’ social life. The results were similar for both countries as surveys were conducted for school students around the same age. Although playing video games can result in negative outcomes, there are also positive outcomes. Parents setting rules for their children can help reduce some of the negative effects. Also, Video games can be a way for teenagers to forget about their problems. Lastly, the genre of the video game can also affect teenagers, as prosocial video games lead to a prosocial lifestyle. Some views portray that technology has great evil effects on our society, however, statistics have also proved its pros in different ways as we have discussed above in the USA and Singaporean culture.

Reference

Gentile, D. (2009, May 1). Pathological Video-Game Use Among Youth Ages 8 to 18. Retrieved from https://journals-sagepub-com.zulib.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02340.x

Gentile, D. (2009, June 1). The Effects of Prosocial Video Games on Prosocial Behaviors: International Evidence From Correlational, Longitudinal, and Experimental Studies. Retrieved from https://journals-sagepub-com.zulib.idm.oclc.org/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167209333045

 
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2022-07-28 06:11:52