Gaming and School

This might not seem to address the subject at hand, but......

when I was around 6 years old, my parents bought me a Sega PICO system, which is like a pre-cursor to the Leapfrog system. To me, it was the greatest toy ever; my parents set it up in the living room, and I was allowed to play 1-2 hours a day. Like today's playstations or XBoxes (the playstations were popular then too, but not age appropriate in my parent's opinion) the console plugged into the television, and educational games could be played. I remember that my favorite ones were based on the Disney characters. The object of the games were to teach preliminary skills like reading comprehension, spelling, math, colors, shapes, and other school-type lessons through the use of games and animated characters. Now the Leapfrog system has replaced the system and is a big hit with parents.

So I do believe that games could be used to teach children....but the game played also has something to do with it. Games that are just mindlessly violent (like fight games) seem pointless to me, but some could argue that they teach skills like strategy. One thread that seems to run though most video games, though, is cultivating the skill of persistence. Like solving a difficult math problem, successfully playing a video game requires persistance; obviously, it isn't so easy to get to that next level if you don't keep trying! So if anything, games can teach the importance of continuously persisting in not only the game, but in school and life.