Parents are used to the age-old saying that video games rot kid’s brains, and unfortunately, many of them believe that. Robert Hannigan, former boss of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) states that now it may be necessary to encourage parents to let kids play video games, as it just might save the country.
Hannigan’s reasoning behind his statement is that Britain lacks sufficient cyber skills and the country is in desperate need of computer scientists and engineers, leading Hannigan to warn parents about being overly strict when it comes to their children and video games. “Gaming and social media can be as sociable as mooching around the streets with a group of friends, if you are spending a disproportionate amount of your holiday unsuccessfully attempting to separate your children from Wi-Fi or their digital devices, do not despair. Your poor parenting may be helping them and saving the country.” Most parents may disagree with Hannigan’s point on letting kids play video games, but some researchers say that he does have a point, Britain is struggling currently to keep the peace with their digital rivals and enemies, and currently the current and upcoming generation of children are the only ones who can master the digital world.
Researchers have stated that children do learn more technological skills from playing video games and using the Internet, as they first need to teach themselves how to use it and later can expand their knowledge about it, not to mention that playing video games has been proven to improve cognitive function in the brain. Unfortunately Hannigan’s pleas will most likely be drowned out by strict parents and officials who want the government to limit the amount of time kids play video games, Anne Longfield the Children’s Commissioner for England called for parents to moderate how long children play video games and even launched the “Digital 5 A Day” initiative, which is designed to help parents create boundaries limiting kids use of smartphones, tablets, and computers. Hannigan has stated that traditional methods will not solve the problem the UK is having, and he says that though there are many good excellent science and engineering teacher, it isn’t enough, and that the youth of today seem to learn better through seeing and doing online. Hopefully Hannigan’s message will be taken into consideration by parents and will result in a change in the way of thinking for strict UK parents, it may just save the UK. Happy gaming!
Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons
