Positive and Negative Effect of VR Gaming on Kids

ATTENTION: This article is based purely off of my own opinions. I’m a huge supporter of Virtual Reality and advances in gaming technology. Just throwing these few sentences in here to let you all know that I’m not against VR for one single second.

Alright. Now let’s get this thing started. VR is a huge step for the gaming industry right now. It’s putting people more into the games than they’ve ever been before. These immersive worlds that developers work so hard to create are now, not only at our fingertips, but also right in front of our eyes. With all the talk right now about hit titles like Fallout 4 and Final Fantasy coming to VR, why not talk about the positives and negatives that come along with it.

I want to start off by highlighting the negatives, as you always give the bad news first. My biggest concern with VR is about the upcoming generation. You can see the huge shifts already as iPhones are in the hands of eight-year-old kids. Not to mention that the average 4th grader can use a computer better than my grandmother. Young children easily persuade parents into buying them games like Call of Duty, and there are studies that show raised aggression levels after playing violent video games or seeing violent movies. I’m not saying that these kids will go out and commit violent acts because they played a shooter, but their aggression levels are higher for a period of time. Imagine that experience now in VR. They are not only playing a game meant for people 18 and up, but they are also immersing themselves much more heavily into this world. They physically control the gun with their own motions, not by moving their thumbs. They see the people die in front of them. This raises a huge concern in my eyes and I feel like ESRB Ratings need to be followed more strictly. Children coming home after school every day, putting on a headset, and killing other players using VR should definitely raise concerns in more eyes than just mine. Other dangers include: children being too immersed in a virtual world, normalization of violence in the eyes of children, raised aggression levels seen in kids, and children feeling comfortable with thoughts of violence.

The negatives can be easily avoided if parents enforce the laws in place surrounding the ESRB Rating System. Will every parents enforce this? I highly doubt it. However, for every negative, their is a positive as well. VR can be used to positively influence kids if they are playing games designed for children. I think a kid would absolutely love to play some VR Pokemon. Hell, I would love to play VR Pokemon! If you give children games where they can go into a world and be creative, it can have tremendous benefits on their brain development. A child could be filled with all sorts of creative ideas, and by giving them an interactive, 3D workspace where they can play and create, they can get all of their imagination out! Games where kids can paint on the walls, build robots, create houses, play with animals, and even interactive learning games can be extremely beneficial. Now, I don’t think a child should constantly be playing video games. All I’m saying is that if a child is going to play a game using a Virtual Reality headset, make it something that they can actually benefit from and save the violent games for when they’re old enough to buy it themselves.