Can playing video games be good for your child? An expert’s view

Whether on a computer, game console or smartphone, adolescents often spend a lot of time playing video games. But how much is a lot?

Among adolescents aged 11 to 15 in 44 countries and regions in Europe, central Asia and Canada, 34 per cent play every day, and 22 per cent play for at least four hours on a gaming day, according to a recently published survey by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The survey classified 12 per cent of the respondents as being at risk of “problematic” gaming – 16 per cent of the boys, and seven per cent of the girls. The risk was most prevalent among 11-year-olds, at 14 per cent.

This can be alarming to parents, who – assuming they are not gamers themselves – may be unable to fathom the fascination of gaming, and are otherwise out of their depth on the phenomenon.

A child plays with a smartphone. Frenetic games with rapidly changing images are unsuitable for children under five or six years of age, says one expert. Photo: Shutterstock

That is why social education worker and media games expert Daniel Heinz has answered some key questions about it. He heads a platform for digital games guidance from the Office of Youth Media Culture in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.