Sentence Outline

Video Game Outline

1. Introduction:
1. Video games seen as harmful
1. Many studies on harmful effects of video games, such as “Deciding To Defect. The Effects Of Video-Game Violence On Cooperative Behavior.”
2. Some websites look at both the positive and negative aspects of video games while trying to give solutions to the problem, such as Raise Smart Kids
2. Actually many positive effects from video games
1. Increased problem solving skills (The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games)
2. Hand-Eye Coordination and Emotional outlet (Webber)
3. Helps out with certain disorders, such as Dyslexia, and recovery rates (Guarini)
3. Schools could get particular help from using video games
1. Help keep students more interested in their studies (Beserra)
2. Help Students who have troubles with math (Jing)
3. Can assist students in learning evidence based reasoning, collaboration, and problem solving (Gershenfeld)
4. Thesis Statement: While there might be some bad press about video games, they provide significant benefits to those who use them, and are able to help improve the education of this nation.
2. Benefits for school use: One of the benefits that video games can provide is an increase in learning capacity, and what better place for someone to learn then at a school.
1. Helps increase interest in subject
1. Study showed that using video games increased third grade students learning and wanting to learn more (Beserra)
2. Another study showed this as well, but when it was used on second graders (Rosas)
2. Helps students learn more
1. Students learned more from video games than traditional methods (Rosas)
2. this was shown again in another study (Beserra)
3. A different study showed the action video games specifically help with understanding spatial reasoning, which is crucial for math and engineering (Feng)
4. another study showed that video games assisted in learning spatial reasoning, as well as problem solving (Schmidt)
3. Random notes/comments
1. A writer for scientific american wrote that while video games can assist with learning evidence based reasoning, collaboration, and problem solving, that first they need to work out some games that have been worked on by a combination of scientist, game developers, and educators to find what works for them (Gershenfeld)
2. A study shows that the kind of media also affects student learning, and that it is important to show educational media, rather than pop culture. (Schmidt)
3. General benefits for using video games: There are other ways video games can help you
1. Stress relief/pleasure
1. Video game have always been a way for someone to sit down and relax while challenging yourself. A study has found that video games help relieve stress from young adults (Whitbourne)
2. Another study found similar results, but for a range of age groups, from children to the elderly. All of those who played video games got some form of stress relief (Granic)
3. There are even more sources that make the same claim. Lisa Weber, a writer for the Global Post, found that video games allow those who don’t participate in sports to “release ... pent-up aggression and frustration”.
4. Another article even points to video games as providing therapeutic benefits (Griffiths)
2. Mental Benefits
1. Younger adults noted having increased memory from playing video games (Whitbourne)
2. A study found that Action video games increased certain skills, such as faster and more accurate attention allocation, higher spatial resolution in visual processing, and enhanced mental rotation abilities, as well as high school and even university classes designed to do the same thing (Granic).
3. A different study found that by playing more video games, adolescents gained increased ability to plan strategically and allocate their visuo-spatial attention (Kühn)
4. Video games also assist in having someone solve a problem quickly and efficiently (Weber)  
5. Another benefit found in older adults from playing video games is the increased ability to multi task, better memory, and a better ability to focus on tasks. (Spector)
3. Health Benefits
1. Playing video games helps to slow the mental decay that occurs with age (Guarini)
2. Video games may also assist those with dyslexia read (Guarini)
3. Another article also said that in addition to dyslexia, video games may be able to also help people manage pain, get over phobias and PTSD, and help raise the mental outlook of cancer patients (Spector)
4. With the same article, it was also found that video games can improve a person's eyesight by increasing their sensitivity to slightly different shades of color, which is known as contrast sensitivity(Spector)
5. A different article also mentions improved eyesight, mention how video games improve the ability to see subtle changes in the brightness of an image (Guarini)
4. Social Benefits
1. A study into video games found that contrary to popular belief, video games actually help people become more social. The study found that 70% of gamers were playing games with others in either a cooperative or competitive setting (Granic)
2. Another study found that playing a prosocial game made children more willing to give help to others then those who don’t (Granic)
3. It was also found that even if the video game was violent in nature, if it promoted teamwork, than the gamer who played it would be more helpful to those around him than otherwise (Granic)
4. Video games also allow children to be well adjusted. An oxford study found that video games helped children be “less hyperactive, [have] fewer emotional issues, and were more likely to help others” (Spector)
4. Addressing concerns that may still be had about video games:
1. Video games will make your child more aggressive

1. Studies have been done linking violent behavior to violent video games, such as with “Deciding to defect: the effects of video-game violence on cooperative behavior.” (Sheese)

2. This study showed that violent video games made those who played it less likely to help others and more likely to exploit others for personal gain (Sheese)
3. As mentioned earlier in this essay, violent video games alone are not what do this. Studies have shown that it depends on what the content of the game is that determines if the game increases antisocial behavior.
2. Video games will make my child fail at school
1. There was a whole section of this essay that has shown that the opposite is true. Video games assist in education
2. Up to adult to monitor time using games to make sure that video games are actually used correctly (The Positive and Negative Effects of Video Games.)
3. General fixing of concerns
1. With any activity, you have to make sure that you don’t overdo it. Too much of any one thing will turn a good activity into a bad thing
1. make sure to monitor time using
2. if negative effects occur, stop playing or stop the person playing video games
3. it is up to adults to make sure that they their specific usage (or their children’s usage) doesn’t become a bad thing
5. Conclusion: In the end, video games are like any other tool that mankind has made
1. Any tool made must be used properly to be used effectively, and video games are no different
2. While video games may seem harmful, there are ways around what those side effects are
3. Schools could see a great increase in their ability to increase the number of students who learn what is meant to be taught, and students who want to learn
4. Schools are not the only group that could benefit from these games. The general populace to reap a number of benefits, such as mental, social, and even improved health
5. This country would benefit from the expansion of video games into everyday life and into classrooms.