The Negative Impact of Augmented Reality Games on Teens: What to Do?

Posted on the 29 September 2017 by Ruby Mariah @rubymariah22

Video Games are the pretty different source of entertainment because a player can also become the part of a game script. Historically, video games are available to the players since last three decades. Now we have modern augmented reality games that require the deep interest in the game. Player has to take part deeply such as physically and emotionally same as doing in real life. Let’s discuss a bit about augmented reality games.

What is an augmented reality games? (AR gaming)

AR gaming is basically an integration with the visual of the game and content with the player’s domain in real time. Irrespective of the virtual reality gaming which is based on separate room or place in order to make the proper environment. Augmented Reality gaming (AR) needs the actual domain of a user and user can play within its territory. Augmented reality games are usually played on the gadgets such as cell phones, tablets and with a portable gaming system.

According to States

Approximately 97% of young teens and kids in the United States have the addiction of video games and the sales of games are increasing day by day. The video games are generating 12 billion in year domestically. This particular type of media has both positive and negative effects on young kids and teens. If we discuss the positive side of the gaming, it improves the manual dexterity and computer literacy. The contemporary tools of technology enable a user to play alongside extraordinary graphics and provide virtual playing experience. This type of quality in video games attract young user and influence a lot. Video games which give rewards and helping other stuff, it shows more compassion and helpfulness in the lives of young video game players, Douglas Gentile, P.HD associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University stated that. On another hand, studies also stated that the augmented reality games violent content cause aggressive behavior in young players. We all know that their thousands of games which are based on violence. The time spent on playing games on gadgets really matters a lot and may cause serious issues in teens significantly. According to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the young kids and teens age 8 to 18 are used to of spending 8 hours a day on AR gaming. Parents should look after how much a kid should play a video game on their gadgets, he added.

Gentile & Anderson had a view that kids and teens that spent plenty of time on games seriously affected by continues violence repeated in the game again and again. The repetition works as a teacher to get influence on teens and change their moods and behavior. Let’s discuss the negative effects of Augmented Reality games on teens.

There are plenty of negative effects of Video games on teens which are followings.

Effects on Health

In-case a young child or teen spend their time all day long on AR games and don’t take meals properly, ultimately effects seriously on health. Those kids and teens that spend more than two hours on cell phones, laptops and PC’s and play games usually suffer from overweight and obesity. Furthermore, spending a lot of time on augmented reality games leads a player towards serious medical issues such as backache, eyestrain and with the carpal tunnel syndrome, According to the University of Texas at Dallas. Your teen may suffer in pain of wrists, hands, elbows and shoulders.

Lack of social behavior

It is arguably true that when a teen doesn’t spend time with the friends and family members and concentrate on gaming all day long rather their loved ones. According to the On-Line Gamer which is an anonymous website stated that gaming is playing the significantly negative role in the lives of young kids and teens and they always make conversations regarding gaming.

Aggressive behavior

The young players that are used to of playing AR games based on violence hours and hours, their personality transform into a violent person. Players who like to play games based on violence and aggression usually got the detached view of society and may get negative and aggressive tendencies.

Poor in studies

Obviously, when teens and kids concentrate on video games rather than spending more time on studies, grades start falling. In schools, they will not be able to perform well because of lack of sleep due to spending significant amount of time on AR games. If your child spends at least two hours on playing games, he will suffer in lack of sleep, don’t be able to pay attention in studies at school  and test scores start falling and at the end, they will do the poor performance in studies.

What is ESRB?

It stands for Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was established in the nineties by the (IDSA) interactive Digital Software Association. The major videos games developers have created a board which has the power to make the objection on the content of AR or VR (Virtual reality games). It is same as the film industry’s rating system, major games developer submit the copy of their product for rating, raters in ESRB rates almost thousand games in a year. The board has the power to examine plenty of aspects in the game such as the element of violence, sex, contradictory language, substance abuse and others. After examining the content of the game board implements the age recommendation alongside content descriptor. The game submitted to the board may take some time for approval. Parents should see the rating of a game which kids and teens are playing. If it is appropriate for their age then it would be better and if it is not then you need to monitor your kids and teens gaming activity.

What should Parents do? Tips for Parents!

The popularity of video games among young kids and teens; it may not possible for you to stop your kids and teens to play games completely. We have some effective four tips for you to stop your child to waste time, energy and risking health on games.

  • View the rating of video game published by ESRB board.
  • Don’t put a device in the separate room of your child.
  • Set a time limit for your child to play games on the device.

Parents should monitor all the activities of kids and teens while using electronic gadgets, on which a user plays games, use the internet and installed apps. Parents should use the cell phone and PC’s monitoring app, it enables a user to view all the activities of a target user. Parents can view what sort of video game kids and teens are playing on the devices. Parents can remotely view what kind of video game apps they have installed on the devices. They can view internet activities through browsing history of tracking software. Parents can block the internet remotely if a child is addicted to playing the games. Parents can also get the screen shots of a device remotely and can examine what is running on the device.

Conclusion:

Video games may be the good source of entertainment for kids and teens but also rouge for their future lives. Cell phone tracking app enables you to track the activities of teens to prevent the negative impacts of augmented reality games.