Year 5 pupils from Grafton School in Islington wrote reports about the issue of young children playing video games unsuitable for their age group. The young reporters managed to be very objective about a subject so relevant to their own lives. Here are some excerpted highlights of their work
Alexandra had a very strong opening paragraph including the most dramatic elements of the story. She also included a variety of quotes from relevant people:
Parents of primary school children have been warned they could be reported to the police or social services if they let their kids play violent or inappropriate video games.
Teachers have strong opinions too. Roz Porter Tibbey claims, “I feel worried because kids will normalise it. I also think teachers, parents and even the game creators should take more control.”
Amelia, aged 9, said: “I think parents should take more control and I think kids should have limited time although they are fun it’s bad for you. It’s also affecting my classmates because they’re always talking about it and how they’re going to go online or the new skin they got.”
Ava included lots of interesting detail from her research, plus contrasting quotes from children themselves:
Children in the UK are playing age-inappropriate video games such as Fortnite (PEGI 12) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (PEGI 18). The craze for the increasingly popular games have meant children are playing it to keep up with their peers or older siblings.
“It’s time to chill out,” said Annabella, age 10, “I like video games because after you’ve had a long hard day at school and you’ve done your homework, it’s time to play.”
91% of children play video games. On average, children play video games for 2.13 hours a day, 15 hours a week. Studies show that violent video games may affect some children’s behaviour over time. Adam Fletcher, age 10, told us: “I only have Fortnite because I understand not to be influenced by it.”
Vincent also had quotes giving strong opinions and gave readers extra information about how games are popularised
“I don’t like it at all. I’m not a fan of video games. My 10-year-old son is strictly forbidden from owning these types of games,” said Frederic Guétin, a graphic designer. “I think video games are a waste of time,” explains Penelope Eyres, a mum of two from Islington. “Children don’t learn anything from these games, except how to shoot people. It stops them from going outside and exercising, instead they sit on their bums all day in front of a screen. The only games I will tolerate are ones with an age rating of seven or under.”
Over 200 million people worldwide play Fortnite. One of many reasons why this number is so large is due to the game being popularised by YouTubers such as Ninja, Tfue and Ali-A.
Abdullahi ensured his report was balanced by including a range of findings about the effects of video games. His final paragraph is a really good way of showing what might happen next in the story.
For decades, researchers have been discovering whether they can cause aggressive behaviour and some have concluded they do. Certain video games (the ones for your age) can improve hand-eye-coordination, problem solving skills and the mind’s ability to process information. But too much can lead to mental health problems.
It is clear that the games industry needs to take action to ensure young children cannot play violent or inappropriate games. One suggestion is to have a child age login, where the adult has to sign in their email saying the child is age-appropriate.
