Here's Why You Should Play Video Games With The Kids

Video games have long been considered as bad, influencing children to become violent, or turning them into lazy couch potatoes. Some parents, however, realized that games can actually bring them closer to their child.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in a 2015 Electronic Software Association-commissioned survey of more than 4,000 U.S. households, it was found that three out of five parents with game-playing kids join in the fun at least once a week, indicating that intergenerational gaming, or gaming where people of different generations are involved, are actually common.

In one certain family, 53-year-old dad Gary Davis of Webster, N.Y., plays the famous racing game "Mario Kart" with his son—and his son actually loves it.

"It's not just pressing buttons," said Davis. "There's a lot of joking going on."

"It's cool to see my parents interested in things I'm interested in also," said his son, 14-year-old Will.

A competitive spirit is also boosted through games, one that surprises parents.

"There was a competitive spirit that came out of them that I had not seen," said 44-year-old Gilbert Dumontet, an entertainment executive, referring to his sons who were participants of a "Minecraft" tournament.

His two twin boys, although into sports, are recognized by their mom as being better in the digital field. "This is where they can shine," said mom Judy. As such, both parents supported their enthusiasm in the Minecraft game, which is a highly creative and geometrical game.

It also was a means for them to learn other lessons that usually only sports are known to teach, like sportsmanship.

Yalda T. Uhls,  a child psychologist studying how media affects kids, said "many games not only teach academic subjects like math and science but also important life skills, like working toward a goal and persisting even after failure."

"If you're in there with them or just watching, you can teach your kids critical thinking," added Dr. Uhls, referring to parents who play with or at least within reach when the kid faces a difficult challenge in-game.

Parents also learn. As they play, parents find the playing time as a good bonding time, where they can ask their kids about general topics like what happened in school, to more serious ones like sexuality and bullying.

Cheryl K. Olson, Sc.D., assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said via Parents.com: "Now that some video game systems are friendlier to novice players, it's increasingly possible to share game time together." 

"Plus, playing a video game side-by-side... may encourage your child to share her problems and triumphs with you," she added.