ΑΠΟΤΥΠΩΜΑΤΑ
Evolution of playtime
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ΑΠΟΤΥΠΩΜΑΤΑ
Playtime has always been an incredibly crucial part of every person’ s life. For starters, games have always taught children valuable life lessons, which they remember for their entire lives, for example in Tag, the only way you can win is by not giving up. But a lot has changed, since the old days of regular games in real life with your friends.
Back then, kids used to play old-fashioned games that required you to be active, not just sitting on your chair hitting buttons with your fingers. The most popular games that actually helped you physically were the following: Tag, Hide and Seek, Hopscotch and Freeze Tag. In each of those games, in order to succeed, you needed to think, run and work with your teammates. Furthermore, the lessons that were taught by those games have stuck with the people that played them as I mentioned before. A great example is with Freeze Tag, you could only win by overwhelming your opponent with the amount of people that he would have to tag, therefore, to win you needed quick thinking, strategy and most importantly teamwork. Also, other games that needed strategic thinking were the most board games. The most obsessed over board game over the years is chess, because not only is it appropriate for children, it is a great game for adults as well. Obviously, other board games could be honorably mentioned like snakes and ladders or monopoly, but they mostly require luck rather than thinking.
Nowadays though, it’ s more common to see kids being addicted to the internet or video games instead of going out and getting active by playing games with other children at the park. Since the invention of smartphones and the more advanced versions of consoles we have all witnessed classic games like Tag, Hide and Seek and Chess slowly fade. Such a phenomenon has negatively affected children, as child obesity has dramatically increased over the years, according to the World Health Organization. Moreover, researchers have actually found that the leading cause of the rise of obesity regarding children is the lack of physical activity and outdoor play. On the other hand, chess and other board games being replaced by video games isn’ t necessarily a negative outcome. Whether we want to admit it or not, most video games actually require talent and practice, as well as strategic and quick thinking. What’ s more, if you want to win you need fast reflexes, patience and math or geometry calculations in certain games. This is a vital reason why in recent years students have improved their problem-solving skills and have developed better spatial and cognitive skills, as noted by a study published in Computers & Education and research summarized by The American Psychological Association.
In conclusion, the way that games and playtime have changed has its positives and negatives and the truth is that they will continue to differ from the past generations. Evolution is a part of life; in order to evolve we have to leave some things behind so we can make improved versions of them. To bring this article to a close, the only way to face evolution, is to adapt and accept it.
Orestis Lasanianos, c2