Children as young as four have been reported to play online games. Most online games require quick thinking, intuitive skills and problem solving skills. This will enhance their cognitive abilities in school and help them develop mentally. There are however disadvantages associated with online gaming.

Socialize. When playing video games there's always the tendency for people to get socially interact with each other. Online gaming helps to foster communication between players from different areas by allowing people to communicate through text or voice chat.

Hard Time Falling Asleep. This disadvantage is connected with the social aspect of gaming. Many experts agree that too much time spent chatting on video games can lead to the sleep being interrupted. Sleeping is a valuable asset to your child because it helps them recharge and rejuvenate. The lack of sleep brought on by a lack of social interaction can be counterproductive to their development. This disadvantage of hard time falling asleep can cause many negative effects to arise.

Negative Impact of Gaming. Scientific research has discovered that people who excessively play violent video games have higher rates of aggressive behaviour towards other people and the use of weapons is significantly increased. This evidence supports the argument that if a child spends more time participating in violent video games that they might develop a greater inclination towards aggressive behaviour.

These studies highlight how playing violent video games can have negative effects. However, it should also be noted that most children nowadays spend a large amount of time in front of a computer screen. It has been shown that most children nowadays have a preference for playing video games over actual play time.

Playing video games has been found to have positive effects on adults too. Recent studies have revealed that gamers have a better attention span and are better able to process information compared to non-gamers. It is believed that this can only be attributed to the fact that playing a computer game requires the gamer to pay close attention to details and that results in the improvement of a person's cognitive abilities.

However, the pros and cons of video games can be weighed against the cons in relation to their positive effects. It has been noted by researchers that playing video games can lead to an increase in alertness, which can improve the individual's reaction times. This can only be attributed to the fact that gamers have to pay close attention to details. This is because the actions that need to be made when playing a video game is not something that a non gamer would experience.

Another benefit associated with playing video games is that the player develops a positive attitude towards work and life. One of the cons of playing video games is that individuals tend to lose interest in physical exercise. Although this can be countered by playing more engaging games such as puzzle and card games. However, experts claim that physical activity is important in order to keep a healthy body. Therefore, games require an individual to physically move around in order to achieve the goals that the player has set for themselves.

Overall, pros and cons of video games can be analysed using the information above. These include the advantages and disadvantages associated with them. Although there are no absolute pros and cons when it comes to playing games, the decision to spend time on games is entirely up to the individual.