In today’s media, all we hear are screams of negativity whenever video games are mentioned: " Violence!"   "Addiction!"  "Over-expenditure!"  "All-nighters!"  However, it is not always the games that cause problem. We are what we believe; so if parents already have a negative view of video games, then they will undoubtedly fail to notice the positive tradeback and results. Looking into many famous games, we can see that they teach us the art of persuasion , creativity, and life lessons.

     Let’s look into a popular game, Among Us, to see how it teaches kids persuasion. Most adults hearing this description of Among Us would think it’s a violent game . However, the main point that the game teaches is persuasion. Even AP-English teachers have started using it because kids are interested in the game. We get to talk and persuade each other. Moreover, Playing Among Us helps build essay-writing skills and important components in debate. “There’s a barrier that gets lowered when there’s heightened emotions.”, stated a New York Times article about Among Us. Through fun public debates, players of all ages learn to develop a skill that is hard to learn, but essential for any high-level English course; finding viable evidence to support their claim. Because both the imposters and crewmates have to utilize hard-to-find evidence to prove they are not the bad guys, they are greatly improving their persuasion skills just by playing a video game.

Another great game that kids love to play is Minecraft, which teaches creative and collaborative skills.  Sometimes, players have to defend themselves against enemies; other times, they work together with other players in the same virtual world. Game modes include a survival mode and a creative mode. Minecraft is so popular that many famous YouTubers still play it today! What parents don’t see is that this game can build creativity and teamwork. Because Minecraft has a creative mode, kids can build whatever they want, imagining their ideal worlds. Another thing Minecraft can teach you is teamwork, because you can play with your friends. Learning collaboration with friends is far more interesting in Minecraft than in school projects. In fact, you can even learn more about it when you all have high regard to a subject, like beating the ender dragon.

One of my favorite games that teaches how to overcome the struggles and frustrations in life is Brawl Stars. By playing Brawl Stars, I learned about the “Rule of Credit”; even if I did the work in a game, my teammates still got the same number of trophies that I got. They could be inactive the whole game. Even if we lost, they still wouldn’t care. That’s also how life sometimes works; in some school projects, one student does all the work, and yet everyone receives the same grade. The sooner one learns this, the better it will be for them, therefore testifying to video games helping teenagers.

Video games can be violent, but like everything else, they embody both negativity and positivity.  A close reexamination of games can shed light on not only its negativity but also its positivity which is often slighted by parents and media alike.