Banning Video Games Isn’t Going To Do Much If It’s Only Two Days A Month
Video games can be a fun and easy hobby and a great way to unwind at the end of the day. Sure, some people get a little too into them, but that can be said about just about anything. But the Board of Education in Hokkaido is blaming them for low test scores, and is recommending kids go fishing instead.
According to Rocket News 24, Hokkaido students scored lower than the average in Japan on standardized tests. While students across Japan play video games, educators in Hokkaido think cutting back on game time could help increase students’ scores. But they really aren’t asking for much, they just want two days a month.
The Hokkaido Board of Education has proposed making the first and third Mondays of every month “No Game Days” for students and parents alike, and they’re pleading with parents to go along with it. To help coax residents away from their screens, Hokkaido is reportedly hosting local events like snow rafting and fishing events. OK, fishing doesn’t sound like much fun to me, but I’d go outside for “snow rafting.”
It is unclear, however, how two days without video games is expected to raise test scores, especially since the Internet itself and other potentially distracting hobbies are not included. (Personally, I would like to see people sign on for two, “don’t comment on YouTube videos” and “don’t Google yourself” days.)
Sure, going without video games just two days a month should not be a hardship for most people, but targeting video games as the specific cause of the lower test scores seems misguided, considering that administrators don’t have any evidence linking video games to the lower test scores in the first place. Maybe semi-monthly “study real hard” days would have an effect, but just getting rid of video games doesn’t seem like it will have much of an effect at all. Most likely all the Hokkaido schoolchildren would just spend the day on Twitter complaining about not being able to play video games.
Photo: Shutterstock
