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The effects of video games on students mental health and school performance

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         Video games have become more popular for a variety of reasons such as allowing people to escape from the real world, the ability to compete either against a computer or another person, to be able to create their own stores and a multitude of other reasons (Morris, 2021). This blog will be discussing the effects of video games on adolescent students’ mental health and performance in school. The blog post will be discussing a series of 4 articles related to either performance or mental wellbeing of students who play video games. Through understanding the effects of video games on students, teachers will be able to assist them in getting help when they need it. Mental health in students can be an issue, 20% of adolescents reported high or very high levels of psychological distress, 14% of adolescents experienced a mental disorder and in 2019 there were 461 suicides by young people (AIHW, 2021). With these numbers, it is important for teachers to assist their students, and researc
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Conclusion and references

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     To conclude, video games have an effect on student performance and mental health. The pathological effect of video games can lead to a higher level of aggression, depression, and shyness as is seen in Coyne et al. (2020). David et al. (2020) found that video games aimed towards mental health issues are not ready to be used by itself and as treatment or prevention on mental illness. Gómez-Gonzalvo et al. (2020) found that students need to have their time playing games limited as the longer they play games, the more likely they will fail more subjects. Stockdale and Coyne (2018) suggest that emerging adult gaming addicts experienced poorer overall health and report problematic pornography use. Teachers need to discuss with students and their parents the importance of limiting the amount of time students play video games as there is an effect on performance and mental health.
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Stockdale and Coyne (2018) Video Game addiction

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Stockdale, L., & Coyne, S. M. (2018). Video game addiction in emerging adulthood: Cross-sectional evidence of pathology in video game addicts as compared to matched healthy controls. Journal of Affective Disorders , 225 , 265–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2017.08.045 
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Gómez-Gonzalvo et al. (2020) Video games and student performance

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Gómez-Gonzalvo, F., Devís-Devís, J., & Molina-Alventosa, P. (2020). Video game usage time in adolescents’ academic performance. Comunicar , 28 (65), 87–96. https://doi.org/10.3916/C65-2020-08
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David et al. (2020) Serious games and promoting mental health

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David, O. A., Costescu, C., Cardos, R., & Mogoaşe, C. (2020). How Effective are Serious Games for Promoting Mental Health and Health Behavioral Change in Children and Adolescents? A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Child & Youth Care Forum , 49 (6), 817–838. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-020-09566-1
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Coyne et al. (2020) Pathological video game symptoms

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  Coyne, S. M., Stockdale, L. A., Warburton, W., Gentile, D. A., Yang, C., & Merrill, B. M. (2020). Pathological Video Game Symptoms from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood: A 6-Year Longitudinal Study of Trajectories, Predictors, and Outcomes. Developmental Psychology , 56 (7), 1385–1396. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000939
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