Video games have gotten a bad reputation. It can be easy to see why: some gamers play 40+ hours a week. Some addictions are so strong that people lose their jobs, their spouses, and even their homes. It’s not a pretty story.

However, that’s just one side of it. Games aren’t all bad.

I play a lot of video games, and I know a lot of gamers. Personal experience has proven to me that gaming isn’t what debaters like Bill O’Reilly make it out to be.

To put it simply, I see video games as more than just fun. The benefits can be put into three sections:

Your Brain Works Better

Today’s games are full of fast-paced, visual action that challenges our minds. Studies find that gamers succeed in detail-oriented careers in fast paced environments. They make better surgeons, drivers, and soldiers – and anything else you could think to add to the list. Games improve your brain in all sorts of ways:

1. Reaction Time

First-person shooters, racing games, and many other genres rely on the gamer’s reaction time. Over time, neural connections related to reaction time improve. Quick reaction times can save lives outside of the gaming world.

2. Visual Processing Skills
Reaction skills are great, but noticing stimuli is even more important. You can’t dodge a bullet if you didn’t notice it was shot at you. Visual processing is important for avoiding accidents and remembering visual information (like what a criminal looked like). Video games encourage a strong awareness for stimuli.

3. Concentration
Challenging tasks in video games involve a lot of concentration – and patience. The ability to pay attention with and without distractions is rewarded in any genre.

4. Motor Skills
If you’re not used to using a console controller, you’ll notice right away. You’ll feel awkward and you’ll have a hard time controlling it. Video games train hand-eye-coordination, which is important for any of us to be able to live normal lives. It’s what allows us to do everything from type to make tea.

You’ll Know Your Numbers

All games involve numbers. After all, how else can you tell whether or not you’re strong enough to kill an enemy? Some say that MMOs are nothing BUT math. Either way, gamers need to know their math for a few important reasons:

1. Finances
Money is important in most games, whether it’s online or offline. You use it to buy new skills, weapons, armor, food, materials, and any else you can think of. Gamers have to pay attention to their budget and their means of income in order to advance in the game. Massively Multiplayer Online games (MMOs) have even more complex economies that can take a lot of time to study and understand. Second Life and similar games even use actual (real life) currency.

2. Percentages
Numbers are everywhere in games. They’re involved in nearly every aspect of gameplay, and most of the numbers can relate to percentage. How close am I to leveling up? How much stronger will this weapon be with a 5% bonus? What’s my rating? There’s a lot to calculate.

3. Algebra
Games involve simple calculations (additions, subtraction, multiplication, and division). The more involved the gamer is, the more involved the math becomes. The math covers at least the most simple concepts of algebra, and can lead to complex calculations.

You’ll Be More Social

Popular games (and even less popular ones) have their own communities. Game related content (forums, chatrooms, walkthroughs, etc) are created by fans more often than not. Online games especially are all about community. MMOs are impossible to succeed in alone.

1. Teamwork
Generally, games involve different character types that have different strengths and weaknesses. Difficult tasks in MMOs require gamers to work in teams. Strategy becomes a team effort, and can be one of the most important things in the game. It’s hard to become a top player without a few friends.

2. Networking
Gaming communities can involve millions of people around the world. There’s a lot of opportunity to connect and network with people when so many others are playing the same game as you are.

3. Communication
Any amount of teamwork will make you use your communication skills. Who gets what items from the monsters? Who heals? When will players get together to work on a certain task in the game? Communication is a vital skill for any MMO gamer.

Gaming, like anything else, is best done in balance. Addiction to anything can be harmful. It’s about knowing when to stop, and having the ability to control what you do and when you do it. Enjoying something doesn’t have to be an addiction.

Parents new to unschooling worry about their kids watching TV and playing video games all day. It doesn’t need to be such a negative idea.

What’s the harm with a little fun?

Like a lot of families, I came to choose unschooling through a gradual process. In my first years at school, I enjoyed it. I loved the opportunity to learn. When the system started working against me, I started to question it. Why couldn’t I learn something the higher grades were learning? Why didn’t we read more than one chapter, if everyone was interested and concentrated on it? I didn’t know the world arbitrary then, but that’s what it felt like: a bunch of rules and regulations with no real connection to learning.

Then I discovered homeschooling. That made more sense to me. I already learned more at home than I did at school. A few years after my discovery of homeschooling, I discovered unschooling. That’s when I realized unschooling was what I had wanted all along.

So here I am.

There are a huge number of reasons to unschool. It’s likely there are as many reasons as there are unschoolers. My biggest reasons were not wanting to be stuck with my grade level subject matter. I wanted more.

Among everyone’s reasons to unschool, there are a few things we all agree on:

• Flexibility

No matter your lifestyle, budget, schedule, or interest, unschooling can work for you. The minimal necessities to a rich unschooling experience are a library card, internet access, and loving parents. Good friends, good experiences, and learning will follow.

The flexibility of unschooling can have a lot of small bonuses, too. Shopping can be done during a quiet hour. It’s easier to travel when tickets are cheap. If plans change, it’s not that big a deal. You can have a family vacation whenever it suits you. It makes a lot of things easier!

• It’s About the Learner

Schools have a lot of kids, teachers, and parents to focus their time on. Unschooling lets the experience focus on the learner and their needs. This puts the learner in a more comfortable and more secure environment. Feeling comfortable  enough to seek information, ask questions, try new things, and share experiences is very important to learning. Unschooling does just that.

Knowing that what they need is freely available (entertainment, comfort, food, sleep, etc) lets children be comfortable enough not to hoard those things. Having the freedom to choose early on helps children establish security in the world around them, and make better choices with the experience they get.

Maturity doesn’t come with age. It comes with experience.

• Real-world Experience

Speaking of experience! Instead of just focusing on theory, unschooling gives kids real, hands-on experience. There’s nothing arbitrary about any of their experiences. The things unschoolers learn are put into context (this is important – why do you think schools try to give students stories for math problems?). Their learning is a more complete experience, and is more memorable because of that.

It’s more than just academic knowledge, too. Responsibility and respect are things you learn from experience, and they can’t be forced. Unschooling helps kids learn (and experience) both, without instilling fear (like schools do with punishment, bad grades, and other assessments).

• Families Are Closer

Many parents of schooled children don’t know their children very well, and don’t spend much time with them. On top of work, school, homework, errands, and free time with friends, there’s very little time to sit down and spend time together as a family.

This heart-rending article puts it in perspective: working parents on average spend less than 30 minutes of active time with their children. Unschoolers don’t have that problem.

• It’s Fun!

Unschoolers have the biggest playground of all: the world. Unschooling encourages families to focus on making fun, entertaining lives, because that’s the best way to learn. No matter your age!

Why did your family choose unschooling? Share your story in the comments!

• Be sure not to miss the other parts of the Self-Ed 101 series:
  Self-Ed 101: A Brief History
  Self-Ed 101: Deschooling