Students who have a high affinity for video games may not spend as much time studying. This leads to poor academic performance. Excessive video game usage can even lead to sleep deprivation, which further harms academic performance. In addition, video games hinder some kids' abilities to think critically about ideas. This can inhibit their academic success, especially in college. Students may also become addicted to video games because these games give them quick gratification for actions. Students can become so highly addicted to video games that they lose track of time and become desensitized to the consequences of neglecting their schoolwork.
While video games can be effective teachers because they provide kids with instant feedback for their actions, they can easily teach children the wrong things. Unrealistic video games can cause kids to develop a skewed understanding of how the world works. Students exposed to large quantities of exciting stimuli in video games sometimes lose their abilities to pay attention to less exciting stimuli. This can lead to students who struggle to read through large volumes of highly technical information or perform other tasks that require high focus.
Sometimes, video game players learn skills for only a short period of time and then lose these skills. The instructional quality of the video game determines how long students remember the content that they learned.
Excessive video game usage can make children more socially isolated since time spent playing video games alone prevents them from developing soft skills such as effective communication and interpersonal skills. Colleges now emphasize the development of soft skills because businesses often request students who can work well with others. Excessive video game usage can also cause children to develop social phobias, which can lead to depression and anxiety, inhibiting school performance.
Video games do not foster imaginative thinking. Without video games, children must use their imaginations to entertain themselves. Imagination is not just for fun but also plays a role in innovation and creativity. Schools are increasingly emphasizing creativity in response to demands from businesses for more innovative students. Video games are often linear and do not present opportunities for students to come up with innovative solutions to problems.