(Child playing with grandparent.)

Video games have had a bad reputtion with the mainstream media as something of a waste of time or something that does not provide anything positive for the player. This description of video games is almost the same thing people were saying about television when it was first introduced to the world. No one really knew what to make of the television because it was so new and no one would even think about the potential it could have. Parents were especially weary of the effects television would have on their children, they believed it was extremely harmful for their children to be watching television. That is, until "Sesame Street" was introduced to the world.

Sesame Street showed the potential of television as a teaching medium for children and adults alike. They knew the interactive element of television would be beneficial for children to learn in a new and exciting way. That is what video games are doing right now. With parents worrying about the effects of video games on their children, researchers are testing the effects of intergenerational gameplay, which is when adults play video games with children. In 2009, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the University of Southern California found that kids were more engaged in learning more about technology as they played along. This shows active engagement for both the adult and the child showing that interactive media is benefical for both generations.

In order for intergenrationalgameplay to be effective, the games need to be designed for learning purposes, like Sesame Street was designed for learning purposes. It is not only effective for children to play with adults, when children were playing games with their grandparents, there was more engagement for both generations as well.

(Source: Slate.Com)