Ironically, in the same week the British charity made the Wild Child project public, the European Union are calling upon teachers and parents to encourage the use of video games for the “stimulating, creative and important” impact they have on children. In direct contrast to the project to promote youngsters to experience “life in the open air”, the EU are now suggesting video games are vital in children’s development and for teaching them essential skills for the future. What activities therefore should we be encouraging children to do in their leisure time?

According to the EU report, “Video games can stimulate learning of facts and skills such as strategic thinking, creativity, co-operation and innovative thinking.”

Toine Manders, the Dutch liberal member of the European parliament who led the report said, “We heard evidence from experts on computer games and psychologists from France, the US, Germany and the Netherlands and they told us that video games have a positive contribution to make to the education of minors.”

Whilst the National Trust are fighting to encourage children into the outdoors, after the findings revealed by the report, the EU are now calling for European schools to consider using video games as an educational tool and urging parents to take an interest in them.

“Schools should pay attention to video games and inform children and parents about the benefits video games can have,” the report stated.

Dr Andy Richards, a lecturer in primary school education in the UK believes that whilst video games may have some positive advantages in learning skills relevant to information technology, persuading children to sit staring at a television should not be routinely practiced.

“Even if the report has found video games to be stimulating, the fact still remains that obesity is on the rise and knowledge of nature is on the slide. Teachers therefore have the responsibility to inform their students that the disadvantages video games provide, in actual fact, far outweigh the advantages,” Dr Richards stressed.

One concerned parent and overt video game critic is Chris Whitehead, a chef from Manchester and father of two young sons who commented, “I would prefer my boys to be in the great outdoors and it would not bother me if they never played a video game in their lives. What good is it to be able to find your way around a violent computer screen when you are not capable of finding where to put oil in a car or making a fire outside? I will encourage my sons to grow their own fruit and vegetables as I think these will be the vital skills for the future.”

However, it cannot be ignored that playing virtual games has become a huge part of society and last year the industry amounted to more than 6.25 billion pounds, outselling music and other video products for the first time ever. In a technologically advanced world the demand for playing Manhunt on the computer is far greater than “bat hunting” in a nearby wood. As 13-year-old Alison Jacobs said, “At school you would look like a freak if you talked about planting vegetables or looking for tadpoles. The latest video game is what kids are in to and who has the highest score at SingStar.”

Video and computer games have undeniably become a popular and important feature of modern society and probably do have some brain stimulating benefits. Unfortunately however, child obesity has also become a common occurrence in British society, and is caused partly by couch potato lifestyles. Playing games on the video or computer irrefutably discourages children from spending time outside and ultimately leads to inactivity in which only the fingers get any exercise. It is this “discouragement” of mobility that the National Trust is trying to override.

It does seem incongruous, therefore, that whilst the Nation Trust is trying to encourage children to spend more time with nature in an attempt to thwart obesity and ignorance of the environment, the European Union are encouraging the use of the very thing that is contributing to this dangerous ailment. “Essential life skills” are essentially skills that are at the very core of existence – and not slicing a virtual opponent to death with a claw hammer.

Gabrielle Pickard for RT