The effect of traditional children's games on internet addiction, social skills and stress level

Objective: Traditional children's games can protect the physical, emotional, and mental health of children. This study was conducted to determine the effect of traditional children's games on internet addiction, social skills, and stress level. Methods: A pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design with a control group was used. The population of the study consisted of a fifth-and sixth-grade students studying at two secondary schools in a city of Turkey. A total of 42 students - 20 in the intervention group and 22 in the control group - were included in the study. The Family-Child Internet Addiction Scale, the Social Skills Assessment Scale, the Social Skills Scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale in Children (8-11 years) were used to collect the data. The intervention group received eight weeks of traditional children's games. Results: There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in terms of internet use, social skills, and stress level in the pre-test (p > 0.05). There was a statistically significant difference between groups in terms of daily and weekly internet use in the post-test (p < 0.05). The mean scores regarding social skills of the intervention group increased after the games compared with the control group (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of stress-level mean scores (p > 0.05). Conclusions: The results showed that traditional children's games may be effective in reducing internet use and increasing social skills, however they do not affect stress level. Childhood is important for physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Therefore, in the school settings, traditional children's games can be used for the protection and promotion of children's health.