I’m not surprised at the results of the latest Pew Internet and American Life Project’s research report on Teens, Video Games and Civics (http://pewresearch.org/pubs/953/teens-video-games-and-civics).
The report included an overall survey of teen video game usage and related this to political and civic engagement.

99% of boys and 94% of girls play video games showing that video games are as common as TV for this generation.   Almost 50% of kids are playing video games on any given day.  Moreover, kids are mostly playing age appropriate games with their favorites being racing, puzzle, sports, action and adventure games.   I was also happy to see that at least 65% of teens play video games with others at least in the room with them.  This means that these parents have their video game system in the common space of their home, where they can monitor play, not in kids’ bedrooms.

The study also found that nearly quarter of teens do play games exclusively alone; and with online gamers, although 47% play with people they first met offline, another 27% of teens play with people they only know online.

So although this study has many positive things to report about video games there are two areas of concern.  First, Pew found that 50% of teen boys reported an M or A/O rated game as being among their top three favorites.  Gory violence and mature sexual themes are the reason these games are rated M or Adults Only.  These are games that should be out of the hands of teen boys for a whole host of reasons.  Parents and the gaming industry need to still be alert to the effects of violent and mature sexual gaming on the developing teen player.

Second, this study did not directly report on the effects of total screen time for kids and teens.  Whether this screen time is computers, video games, cell phones screens or TV – our kids are spending 44 hours a week in front of screens – more time than a full time job.  This is a cultural change that is contributing to a number of negative outcomes for kids, including the current obesity epidemic.

The conclusion is what we strive to say here at the National Institute on Media and the Family (www.mediawise.org): videogames can be a fun, and educational part of a child’s life if they are age appropriate and kept in balance with regards to time.  This means that parents need to monitor and have family rules for video game play.  This means that it helps parents to have video game consoles out in the living area of their home – not in kids’ bedrooms.  It just makes the parents’ job easier.   What helps you monitor your child’s video game play?

Dr. Dave