Survey indicates gaming has beneficial effects

ne of the major obstacles for us young kids and gamers are our Parents.

Not that they don’t want us to play games, but they want us to put more focus on our studies and perhaps do some little responsibilities around the house, which is fine with me at least.

We often hear parents saying "During our time, we don’t play those games. We study, we help clean the house, we help do the laundry, we help do a lot of things." My answer is simple "Mom / Dad, you don’t have xBox 360 before, you don’t PSP, PS3, Wii, DS before, so why complain?"

But no amount of explanation will convince them otherwise. Fortunately I came across a survey indicating that games that simulate aspects of civic and political life may well promote civic skills and civic engagement. Youth, parents, teachers, and others who work with youth should know about the wide diversity of video games – so they can take full advantage of games and their civic potential.

The survey was conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project, an initiative of the Pew Research Center and was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The primary findings in the survey of 1,102 youth ages 12-17 include:

- Game playing is universal, with almost all teens playing games and at least half playing games on a given day.

- 97% of American teens ages 12-17 play some kind of video game.

- 99% of boys say they are gamers and 94% of girls report that they play games.

Game playing is social:

- 76% of gaming teens play games with others at least some of the time.

- 82% play games alone at least occasionally, though 71% of this group also plays games with others.

- 65% of gaming teens play with others in the same room.

Game playing can incorporate many aspects of civic and political life:

- 76% of youth report helping others while gaming.

- 44% report playing games where they learn about a problem in society.

Game playing sometimes involves exposure to mature content, with almost a third of teens playing games that are listed as appropriate only for people older than they are:

- 32% of youth 12-16 in this sample play games that are listed as appropriate only for people older than they are.

- 32% of gaming teens report that at least one of their favorite games is rated Mature or Adults Only.

- 12-14 year olds are equally as likely to play Mature and Adults Only rated games as their 15-17 year old counterparts.

Not only do many teens help others or learn about a problem in society during their game playing, they also encounter other social and civic experiences:

- 52% of gamers report playing games where they think about moral and ethical issues.

- 43% report playing games where they help make decisions about how a community, city or nation should be run.

- 40% report playing games where they learn about a social issue.

Even if the survey was conducted with American kids, I am pretty certain the result will somehow be the same if the same survey will be conducted here in the Philippines.

I hope this study will convince our parents that playing games is not that bad and has good benefits for us gamers. So have a heart, extend our playing time for three hours? Two hours? An hour? Please... No matter what, I love you so much Dad and Mom.