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Videogaming Most Popular Activity Among Kids
njkid1 writes "Research from the NPD Group shows that kids are increasingly playing games earlier in life. Playing games, whether on a PC, console, phone or music player, was the highest ranked activity for kids in a survey conducted by the organization. From the article: 'NPD said it used an online survey sent to a 'nationally representative' sample of mothers with children ages 2 to 14 in their households. The survey revealed that an overwhelming majority (93 percent) of kids play games on a computer, cell phone, video game console or portable or digital music player. This was way ahead of the second highest activity reported, listening to music, which garnered 52 percent.'"
I'm glad someone is beating Jay-Z over the battle for our children's souls!
What amazed me is that 48% of kids apparently don't listen to music.
I think there's something wrong with the study, or else 48% of mothers don't know what their kid is up to, but they bought them a PS3 so they must be playing videogames.
I was thinking more along the lines of Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears... oh wait they're in a video game...
At least with Guitar Hero there's a little bit of an insert of rock music into a mainstream to impress young minds with. Nothing like nose-bleeding rock and roll to battle the onslaught of Snoop Dogg and Eminem. Lets vote NO for brainwashing!
This was way ahead of the second highest activity reported, listening to music, which garnered 52 percent.'"
shouldn't have mentioned that, now the RIAA will have plans to go after us gamers who don't buy their crappy music at all :-(
So... 93% of children with mothers that complete online surveys video play games. I would guess that mothers that complete online surveys might be more skewed to have children that play video games than mothers who don't have computers. What do you guys think?
10: PRINT "Everything old is new again."
20: GOTO 10
and when they can't hang out and play ball in the street or go to the playground without a goddamned armed escort, it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to tell you that video games would pick up the slack.
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
I'd be happy to settle for someone beating Jay-Z.
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
Child obesity at record highs.
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~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
Now give me a study of ages 14-18, and see how the most popular activities change when the kiddies discover the appeal of the opposite (or same) gender.
We are all just people.
Remember good ol' days when the most popular activity was jerking off?
I remember when I was a kid in the 80s, I thought it was so weird how some parents wouldn't let their kids go anywhere because they wre convinced predators, gangs and so on were all over the place. This was a quiet little town in the Pacific Northwest.
It's not that kids can't go to the playground because they need to be protected - it's that parents' interaction with their children's world occurs through a television screen publicizing every child tragedy anywhere in the country*.
*Especially it it's a cute white girl from a wealthy family.
I am the one true god. However, as an atheist, I don't believe in myself. I guess I have a self-esteem problem.
The 12 to 14 year old age group has an entirely different favorite past time, but I don't think their too public about it.
Good pointe.
You do realize Jay-Z is just a bit of a nerd himself, don't you? Take a listen to "Kingdom Come" whilst perusing the comic series of the same name.
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
He can wear Spock ears all day for all I care, I still want him beaten with mallets.
there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
Since everything fun for a kid to do will get the kid arrested, or will get the person allowing them to do that activity sued... what else is there to do?
If they are lucky enough to have a playground to hang out in (playgrounds are lawsuit magnets, and many cities don't want to deal with the liability), then if they play a game of "cops and robbers" or any sort of fighting game (like kids do) they will get arrested for making terroristic threats. They can't play ball or ride their bike in the street... curfews say they have to be home at 6... and if a police officer even sees them walking around without an adult they are going to be harrassed for "loitering". Every damn sport has to be played with expensive safety equipment and non-stop adult supervision, which means no sports other than your weekly supervised soccor practice.
The ironic thing is that people are going to call for "more government action" to stop this problem... like the problem isn't too much government action to "protect the children" in the first place.
Between the ages of 2 and 14, your most popular activity was jerking off? Wow, you sir deserve a /. award.
What kind of music is being played with the game? Of course this survey does not include the multi-tasking factor. Music is embedded in the video game as many gamers also have another track of music playing on another device. Is not Guitar Hero a pop game? I agree with the fact that most songs now-a-days just plain suck....
I've been exploring (and promoting) games that aren't video games, and the interest is phenominally low. Out of a typical sample of 100 "gaming" forums or websites, 90 would be about video games, 5 would be about Pen and Paper RPGs, 2 would be about games that use a standard 52-card deck, 1 would be about sudoku, 1 would be about Monopoly or Scrabble and the last one would be about something else. Since my interest lies in the else, and is so obscure that only, say, 1 in 10 elses might cover it, I have to rummage through nearly a thousand "gaming" communities just to find one interested in the same stuff as me. More if I actually want to find an active one.
I thought that trend was clearly apparent before.
Games condense huge amount of information into one easily accessible piece. And kids are naturally like to consume any information they cross. That was whole grounding of (fortunately at large failed) Edutainment.
I think it is less about games - but more about technology penetration. And games - from kids' stand point - is natural use for new technology.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
The problem isn't that they are playing video games but that they are playing the wrong titles. Games such as Wii Sports and Dance Dance Revolution (no, I'm not aware of any announcement of Dance Dance Wii) promote physical activity.
> kids are increasingly playing games earlier in life.
I can see where this is heading: Congratulations! Your ranking on the Diablo II Battle.net hardcore ladder is #1 -- tied with your seventy-five million closest friends! You're all number 1! You're all the best, the winners!
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Have been playing PC games with me on our lan for about 5 years now, they are currently aged 15/11/10.
I'd say on average their percentage between playing games and watching TV is about 80/20% respectively.. of course they also ride their bikes, play outside, visit friends, etc.. but they seem to enjoy using the PC/gaming more than the sedentary activity of watching TV.