Study Finds Video Games Are Not Bad for Kids

mcgrew writes with news that a study done by the Pew Internet & American Life Project has found game playing is all but universal among teens, and it provides a "significant amount of social interaction and potential for civic engagement." 97% of teens responding to the survey said they played games (75% played weekly or more often), and roughly two-thirds of teens use games as a social experience. The full report (PDF) and the questionnaire with answer data (PDF) are both available for viewing. From the report: "Youth who take part in social interaction related to the game, such as commenting on websites or contributing to discussion boards, are more engaged civically and politically. Youth who play games where they are part of guilds are not more civically engaged than youth who play games alone."

Comments

Re:political interests?!

[caffeinemessiah]

Being that children can't vote, and no-one cares about their political opinions, doesn't this survey say that they're basically worried about things they have no control over?

Yes, but children do a funny thing...they grow up. It's better to get them engaged at ANY age so that when they're 18, they have a better chance of having better formed opinions than their peers. Bonus points if you can get them interested before the teen years and raging hormones REALLY set in.

Not meaning to troll, but this aversion to politics and world-affairs as "stress inducers" seems to be uniquely American. Elsewhere, children are subjected to things called "Geography" and "Civics" from very early on.