Big “Duh” for most of this, but the interesting stuff is in the details:
Teens, Video Games and Civics.
The first national survey of its kind finds that virtually all American teens play computer, console, or cell phone games and that the gaming experience is rich and varied, with a significant amount of social interaction and potential for civic engagement.
Some highlights:
- Almost all teens play games.
- Girls tend to leave it behind.
- They don’t play just one game - not even one kind of game
- It’s a social occasion
There’s some interesting stuff there.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
This article is very interesting. Some of the material, I expected to read, but other material surprised me. Many people, including myself, do not see gaming as a social interaction. But, with games like XBox Live and online games that allow chats, teens can meet and talk with people in different places, as well as their friends.
September 19th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
games as a social occasion have reached a new level with the WII. I’ve been to more than one WII bowling tournament. I play wii sports on my system all the time, as well as doing yoga and other things on the wii fit. my wife gets about 45 minutes of step aerobics a day in on wii fit. social interaction doesnt count for me unless its actually with other real physical people in a physical place. otherwise, you’re just participating in an online system. you’re not truly having full social contact. not all the senses are engaged in the conversation.
September 19th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Playing games at home with your family is social interaction. Growing up I spent less and less time with my family. Something I would do is sit down with my brother or mom and play video games. I really didn’t think of it at the time but I was spending time with my family. Teens love to play games but I think adults do too. I play games on my cell all the time and as we speak my husband is staring into the tiny screen of his Samsung playing away.
September 20th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Interesting article but really a no brainer. As a parent of pre-teens and a teacher of teen, I have seen the engaging effects gaming. When my students’ computers come in for updates, they are full of gaming archives. The social alliance that they create though the world of virtual games is amazing. I have students that have friends that they play online with in, not only different states, but different countries. Inadvertently, they learn about each others cultures and personalities even though they have never met in person. They talk about them as if they were neighbors. My son has a friend from Arkansas that he plays chess with online at least twice a week. They learn from each other and have fun in the process. This is the type of engagement that we need to harness and use in the classroom.
September 21st, 2008 at 1:09 am
Creating networks through gaming is a great way for students to communicate. I don’t think that the article showed anything that we didn’t know, but I think that it does reitterate that girls aren’t playing as much. Why does this occur? What are they missing?
September 21st, 2008 at 6:29 pm
I think this goes along with everything we have been learning about in this class. Everyone enjoys gaming at some time - maybe not all the time, but at some point in life we all play games. I think gaming can be a social event. People love to talk about things they enjoy. The internet has also been a big thing to help make games social. There are chats directly related to gaming.