Study Finds Too Much Gaming Is, and Is Not, Bad For Kids

[WADDUPWiTDAT]

LoL, it's so obvious that they are trying as hard as possible to make video gaming look bad for you, while at the same time trying not to lie about what they found out. The simple truth is, the more time you spend reading/writing the better at it you are, same as most things. If they had made the kids who played video games study/read just as much as those who didn't, then they would have shown the same level of skills if not greater.

It all boils down to video gaming just not being socially accepted, because apparently only "loser with no lives" love video gaming, a thought that boiled up from high school culture in general.

People are all just inflexible cunts who do not like change, simple as that, and will make up all sorts of shit to make a certain group of people (gamers) look bad. Those fucks.

 

[johnman]

It doesnt take a genuis to figure this out, I am in the middle of my A-levels and know that time wasted gaming is time I could of spent doing one of my mnay assignments.

 

[ultimateownage]

I am always playing games and I'm currently in the second top English set in my school. I get where they're coming from but a lot of people can still easily advance even when barely studying or reading.

 

[CoverYourHead]

Recent testing showed I was over the 90th percentile in reading and writing. So... yeah.

Good to see studies on our side these days!

 

[Loxes]

It isn't the games, the kid on the left watches too much Naruto.

 

[thenamelessloser]

For me personally, video games actually got me MORE into reading in a sense. Playing games like Xenogears or FF7 and then reading stuff on forums about them got me interested in mythology, psychology, philosophy, and other "intellectual things."

Also, this may sound like pandering, but of the people commenting their writing or skills are above average, look at the site we are posting on. It seems to me that The Escapist appeals more to those who want to think more about video games than another video game site would, and there seems to be a higher standard for the quality of the posts here than other video game websites. I mean, look at what the current issue of the escapist is focusing on- SCIENCE!!. =)

On a side note, I still can't write well at all though, which goes against the common knowledge that reading leads to improved writing... Maybe, kids should be asked to write a short journal entries each day about the game they were playing. This would probably would help more with actual real world writing ability than just reading a long novel which actually takes time away from learning how to write better. I don't see what actual use reading a novel would be. (I think movies, tv shows, comics, could get most of the following a narrative aspects a novel could give. I'm also not even sure if following narratives written by others is even good for people though...) Yet, writing about something that one has a passion for such as video games I think would end up in better writing ability that could be applied to other areas such as typing emails for work or doing a paper for a class. It is funny, because I manage to do well on college tests, read often, but yet even typing a post like this one seems rather strenuous to me especially if I try to avoid grammar and spelling mistakes...

 

[the1ultimate]

Well this sounds like... Common sense to a gamer (as much as I hesitate to use the word after the way parents abuse it).

This sounds like a good study to quote in order to prove that video games aren't inherently harmful.

 

[Demonraiser]

Strange, I game a lot more than that (three hours a day at least) and my reading and writing skills are above and beyond most people I know who don't play video games.

same here. I can give people words they've never heard of that I read from a regular book all the time.

EDIT: They were 6-9 year olds. How is that a reliable test group? Why not do it with an age group that is more reliable. mental development is too far ranged at young ages. Study Gamers who have been playing since their young years. I've been gaming since I was 5 (Pong, Hell Yeah!) and I've turned out fine

 

[Treblaine]

math skills remained unaffected because, while reading for entertainment isn't all that unusual, nobody's going to break out the textbook and do long division problems for fun.

Hey, I do maths for fun. I love working out the idea viewing distance for monitors and the optimum FOV for various games, I don't see how you could live life WITHOUT trigonometry!

God I'm such a geek.

 

[ultrachicken]

I play video games several hours a day, and my reading and writing skills are well above average.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

it took them a study to find this out? it was my understanding that this was common sense

 

[Therumancer]

Strange, I game a lot more than that (three hours a day at least) and my reading and writing skills are above and beyond most people I know who don't play video games.

I will mention though that they were using a general run of regular students for this. Most people who game "seriously" are seeking major escapism, falling into the general nerd/freak/geek catagory. People who are usually weak and strange compared to other students, BUT at the same time oftentimes far more developed in terms of reading and the like to begin with. "Nerd" behavior tending to run together with the RPGs, Comics, Anime, Computer games, etc. Age probably had something to do with it, but chances are if your like a lot of fanboys and you not only play say the latest games, but also do paper and pencil RPGs, read fantasy novels, and obsess over comic books to the point where you know who the writers and artists are and can form opinions based on their involvement with a given project or character... well obviously that's going to keep certain skills like reading pretty high.

In general nerds and geeks who fail in school usually do so for social reasons, pressure, and depression, not because of games.

However this was done with elementary school kids, and while kids that age can be quite cruel and such, you don't see the same issues that exist later.


Some rambling thoughts, but I guess in the end it still comes down to a lot of elements and not video gaming. I see that video gaming (excessively or otherwise) is something that stems from other factors, rather than being a direct cause of problems itself. By aiming at differant age groups you can guarantee differant results. I probably could have predicted this result ahead of time.

I generally feel that to address this as a real issue, games are not what needs to be investigated and addressed, it's society and the way youths are handled in general. If you don't want nerds to withdraw into fantasy worlds and such, and suffer in areas that "matter" (and on tests and such) one has to seriously address how such people are treated, both by other youths, and by the system as a whole.

 

[Sneaky Paladin]

I'm one of the best readers at my school and I always am in the top 5 for this point system we have. Videogames must have NO bad effects on me YAY

 

[Wolfram23]

They didn't mention if they tested the boys BEFORE giving out consoles. Would be pretty important to know if they were already not good at reading.

 

[Shycte]

So it all comes down to the parents again huh?

Hate those basterds, never doing their job right.