New Study Reveals How Teenagers View Video Games
By Movieguide® Contributor
A recent study from Pew revealed new insights into teen video game usage and how the population views the positives and negatives of the past time.
As many parents might guess, nearly every teen (85%), regardless of gender, plays video games on a regular basis. This is especially true of teenage boys, with 97% of them saying they play video games regularly. Despite the prevalence, however, only 40% of teens identify as “gamers.”
This self-identification is largely based on the time spent on gaming and a person’s view of the past time as a whole. Roughly seven in 10 teens (71%) who identify as gamers play daily, compared to only 30% who don’t see themselves as gamers. Gamers are also much more likely to view video games as a social activity than non-gamers.
While nearly every teen who plays video games does so with friends gamers are more likely to make friends through video games as well (68%) compared to non-gamers (29%). Gamers are also more involved in gaming communities through online platforms such as Discord (44% vs 20% for non-gamers) and Twitch (30% vs 9% for non-gamers).
The study also looked at the reason teens play video games.
“Most teens said they play video games for fun or ‘entertainment reasons,’ with around three-quarters saying they play to spend time with others. They said they don’t see the games as harmful to themselves or their lifestyle,” CBS News reported.
Teens also identified areas of their lives that they believe have been improved through the playing of video games, including, problem-solving skills, friendships and the ability to work with others. Notably, however, boys were much more likely to attribute these improvements to video games than girls.
“More than half of teens have made new friends online, and a third of them (36%) say they met their new friend or friends while playing video games. Among boys who have made friends online, 57% have done so by playing video games online (compared with just 13% of girls who have done so),” Pew reported previously.
Those polled, however, also understood that video games come with negative effects as well. Forty-one percent of teens who play video games believe the activity has had a negative impact on the amount of sleep they receive. Meanwhile, over four in 10 (41%) of teens have been called an offensive name while playing a game online. Less prevalent, but still notable, 12% have been physically threatened while playing games and 8% have received an unwanted sexually explicit thing sent to them because of a video game.
Because of these experiences, 80% of teens believe harassment and bullying through video games is a problem, with 29% saying it is a major problem for people their age.
The prevalence of violent games among teens is also quite high as over half (56%) said they play at least some games with regular violence. However, this experience is largely skewed towards the male population as 69% play at least some games with violence compared to only 37% of girls.
With the positives and negatives of video games in mind, 58% of teens believe that the amount of time they spend playing games is about right. Meanwhile, 13% of teens believe they play video games for too little amount of time, while 14% of teens said they spend too much time on games.
While it is encouraging to see that many teens have the self-control to regulate the amount of time spent on gaming, with 38% saying they’ve cut back on gaming in the past.
Movieguide® encourages parents to also monitor the amount of time spent on the leisure activity. While gaming is a major way that the younger generation socializes, it is also important for them to spend time in the real world as well. Not only has face-to-face interaction been shown to improve mental health and strengthen communication ability, but video games can also become addictive, leading to destructive habits.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Video game addiction is a real problem that affects thousands of adolescents and sucks the joy out of every aspect of life.
Brigham Young wrestler Logan Visser found out firsthand just how addictive video games can be. After arriving at college, Visser’s favorite pastime took over his life and became a problem that he could not control.
The then-18-year-old told The New York Post how he would play League of Legends all night and sleep through the day. During his first semester at school, Visser put on weight and flunked out of most of his classes.
“When you’re that deep into it, you just have a bunch of shame and it’s like the only place to turn to is back into the thing that’s creating all your problems,” he said.
“Gaming just took over. I was completely wasting my life,” he continued. “I wanted to keep getting better at this thing that doesn’t even matter.”
“I see why the older generations look down on people that are addicted to gaming. But they’ve never faced anything like this where it’s literally designed to keep you engaged and keep you coming back,” Visser added.
