CHILDREN AND GAMES

Children and Games

Children and Games

“Children waste far too much time playing games when they could be involved in more constructive activities.” - E. Gorkin

Ans: The amount of time children spend playing video games has increased over the past three decades. Considering both home and arcade playing in the mid-1980s, children averaged about four hours per week. By the early 1990s, home playing had increased and arcade playing had decreased, and sex-correlated differences had begun to emerge. Girls played an average of about two hours per week, with boys playing an average of four hours per week (Green, 2006). In the mid-1990s, home play had increased for fourth-grade girls to 4.5 hours per week and 7.1 hours per week for boys. In 1999, school-age children (boys and girls combined) averaged 7 hours per week. Most recently in elementary and middle-school populations, girls are playing about 5.5 hours per week and boys average 13 hours per week. Perhaps surprisingly, the average amount of television watched has not dropped as video game playing time has increased.

It is still unclear at what age video game playing begins, but it is likely to be younger with each passing year (Gentile, 2007). In a nationally representative survey, parents reported that children aged 2 to 7 play an average of 43 minutes per day. In studies of preschool children, even preschoolers aged 2 to 5 play an average of 28 minutes per day. It is also unclear when play peaks, if it does, and when it declines, if it does. Regardless of when children start playing, and whether there is a normative peak time, it is clear that gamers do not stop playing once they turn 18. The average age of a video game player has risen steadily, and is currently 29. It is important not ...