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Study Recommends Online Gaming, Social Networking For Kids
Posted by
Soulskill
on Thu Nov 20, 2008 01:02 PM
from the seeing-the-writing-on-the-wall dept.
from the seeing-the-writing-on-the-wall dept.
Blue's News pointed out a report about a study sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation which found that online gaming and social networking are beneficial to children, teaching them basic technical skills and how to communicate in the Information Age. The study was conducted over a period of three years, with researchers interviewing hundreds of children and monitoring thousands of hours of online time. The full white paper (PDF) is also available.
"For a minority of children, the casual use of social media served as a springboard to them gaining technological expertise — labeled in the study as 'geeking out,' the researchers said. By asking friends or getting help from people met through online groups, some children learned to adjust the software code underpinning some of the video games they played, edit videos and fix computer hardware. Given that the use of social media serves as inspiration to learning, schools should abandon their hostility and support children when they want to learn some skills more sophisticated than simply designing their Facebook page, the study said."
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90% of Gaming Addiction Patients Not Addicted 333 comments
phorm writes "BBC is carrying an article which states that 90% of visitors to Europe's 'video game addiction clinic' are not, in fact, addicted. The problem is a social one rather than a psychological issue. In other words, the patients have turned to heavy gaming because they felt they didn't fit in elsewhere, or that they fit in better 'in the game' than elsewhere in 'the real world.' This has been discussed before, with arguments ranging from gaming being a good way to socialize, the clinical definition of gaming addiction, and claims than males are wired for video-game addiction."
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I've got to get my glasses fixed. I read... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:I've got to get my glasses fixed. I read... (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, it would teach them statistics pretty quickly, right?
Parent
Re:I've got to get my glasses fixed. I read... (Score:4, Interesting)
I'd much rather have my kids participate in meatspace team-building starting with after-school programs and then moving on to the football team or the academic decathalon or robotics team before I let them glue themselves to a damn raster and throw their life away.
My parents dragged my kicking and screaming into daycare, then later pulled me off of my precious NES which caused me to get on my bike and jump dirt hills with friends, then again they dragged me into the football team against my wishes. I fought tooth and nail each time, then I discovered that I actually found those activities preferable to wasting away in front of a TV or monitor.
Parent
Re:I've got to get my glasses fixed. I read... (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't feel it's an "either-or" situation. Certainly not in my own experience. My son, now 24, had PC and Mac access from age 3. We used WordPerfect to help reinforce language learning for him.
BUT, we also did soccer, martial arts, and he was on his high school's weightlifting team. As well as a "geek team" that wrote video games.
I think it's a balancing act that requires some thinking and planning on the part of the parents.
Today, my son shares a house with a Karate friend and fellow geek he grew up with. (they both work IT jobs) They play WoW, CounterStrike, etc. with a group of friends, cousins, etc. that are both old and "new"...people they've met at work or in the neighborhood. Both are in good physical shape and hardly the stereotype of a typical geek.
I think the possibility of my son ending up like the WoW player in the classic South Park episode was there, but we always found things that DIDN'T involve staying glued to a CRT to offset that.
My son is an only child and was quite shy when he was young. Learning to socialize online AND in person has made him an outgoing, funny young man. He can be the life-of-the-party, but doesn't NEED to be.
I truly believe trying many things, including online gaming (he was a capper on MY Tribes team, btw), helped make him a fairly well-rounded kid.
The problem I see today, all too frequently, is parents letting the HDTV, Xbox, PC, etc. become a silicon babysitter and teacher and that's just plain STUPID and LAZY.
Parent
Sounds About Right (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Sounds About Right (Score:4, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Sounds About Right (Score:4, Insightful)
I disagree. I play a MMO and have played this MMO for a few years now. The vast majority of players never learn a thing about the magic white box or the magical internet that brings them the game and their porn. The few that do, do so outside the game because they wanted to and so went out and learned. Simply using something doesn't teach any understanding of it.
As for social interaction? The little assholes who act like assholes coming in, act like assholes going out. They didn't learn anything their either.
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Second data point. (Score:2)
A friend of mine is constantly annoyed that his son (who plays a lot of online games) would rather have Dad fix the problems than learn how to fix them himself.
But what really annoys him is how his son was picking up racial/ethnic slurs as acceptable casual conversation.
Ah, pish-posh (Score:2)
Ah, pish-posh. I learned a lot about functioning in society from games. E.g.,
- always roll "greed" on loot, unless you're going to equip it
- keep your pet on passive in instances if you're a warlock or hunter
- don't shoot if you're a priest,
- whining and drama about epic loot are perfectly acceptable as smalltalk or to pass the time on an uneventful evening,
- if your team wipes, it's _always_ the tank's fault, with the healer as a second best choice (if you're the tank,)
- your level and/or tier of epic gear
Re:Sounds About Right (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
This will be forgotten by next year... (Score:2)
This is exactly the kind of response we need in our arsenal when smart-arsed technophobes badmouth our trade and leisure.
Telling you what you want to hear (Score:5, Insightful)
As a parent, techy and gamer - I hope no one is swallowing this load of tripe...
If you want to teach your kids to socialize - have them go out and socialize, or socialize with them!!
This is the kind of study that tells people what they want to hear.
Hey! You parents that are sticking your kids on an XBox for 6 hours a day to shut them up: You're all doing a great job! Keep up the good work!!
And for all you guys who live your lives gaming and never see the light of day - no, you're really the outgoing, social ones!
I'm going to teach my kids to smoke - to help them build up their immunity to pollution...
Re:Telling you what you want to hear (Score:4, Informative)
The study's not telling people to let their children sit in front of the computer or the TV for several hours a day, it's simply stating that some kids derive a benefit from online interactions, such as social networking sites and online games. This is one of those things that only requires a study because the media is so focused on the downside, when people spend most of their life online and lose perspective.
Kids that become interested in the customization open to them on MySpace or WoW will learn some important skills, if they learn to apply them outside those environments. Certainly CSS and lua, along with general markup and scripting, are valuable outside of simple time-wasters.
Hell, this time of year I never see the light of day because I go to work at dawn and go home at dusk, and I don't even work long shifts.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
To actually say you do not learn social skills online, while online is a bit hypocritical...its like calling someone a nerd WHILE online.
Sure, maybe some game industry is saying this, but I would rather have my kids online gaming, than; watching mindless TV, going outdoors and jumping off trees, joining a gang, hanging out with a pothead friend, etc.
I do not have kids, and this is only my opinion though, but ONLINE gaming has taug
Re: (Score:2)
And making an analogy, that's another no-no, because I can't see what "prejudice" that quote has. Perhaps you would like to use your 21st century superior social skills and explain what's wrong with my comment, and why you think that way. Not that you will followup on an AC post, but I will thank you for your time and effort.
Study funders (Score:2)
While I agree with some of what you're saying, I do believe the study is unbiased and got its funding from a neutral source. The MacArthur foundation [macfound.org] has $7 billion worth of investments. It uses the money it makes each year from those investments to fund projects, non-profit organizations and studies like this one.
No one on the board of directors has any overt or influential ties to the gaming industry, tech industry or social networking giants.
I don't think the study is a load of tripe, but like you I do
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
As long as it's balanced with real life "social networking" online interaction is beneficial. But if the next generation of young people enter the real world knowing nothing but how to text each other, run a successful WoW raid and manage friends on Facebook, we're looking at an epidemic of cognitive dissonance.
Social networking can be just as dysfunctional offline as online. Once again I see demonstrated a prejudice to the online world. I've found "real life" and the "real world" concepts that have epidemic cognitive dissonance associated with them. Variety is often nice and sometimes useful however. I've generally found the online world to be more intelligent and safer. One can at least turn off a computer, ignore or ban a Troll or bully; it's much more difficult in "real" life. At least when I was a kid parents
Additional Social Benefits... (Score:5, Funny)
1. Better/more productive interaction with trolls and orcs
2. Able to dual wield weapons years earlier than other kids
3. Greater self-esteem when leveling
and most importantly...
4. Able to talk to virtual characters of the female (elf, dwarf, whatever) persuasion!!
Re:Additional Social Benefits... (Score:4, Funny)
4. Able to talk to virtual characters of the female (elf, dwarf, whatever) persuasion!!
A Female Dwarf? A FEMALE DWARF?! Have you SEEN what they look like?!
Dude...I was with you on that list until you said this. Then you just blew all your credibility.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
I wasn't trying to comment on the attractiveness of female dwarfs. It was the next best choice of non-human races. Would you have reacted better if I had included orcs? Trolls? GNOMES?!?!????
Classic Slashdot (Score:5, Insightful)
What follows is not a comment on the story, but a meta-comment. Feel free to mod as you wish.
This is classic Slashdot. The story is tagged "suddenoutbreakofcommonsense". If the exact same study had come to the opposite conclusion (ie. online gaming and social networking is bad for kids), it would be tagged "correlationisnotcausation", and everyone would be trashing the methodology.
Slashdot is funny. This is part of why I keep coming back here.
Re: (Score:2)
This study, sponsored by Blizzard, is indeed full of bias. It's also summarized to make it sound like stuffing your kids in a video game all day is a good idea. I think the real results are that online interaction is good in moderation, as it improves typed communication and computer skills. Big shock.
What I find more interesting is that some kids 'geek out'. I remember extracting and modifying the rules.ini files in numerous Command & Conquer games, as well as disassembling my PC for no reason. Does th
Re: (Score:2)
That's not Slashdot, it's human nature in general.
People want to be right, so when something comes out favoring your point of view, you tend to ignore potential problems with it. Having said that, I learned my tech skills due to gaming: I wanted the best power for the lowest cost, so I learned about home system building and overclocking. There you go, a study confirms my anecdotal evidence, and I tend to believe it.
Slashdot [slashdot.org] has covered this before.
Seriously? (Oh, wait..."srsly omfg!!!") (Score:5, Interesting)
I admit it, I'm an old geezer at 34. I write in complete sentences and check my spelling before sending out important communications. Most of my peers do not. I have seen many e-mails and other casual messages going out to our customers with tons of Web 2.0 speak in them.
I understand the fact that the world is moving on and communication is getting less formal. After all, most people don't send out formal business memos anymore; they write e-mail and use IM software. However, I still think people need to be able to spell and write clearly. Exposing kids to more of the Web 2.0 stuff before teaching them how to write formally is just going to make things worse IMO. Feel free to disagree, but how many times have you gotten an e-mail from a co-worker with one or more of the following:
I'm really just curious how much of my concern is due to the fact that I'm "between generations," and how much of it is the geriatric fool stuck in the 1980s/90s talking...
And no, I'm not a grammar Nazi. Readable is just fine for me -- grammatically perfect is less of a concern.
Re:Seriously? (Oh, wait..."srsly omfg!!!") (Score:5, Insightful)
As someone at least 10 years your senior, I can tell you now that the crux of the matter when it comes to badly written communications is down to lack of patience and lack of attention span.
If someone writes you a letter or sends you an email that is well-punctuated and (nearly) grammatically correct, then the chances are that you will take that communication more seriously than one that isn't, simply because somebody who has taken the trouble to capitalise and punctuate has probably given a lot of thought to what they want to say and how to say it before they even started to write it. Likewise, they've probably used the "Backspace" key a lot while writing it...
For whatever reason, we're witnessing a disturbing trend in specifically the younger generation where many of its members seem to be far too busy to take the time to think about their actions or give the correct amount of time to doing something correctly. Here in the UK, this explains why there is so much more knife crime at the moment - not because the youngsters are necessarily intrinsically more violent but because they have neither the time nor inclination to exercise some self-control and think about the consequences of their actions before drawing that knife from their boot.
That's the reason for badly written communications - there's no attempt to even *try* to get it grammatically correct because there's far too much else to be getting on with.
As a 46 year old man with a mobile phone, I rarely text anyone because it takes me too damn long to do it! I'd rather call someone and speak to them directly rather than mess about on a phone keypad putting commas, capitals and full stops in the right places - and I refuse to use abbreviations and slang because, to me, it lessens the importance of what I am saying in it.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Here in the UK, this explains why there is so much more knife crime at the moment - not because the youngsters are necessarily intrinsically more violent but because they have neither the time nor inclination to exercise some self-control and think about the consequences of their actions before drawing that knife from their boot.
I agree with much of your post, but this really doesn't explain what the kids were doing with a knife in their boot in the first place.
Re: (Score:2)
I take what you say except that someone that takes time to think about the consequences of his/her actions probably would decide to not carry a knife in the first place.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm the same age and what most annoys me most is the constant use of the wrong words. So many people seem to think they just have to avoid the spell-checking software underlining anything in red to indicate their words are correct.
"I think your wrong", "to efficiency grow our data center", etc.
Using "your" instead of "you are" - or its contraction "you're" - is especially annoying because it's such a common mistake that it confuses some people into thinking it is actually the correct word.
Re: (Score:2)
Everything in moderation (Score:4, Insightful)
Moderation is key. Online gaming and social networks have a nasty habit of eating people (metaphorically, of course). That needs to be prevented. But as long as they're in moderation, carefully balanced with other activities (and more to the point, activity) and monitored for safety, then these things can indeed be great learning tools for children.
Re: (Score:2)
Unintended side effects (Score:2, Funny)
Learning typing from cheat codes (Score:2, Interesting)
WTF!? Recommending Web 2.0 to kids? (Score:2)
I don't think this is a good idea at ALL. I agree with gaming, but allowing kids to use social networking websites??? That sounds bad. Very bad.
There goes the REAL computer geek generation, I guess. Now all the kids will be on MySpace for hours making their profiles look pretty by jamming so many random CSS stylesheets and Flash music players that automatically play at full blast (most of whom probably don't even know what "CSS" stands for)...
MySpace has to be one of the most horrible websites out there - f
Re: (Score:2)
There goes the REAL computer geek generation, I guess. Now all the kids will be on MySpace for hours making their profiles look pretty by jamming so many random CSS stylesheets and Flash music players that automatically play at full blast (most of whom probably don't even know what "CSS" stands for)...
As somebody who works in Computer Education, I can tell you that you are completely missing the point. It's not what you know about the technology, it's what you can do with it. If that means a student has no idea what CSS means, yet puts together a great myspace page, so be it. They are a much bigger success than the geek kid who writes code in his sleep but uses purple text on a blue background.
Eating candy healthier than drinking poison! (Score:3, Interesting)
Even the study mentions obsessive, addicted individuals with a smile and a wink thinking it's cute that:
two dating 17-year olds ... wake up and immediately instant message each other, then switch to mobile phones while on route to campus, then send text messages during class. After spending time together doing homework, they talk on the phone or send text messages
Yes, videogames and social networking can be good things for kids -- in restricted moderation, but they have to be just a supplement to physical and cognitive-developmental activities -- not the overarching structure of their entire lives. It's sickening to see people spend all their time on sites doing absolutely nothing, wondering why everyone's getting fat, lonely, depressed, and socially anxious. Moderation needs to be brought to people's lives, and not through oversaturation (I can only spend x number of minutes doing this, because I have to do x number of other things today!) but through self discipline (I'm spending x number of minutes doing this, because there are better things I could be doing with my time.... but I deserve this break.)
Just wait for next week's study... (Score:2)
Yeah this week's study is about how online gaming within a game and your peer group is generally good for your development. Next week's study will be about the evils of allowing your kids unstructured online gaming within their peer group as they learn behaviors that parents, educators, or "others" don't like kids learning of or about, or doing.
You've GOT to be KIDDING (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't buy it. (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't believe this at all. Having played a number of online games dabbled in social networking somewhat I fail to see where the real benefit is, as described in this article. There still exists that barrier of anonymity and there is no real interaction with another human being. There's no eye contact, reading body language or a general need for considering the other persons thoughts and feelings.
Want to teach children communications skills. Hold big family gatherings where adults and children are all interacting with each other. Well, one problem I've encountered with many American families is that at gatherings children are usually segregated off to their own corner, relegated to the children's table.
I've observed this with friends and within my own family, kids are interact with real people on a regular basis tend to be more outgoing and mature. The kids and teenagers I know who are into gaming and networking either seem to always be in their own worlds at these gatherings. They either run off to the bedroom and sit in front of the computer, or they're sitting in some corner tapping away on a phone.
On a side note, I've noticed this tendency where whenever research demonstrates something positive about gaming it's embraced wholeheartedly. Whenever it shows something negative it's strongly dismissed as nonsense; the tag correlationnotcausation seems to be quite popular for those stories.
Argh (Score:2, Interesting)
Hello no! I have already seen the detrimental effects of MMORPGS and other online games into adult's personalities, I don't even want to know what can happen to a kid.
Was the one in charge of this study a level 90 Paladin?
"For a MINORITY of children, the CASUAL USE.." (Score:2)
...emphasis mine. It sounds like any measured positive benefit is still in the noise band.
O rly? (Score:2, Funny)
Is socl netwkng goin to teach them essntl comm skls lik speling and crct gramar?
IDTS
My own account that seem to deny the findings (Score:3, Interesting)
I had a computer ever since I was five or six, and I played tons of old DOS games while figuring out, with my dad, how to make autoexec.bat + config.sys boot disks in order to play certain games. It came to a point where I would much rather stay in my room and play video games rather than playing tag football or anything else outside with kids around my neighborhood.
Fast forward a few years, and I find myself struggling like crazy trying to relate to anyone on a personal level, up until my second or third year of college. Since much of college, at least in my experience, had to do with interaction with other people, I ended up losing a lot of confidence and went through the shitter for a while. I finally realized after a while that I had to force myself to interact with people: I started going to a coffee shop after I transferred schools and interacted with as many people as I could, while being hooped up on Zoloft in order to get rid of my social anxiety. Then eventually, I overcame my fear and am now fairly comfortable around people.
Now, of course this is all anecdotal evidence that could also possibly point to the benefits of FIRST being a socially inept geek, THEN learning how to socialize and having the best of both worlds. However, I also had the benefit of having parents encouraging me to socialize as much as possible while being somewhat understanding of me wanting to just stay at home, and I also had the benefit of growing up with computers back when they were starting to become popular (so it wasn't totally infeasible for someone else in the block to have a computer), but also back when you had to have motivation to get things to work properly.
Nowadays, Web 2.0 hands people the power to publish blogs, websites, etc. with almost no effort, and any drive to learn HTML / CSS / etc. is limited by the mere fact that most functionality is already implemented MUCH BETTER than what an average person can probably do. That, and most kids nowadays probably don't know any DOS games (and even if they did, they probably played it through DOSBox, which makes things infinitely easier than before.)
Re:Quick! (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Think positively ;) (Score:4, Funny)
Well, think positively: if someone abducts your child in an online game and takes them into the depths of some dungeon, chances are your kid will only need to use his hearthstone to teleport back to the inn ;)
Plus, if it's a raid dungeon, they'll probably argue about loot and split up sooner or later anyway ;)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
addictions to games IS a problem. Games need to be MODERATED, not played willy-nilly by uncontrolled kids and adults.
Kids maybe but adults?
I take it you're in the "it's for your own good" camp. Where you can decide what I do with my life based purely on what you think is "good" for me.
You have no right at all to stop me sitting playing any game I choose until I develop blood clots in my brain and die.
It is a minor problem. It's in not your problem. Run your own life, let others run theirs.
as for violent games:
http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/04/gaming-real-vio.html [wired.com]
"The graph makes no direct claims towards a relationship b
Re: (Score:2, Funny)