WilliamFrancis

Mrs.Carvalho
English4
24/11/14
TheEffectsofVideoGamesonStudentsAcademicAchievement
Overthepastfewdecadesvideogameusehasincreasedalongwiththeamountoftime
spentperdayplayingthem(Burgess).Thisisveryprominentwiththeyoungermale
population(Weis).Theissuevideogamesbringsupiswhetherornottheyaregoodforan
individualsacademicsuccess.Generally,themoretimeastudentspendsplayingtheworsetheir
academicsbecome.Buttherehavebeenmixedresults(Weis)onthetopicanddifferenttypesof
videogameswillbringindifferentinformation.Somestudieshaveshownadecreasein
academicperformancewhileothershaveshownanincreasedependingonthevideogamein
question.
Burgessetal.,conductedastudyinwhichtheyassessedvideogameuseandacademic
performanceamongcollegestudents.Theysurveyedsixhundredandseventyonecollege
students(391femalesand280males)regardingactualtimespentplayingvideogamesperweek
andpassiveplay,theamountoftimetheyspentperweekwatchingotherpeopleplay.The
researchersusedthestudentscollegeandhighschoolGPAtoassessacademicperformance.The
resultsshowedthatontheaveragethecollegestudentsplayed3.9hoursperweek,however,this
variedbetween0to100hours.Amongfemales,40%reportedplayingvideogameswhilemales
reported89%.Onthewholemoremalesthanfemalesreportedplayingmorethan10hoursper
week,while47%offemalesand56%ofmaleswatchedotherplaying.

TheresearchersfoundthatvideogameplayingwasassociatedwithlowercollegeGPAin
malesbutnotinfemales.Themalestudentsplayedmoreoftenthanfemalesandplayeddifferent
typesofgames.Malesweremorelikelytoplayvideogameswithaviolenttheme.The
ResearchersalsoaskedthestudentsabouthomeworkcompletionandvideogameplayingThe
studentswereaskedhowmuchtheyagreedwiththestatementIoftenplayvideogamesinstead
ofdoinghomeworkBothmalesandfemaleswhoagreedstronglywiththisstatementplayed
morehoursofvideogamesandwatchedothersplayvideogames.
Asecondstudylookedatvideogameplayingandacademicperformancebutalsolooked
athomeworkcompletionaswell.Cummingetal.,lookedatadolescentvideogameplayingtime
andcomparedittotimespentdoingotheractivities.Thisstudyincluded1491adolescents
betweentheagesof10and19yearsold.Thesubjectsweresplitintotwogroups,gamersand
nongamers.Theadolescentscompleteda24hourtimeusediaryduringtheschoolyear.Both
theweekdaychosenandweekenddaywaschosenrandomly.Eachstudentkepttrackoftheir
timespentplayingvideogamesand5activities,timespentwithparents,timespentwithfriends,
reading,homeworkandsportandleisureactivities.
Thegamerswerebothmaleandfemalebutofthetotal534adolescents,80%wereboys
and20%weregirls.Ontheaverage,thefemalesspent44minutesonaweekdayand1hourand
4minutesplayingvideogames.Themalesspentontheaverage58minutesonaweekdayand1
hourand37minutesontheweekendplayingvideogames.Gamerscomparedtonongamers
spentmuchlesstimewithfamily,friendsandsportandleisureactivities.Gamersalsospent
muchlesstimereadingontheweekdayscomparedtonongamersandalessamountoftime
completinghomeworkonboththeweekdayandweekendthangamers.

In2014,VanRooijet.al.,lookedatproblematic(addictive)videogaming(PVG)andits
impactwithgametype,psychosocialhealth,andsubstanceused.Oneoftheareastheylookedat
waseducationperformance.ThedatacollectedwasfromayearlyDutchMonitorStudyInternet
andYouthfromtheyearsof2009,2010,and2011.Thispaperandpencilsurveyisgivento
selectschoolsbasedonspecificparameters.Thisstudycontainedadatabaseof8,478caseswith
anaverageageof14.2years.Oneoftheareaslookedatwasselfreportededucational
performance.Thesubjectswereaskedhowwereyoudoinginschool.Theresponsesranged
fromverybadtoverygoodonascalefrom1to7.
Theresultsofthestudyalsoshowedthatgamesthatplayedonlinegamesscoredhigher
onmeasuresofPVG.Boysweremorelikelytoplayonlinegamesthangirlsawellasbeingmore
likelytobeproblematicgamers.Intermsofacademicperformance,bothboysandgirlswho
werehighproblematicgamershadselfreportedlowerschoolperformance.
Hastingset.al.,didastudyonhowthelengthoftimespentplayingvideogamesandthe
gamescontentaffectedthebehaviorandacademicperformanceinyoungerchildren.Thestudy
lookedatifthegenreofvideogamebeingplayed,gender,andparentalmonitoringhadany
differenceintheeffectsvideogameshadonchildren.Therewere70childrenbetweentheages
of6to10years,ofwhich50%weremale,andtheirparentswhoparticipatedinthestudy.The
parentscompletedasurveyabouttheirchildsvideogameplaying,includingtypeofgame
played,topthreegamesmostoftenplayed,andamountoftimespentplayingvideogames.They
werealsoaskedtoreportonacademicachievementintheirchildscoresubjectsandbehavior.

Whatthisstudyfoundwasthattherewasacorrelationbetweenthelengthoftimeachild
spentplayingvideogames,aggression,andacademicperformance.Itwasreportedtheboys
wouldtendtoplaymoreviolentgameswhilegirlswouldplaymoreeducationalones,thishadan
impactonschoolperformanceandbehavior.Themalesthatplayedvideogameswithviolent
contenthadworsebehaviorandloweracademicperformances.However,thefemalesthatplayed
educationalgameshadbetterbehaviorandhigheracademicperformances.
Weiset.al.,conductedarandomized,controlledstudyontheeffectsofvideogame
ownershiponboysacademicsandbehavior.Theparticipantsincludedboysbetweentheagesof
sixandninewhodidnotownavideogamesystem.Alloftheparticipantscompletedbaseline
assessmentsonintellectualandacademicability.Bothparentsandtheboysteacherscompleted
questionnairesonthechildsbehavioratschoolandathome.Onlyboyswhoseacademic
functioningandbehaviorwerewithinnormallimitsparticipatedinthestudy.Theboyswere
randomizedintotwogroups.Theexperimentalgroupreceivedavideogamesystemimmediately
andthecontrolgroupwerepromisedagamesystemattheendofthestudy.
Attheendofafourmonthperiodalloftheboyswerereassessedonintellectualand
academicability.Allofthechildrensparentsandteacherswerealsoaskedtoreevaluatethe
childrensbehaviorathomeandatschool.Theresultsindicatedthattherewerenochangesinthe
behaviorathomeandatschoolinbothgroups.However,theteachersdidreportedthattheboys
intheexperimentalgrouphadgreaterLearningProblemsthentheboysinthecontrolgroupat
reassessment.TheboysintheexperimentalgroupscoredsignificantlylowerinReadingand
WrittenLanguagethantheboysinthecontrolgroupatthetimeofreassessment.Also,boysin
theexperimentalgroupspentlesstimeinafterschoolacademicactivities.Theboysinthe

controlgroupattheendofthestudyhadincreasedreadingandwritingskills.
Thereismixedresultsontheeffectsofvideogameuseandacademicperformance.
However,theresultsofpriorstudiesindicatethattheremaybeacorrelationbetween
videogamesandacademicperformance.TheresultsinthestudybyHastingset.al.,indicatedthat
boysthatplayedviolentvideogameshadloweracademicperformancethangirlswhoplayed
educationalgames.Weiset.al.,reportedafterfourmonthsboyswhoweregivenavideogame
systemhadlowerreadingandwritingscorescomparedtoboyswhowerenotgivenagame
system.Burgesset.al.,reportedthatcollegestudentswhoplayedmorevideogameshadlower
GPAsthanthosewhoplayedless.Also,studentsplayedvideogamestoavoiddoingtheir
homework.ThiswasfurthersubstantiatedbyCummingset.al.,whofoundthatvideogamers
spent30%lesstimereadingand34%lesstimedoinghomeworkthanthosewhodidntplay
videogames.VanRooijet.al.,foundthatboysweremorelikelythangirlstoplayonlinegames.
Amongthatgroupboysweremorelikelytobeproblematicgamersthangirlsandhadlower
academicgrades.Overallitappearsthatvideogameplayingdidaffectacademicperformance
howevereducationalgamesdidshowapositiveeffectonacademics.
.

WorksCited
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HastingsEC,KarasTL,WinslerA,WayE,MadiganA,TylerS.YoungChildrens
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