So I was just finishing up this excellent new Pew report on “Teens, Video Games and Civics,” and was about to post some thoughts about it when I saw in my RSS feed that the brilliant Henry Jenkins had beat me to it in an essay entitled “Video Game Myths Revisited.” Prof. Jenkins summarizes the major findings of the Pew report as follows (note: He elaborates on each finding in his essay):
- At the most basic level, game playing has become more or less universal.
- The Pew research may also force us to rethink once again the assumption that there is a gender gap in terms of who plays games.
- The Pew Data complicates easy generalizations about the place of violent entertainment in the lives of American teens.
- The Pew Data further challenges the idea that game playing is a socially isolating activity.
- The Pew Research does indicate some areas where parents should be concerned about the gaming lives of their sons and daughters.
- The Pew Research also challenges the prevailing myth that most parents are worried or alarmed about their young people’s relations to games.
Anyway, make sure to read Henry’s write-up and the entire Pew report. Good stuff. [And here’s the point where I once again shamelessly plug my old paper on video game myths and some of my other essays like “Dear Gov. Patterson… Regarding that Video Game Bill You Are About to Sign,” “Understanding The True Cost of Video Game Censorship Efforts,” “Do video games create cop killers?” and “Why hasn’t violent media turned us into a nation of killers?”]
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