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Video Games may help learning

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New research suggests some video-gaming is beneficial when it comes to teenagers’ academic performance, but it depends what they are playing.

The report, The ABC of Gender Equality in Education, looks at why boys are more likely to be poor performers than girls, especially in reading, and why girls are less likely to be the top students in maths and science.

The report says boys are more likely to be overall low achievers than girls for a variety of reasons which include:

  • Boys are more likely than girls to play video games.
  • Boys are more likely than girls to spend time on computers and the Internet.
  • Boys are less likely than girls to read outside of school for enjoyment.
  • Boys are less likely than girls to enjoy activities connected with reading.
  • Boys are less likely than girls to do homework.
  • Boys are more likely than girls to have negative attitudes towards school.
  • Boys are more likely than girls to arrive late for school.
  • Boys are less likely than girls to engage in school-related work out of intrinsic motivation.

The research reports mixed results on the effect of computer-gaming on academic achievement.

Students who play multi-player video games are generally worse at reading, maths and science tests than those who do not play them.

But those who play single-player games are better at these subjects than those who do not, especially if they are not playing those games every day.

The report shows a strong link between choice of reading material and reading performance. 

Twice as many boys as girls are classified as poor readers.

Children who read fiction have a higher reading age than those children who read comics and non-fiction.

55 Responses

  1. Well I play alot of video games. I LEARN ALOT!

    Don’t listen to girls saying they are smarter than the boys! WE ARE PLOTTING REVENGE!

  2. that is great news. But I guess it still depends on the genre and the style of the video game.

  3. i think this is very interesting since parents are always telling their kids to get off the computers and games when some of them are actually helping with school work in my opinion i don’t think this is true because lots of kids are addicts to their favorite games and anyway how would it help with work when you are lets say meant to be doing your homework but instead eyes fixed to their TV and computer screens.

  4. yay go on commputer games a lot and lots of people think that they are not helpfull

  5. I think that boys can still be good readers even if they play video games. This is because some boys spread their time with video games and study. Girls aren’t always necessarily better than boys in reading, because different people have different strengths in various areas of their study.

  6. I think Video Games may help learning is true, but some video games is not so good.

  7. This is absolutely true because in multiplayer games you cant have subtitles but if you play single player games every day with subtitles on your basically reading millions of chapters of books

  8. So random
    I think that brodie is right about the subtitles thing cause yes you are technically reading millions of chapters of books.

  9. this is probably why there are all-girls schools and all-boys schools
    no offence to boys.

  10. I think the video games will make your brain worse. I have an experience of that. I was playing on a video game(learning one) but I got bad result.
    I think reading books are the best thing to do….

  11. I Think This Is A Great Idea For These Games:
    1.Minecraft
    2.Roblox
    3.The Sims 3 Or 4

  12. I love Video Games and the Internet, i also love reading, and the homework isnt bad 😀 so i MUST be SUPER smart!! 😀 😀 😀 😀

  13. Really? I’m smart (at least, that’s what I’m told) and I don’t play ANY video games. I do like computer games though 🙂

  14. why would you do that. i have a xbox360 and i have games such as halo 4, farcry 2, and forza motorsport. So arew these games good for learn and my friend has minecraft. plz boys arent all bad at learning i like learning so does my friends.oh this is posted by cruz.

  15. I agree with all of this exept that last bit “Children who read fiction have a higher reading age than those children who read comics and non-fiction”. I READ COMICS ALMOST EVERY DAY.

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