Video Games and College Students

Ahhh -- the news that you've longed to hear: A new study suggests that video games a vital positive part of college students' social lives.

Researchers, sponsored by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, distinguished between different types of video games: those played online, through a personal computer, and though a video-game console (e.g., PlayStation). Unlike prior generations, video gaming is not displacing other activities. They've grown up with video games so have incorporated them into their lives since childhood. As a result, video games aren't as disruptive to today's college students, as compared with prior generations. In fact, many respondents indicated that video games helped them develop and improve friendships.

Of course, about half of the respondents indicated that gaming distracted them from studying and a third said that they played games in class, so perhaps there are academic repercussions of gaming. The researchers conclude that though gaming is a positive part of college students' social lives, they may be keeping them from their studies. (Big surprise!) Read the full report here.