Young people and IT

Last week, Pew released a report about the pervasiveness of video games in the lives of today's young people - Teens, Video Games, and Civics. An earlier Pew report, one that concentrated on the gaming activities of college students, suggeted that the percentages were high: 70% of college students played digital games at least once; 65% were regular players. The latest numbers suggest that playing video games is a part of everyday life for almost all young people in America.

Here are some of the current numbers:

• 99% of boys and 94% of girls play video games
• Younger boys are the most enthusiastic players; older girls are the least enthusiastic about these activities
• Gaming is a social activity - 65% of gaming teens play with other people who are physically in the same room
• Teens play video games with people they know
• Parents are more likely to monitor the game playing activities of boys and younger children
• 49% of teen players have seen "people being hateful, sexist, or racist" during their game play activities

This morning I read a piece by Linda Jackson and her group (2008) on the new digital divide and the role race and gender play in IT use. The researchers surveyed 515 children (172 African Americans; 343 Caucasian Americans) whose average age was 12 about their IT use. These researchers found the following:

• African American males were the least intense users
• African American females were the most intense users (often surpassing the male Caucasian Americans)
• African American females were more likely than Caucasian Americans to text message friends via cell phone
• Children whose parents had higher income and education levels had been using IT longer
• Children who had been using IT longer had higher grades in school; children who played video games more had lower grades in school

While African American males were less enthusiastic about IT in general, they were avid video game players. In fact, their game play levels were as high as the Caucasian American males. Thus, one of the recommendations the authors make is to utilize the African American males' game playing activities to increase their interest in IT.

This reminds me of an chapter by Kurt Squire (2008) that explored the possibility of using Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (GTA: SA) for educational purposes. In that study, Squire interviewed Caucasian and African American teens who were avid GTA: SA players. Based on his experiences with teens, Squire argues that "games could be an excellent bridging mechanism for disengaged students, particularly adolescent boys, many of whom are labeled ADHD and cause many problems at school" (p. 184).