2008 Woodie Awards
Video games affect studies
By: Cindy Youngquist
Issue date: 5/21/08 Section: News
With precious hours left until your research paper is due, you're hard at work on your computer, beating Level 5 of your video game.
Is gaming really becoming such a problem with college students? With a multitude of games and internet networking sites just a mouse click away what's keeping students focused on the task at hand?
"I really think that if you wanted to do your homework, you'd just get it done. Maybe people who just play games want to do that more" said Sarah Cole, a 20-year-old sophomore.
"Yeah I probably do spend more time playing video games or surfing MySpace than I do studying, but I don't think it's really hurt my grades any," said senior Francisco Canela. "Maybe it'll be different if I take graduate classes but right now I'm not too worried about my study habits."
A study of college age students conducted by Pew Internet Research Surveys indicated that a majority of students did spend some time online while the majority of those surveyed were regular users on a daily basis.
The study also indicated that most of those surveyed made gaming a part of their day as well. Reasons for indulging in gaming ranged from a way to interact with friends to wanting to escape into a different world if they had no real friends to interact with.
A number of students seemed to gravitate to online gaming as a way to make a connection with someone.
While this may seem to indicate that a large portion of college students are spending more time playing games and surfing the Net as opposed to studying the study shows that this in fact may not always be the case.
The Pew study reported that more than half of those surveyed said gaming had a small chance of taking away time they would normally spend with friends or family. It was also reported that almost half of students who were survey used games to avoid studying.
While some might be under the impression that there is a certain demographic that is more inclined to indulge in procrastinating with video games, the Pew study seems to indicate otherwise. It was reported that ethnicity and gender did not play a part in determining which students would partake in video and online gaming.
Is gaming really becoming such a problem with college students? With a multitude of games and internet networking sites just a mouse click away what's keeping students focused on the task at hand?
"I really think that if you wanted to do your homework, you'd just get it done. Maybe people who just play games want to do that more" said Sarah Cole, a 20-year-old sophomore.
"Yeah I probably do spend more time playing video games or surfing MySpace than I do studying, but I don't think it's really hurt my grades any," said senior Francisco Canela. "Maybe it'll be different if I take graduate classes but right now I'm not too worried about my study habits."
A study of college age students conducted by Pew Internet Research Surveys indicated that a majority of students did spend some time online while the majority of those surveyed were regular users on a daily basis.
The study also indicated that most of those surveyed made gaming a part of their day as well. Reasons for indulging in gaming ranged from a way to interact with friends to wanting to escape into a different world if they had no real friends to interact with.
A number of students seemed to gravitate to online gaming as a way to make a connection with someone.
While this may seem to indicate that a large portion of college students are spending more time playing games and surfing the Net as opposed to studying the study shows that this in fact may not always be the case.
The Pew study reported that more than half of those surveyed said gaming had a small chance of taking away time they would normally spend with friends or family. It was also reported that almost half of students who were survey used games to avoid studying.
While some might be under the impression that there is a certain demographic that is more inclined to indulge in procrastinating with video games, the Pew study seems to indicate otherwise. It was reported that ethnicity and gender did not play a part in determining which students would partake in video and online gaming.
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