Study shows gamers don't read good, and don't learn other stuff good too
By Paul Miller 
posted July 3rd 2007 1:42PM
posted July 3rd 2007 1:42PM
A brand new US study in the vein of "wasn't that already completely obvious?" has revealed that boys and girls who play video games on school days do less homework and reading than those straight edge kids who swear off the stuff altogether. Boys average 30 percent less time spent studying, while girls drop off 34 percent. The good news is that video games didn't negatively impact quality family time or get in the way of sports and other such activities. Is that so? Apparently WoW players were not represented in this poll, most likely because they couldn't be bothered to put that raid on hold to answer a few questions. Speaking of... we'll be right back... after we do something very important and serious.
whats even funnier is that not only do i read pretty damn well, since playing FFXI ive also learned how to read and speak some japanese. hmmm.... study is bunk i say, they must be studying FPS gamers only, if anyone studied any sort of adventure gamer or rpgamer, then the conclusion would be totally different.
my girlfriend lives in montreal and is actually completely french and her brother learned how to read english when he was 5 by playing super mario and translating all the words.
and ya this is a US study, so everyone is pretty much illiterate. where if it was in Canada where we have what is called "An Education System" we know how to read write, and we can even tie our own shoes.
shouldn't the headline be 'study shows games don't read well and don't learn other stuff well too'
Nope.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196229/quotes
dont play games WELL TOO!!!
well not good, well engadget, well!
It's really simple, ladies and gentlemen. Bad parents bring up bad kids, who are bad students and do badly in life. The games don't have anything to do with it.
It's really sad when some posters claim that they learn to read playing games, instead of learning to read from school.
Ah, you people! I'd like to concur with the posters who correctly assumed certain types of video games definitely improve reading skills. RPGs, strategy games, and adventure games contain whole books worth of text. People who like to delve into these games not only read all of the in-game text, but also the manuals. Of course the language in them isn't as diverse as that in novels, but they do at least expand your vocabulary and improve your grammar.
English is my third language, and although I do admit I've also read plenty of English language novels, a lion's share of my specialized vocabulary, related to fantasy, science fiction, Old English, poetical English, etc. has most definitely come from the aforementioned types of games.
There *are* games out there that require critical thinking. There *are* games that require you to read to get ahead in the game. Hell, I'd even claim that MOST games teach you something. As another poster mentioned, hand-to-eye coordination, logical thinking, patience... You name it. There are games that improve our musicality and body coordination (e.g. singing/dancing games) and there are memory games or just plain old brain busters.
So ok, if someone only plays CS or any other game that places emphasis purely on action and has little text, it may affect your school success negatively. But even this is only if you do NOTHING ELSE in your spare time. If you're intellectually inclined when you start gaming, you'll be drawn to games that hone your intellect. Nuff said.
I don't see many commenters noting that this is a bit misleading -- the headline should have been "Study shows most gamers have crappy parents". Before I had video games, it was "do your homework, then you can go out and play". After we got our first Nintendo, it was "do your homework, then you can play your game." It's not effin' rocket science, people. Parents need to be involved in their kids' educations (especially if they're stuck in public skrewel), and if they're not, their kids will fail. Ever has it been.
Hmm... I'd acknowledge that there is vocabulary to be learned from reading the text in an RPG, but that for the most part is just dialogue. I don't think that's a good enough substitute for descriptive paragraphs like you'll find in any book of fiction.
Not to mention there are some books people should simply read because they are classics. Being a fan of satire, I think everyone should read Catch-22 at some point. I cringe violently when someone implies that watching the movie is a substitute for reading the book.
I realize books don't entertain as easily as video games do, but there are some really good books out there. I will say that I didn't like a lot of what I read in high school, but I happened upon books out of the classroom which I did like. Reading doesn't have to be a chore.
That having been said, now I must go play WoW for eight hours.