Computer gaming as literacy

Abstract

Young people’s enthusiasm for video and computer gaming has proven an increasingly vigorous arena for public debate. Although many decry the violence that abounds in some video games, other writers see positive outcomes: On several measures-including family closeness, activity involvement, positive school engagement, positive mental health, substance abuse, self-concept, friendship network, and disobedience to parents-game players scored more favorably than did peers who never played computer games. It is concluded that computer games can be a positive feature of a healthy adolescence. (Durkin & Barber, 2002, p. 376).