Everyday Youth Literacies

Abstract

Using videogames as a tool for enhancing youth civic engagement, on first glance, seems to be contradictory and inconsistent with what we know about videogames and learning, yet current research is indicating many subtle ways in which videogames can heighten adolescents’ interest and abilities in the adult world they are joining. Increasingly, youth are demonstrating their desire to address issues of both personal and public concern, drawing on their interactions and thinking in immersive videogame environments. ‘Civic’ engagement for today’s youth has taken on different form and appearance and, as with videogames, needs closer attention by researchers and educators to more deeply understand new iterations of youth thinking and action. Rather than committing to community and society through traditional forms, i.e., volunteerism, organizational involvement, electoral participation, they are enacting their sense of personal responsibility in different ways, using technological tools and social media to connect and impact community decision-making, i.e., online petitions, newsfeeds, and social media sites. These forms of engagement have links to their gaming and gaming communities as they engage immersively in worlds where they regularly solve complex problems, take on leadership roles, and make moral and ethical decisions.