1000 Parents Asked About Games
Ukie (The Association of UK Interactive Entertainment) has just completed a fascinating poll of over 1,000 parents of children under 18. Designed to get to the heart of the state of the gaming-nation, the poll asked families questions about their gaming habits and opinions.
The highlights from the poll are as follows:
- Nearly all parents (92%) recognise the benefits that playing video games can have on their children, including educational benefits (58%), that they allow children to be creative (53%) and that they provide entertainment (77%).
- Other benefits cited include increased co-ordination, strategic thinking and team-work.
- Parents would benefit from guidance on which video games are suitable for their families. Over 1 in 3 parents (34%) admit to having given in and bought a video game that was unsuitable for their child, with 86% saying that the new PEGI system is required and almost a third already believing the PEGI ratings will help them choose which games are suitable for their children.
- The survey also found that over a quarter of parents (26%) never play video games with their children, with mums and dads both equally unlikely to join in with the potential for family fun.
Professor Tanya Byron, consultant clinical psychologist, independent government advisor on children, young people and digital media, as well as mother of two, said of the findings:
“It’s great to see that parents recognise that playing video games can form a positive part of their children’s activities. Video games can be a great educational resource that can also fuel children’s creativity. It would be great to see parents taking an interest in their children’s video game playing. This can involve taking direct control of what games their children play at home, how they play them and for how long through taking note of the PEGI ratings, as well as using parental controls which are in-built on all modern video games consoles. What’s more, it would be great to see more parents joining in the fun of playing video games together as a family.” [Header Image Credit: flickr/albertogp123]
