Video games and children are usually two things that parents are advised to keep apart. However, a recent study conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project reveals that there are also some good sides to playing video games.

Until now, most studies involving the impact of video games on children warned about negative social influences, increased aggression and decreased intellectual performance. This study however provides an insight into the influences of teen video gaming on civic engagement.

As we all know, teens love playing video games, no matter the age or socioeconomic background. It usually takes at least one hour-a-day of their time, but it can last longer in some cases. While 97% of teens aged 12 to 17 play computer, web, portable or console games, half of them reported playing a game “yesterday.”

While titles such as Guitar Hero, Halo 3, Madden NFK, Solitaire and Dance Dance revolution completing the top five most popular games, boys seem to be more interested in vide games than girls, and more willing to vary the type of games they play.

While most parents see games as a useless, negative experience filling their children’s lives, the new study reveals that for most teens, the gaming experience is very much about social interactions. Only 24 percent of teens choose to play games only by themselves, while 65 percent play games with people that are in the room with them, and 27 percent play games with people they connect with online.

If we look at games that teens usually play with other people, especially multiplayer games, we can see that teens will make individual choices and learn how to act and speak in the context of the game. However, the gaming environment can be an aggressive one, with nearly two thirds of teens reporting “people being mean and overly aggressive while playing,” and 49 percent reporting “people being hateful, racist, or sexist.”

However, nearly thee quarters of these teens also reported other players responding to the aggressors by asking them to stop. The study reveals that 85 percent of teens who’ve reported seeing these behaviors also reported other players being generous and helpful.

Regarding teen’s preference for violent or non violent game content, first two most widely played genres of games are racing and puzzle games, with little or no violent content. However, two thirds of teens admitted playing action or adventure games, with violent content.

Whether teens make the right choices to play a certain game or not, parent control still remains an important part of every teenager’s gaming and social life, as everything needs to be made in moderation.

The study reports that 90 percent of the parents know what games their children play, while 72 percent check the ratings before they allow their children to play. Only 31 percent of parents always or sometimes play games with their children, while 46 percent of them always or sometimes stop their children from playing a game.

Furthermore, 62 percent of parents believe games have no effect on their children, while only 13 percent believe they have a negative influence, and 19 percent say they have a positive influence.

The study found that civic gaming experiences are strongly related to many civic and political outcomes, and while high school civic learning opportunities are unequally distributed with higher-income, higher-achieving, civic gaming opportunities are only influenced by gender.

Moreover, youth who take part in social interaction related to the game, by making comments or taking part in discussion boards, are more engaged civically and politically, the study found. At the same time, playing with others online represents a weak form of social interaction where players only play for a short period of time, or it can include longer, more sustained networks where players join guilds or play games in an interactive way.

This suggests that while teens who play games socially are more likely to be civically and politically engaged than teens who play primarily alone, this is in fact true only when they play with others in the same room, while teens who play games online are no different in their civic and political engagement than those who play alone.

Furthermore, the quantity of game play is not strongly related (positively or negatively) to most indicators of teens’ interest and engagement in civic and political activity, the study reveals. Statistics have shown that there were no significant differences between teens who play games every day and teens who play less than once a week.

The study also concluded that teens who spend more hours playing games are slightly less likely to volunteer or express commitment to civic participation than those who play for fewer hours. Overall, the study found that teens who have civic gaming experiences report higher levels of civic and political engagement that teens who do not have these experiences.