A recent study at the University of Oxford indicates that those who play computer games are less likely to reach University level education.
As ZDNet reports, those who play video games on a regular basis and who have little or no other extracurricular activities were found to have slim chances of going to a University. Both males and females suffered a 5% drop in their likelihood of attending a University.
However, those who read a book for pleasure, spent some time at a movie theater watching a movie, or participated in something artistic at least once a month, had a higher chance of attending a University.
The research was conducted by Sociologist Researcher Mark Taylor who analyzed 17,200 questionnaire responses from people born in 1970, which gave details of extra-curricular activities at the age of 16 and their careers at the age of 33. “Mr Taylor also found that playing computer games frequently did not make it less likely that 16-year-olds would be in a professional or managerial career at 33, but this was linked to a lower chance of going to university.”
In other words, reading books for pleasure instead of playing computer games can raise the probability of going to college. So drop that controller or keyboard, turn off Call of Duty, and go read a book (or in this day and age, an ebook)!
However, there is one thing to note. This study uses data from 1970 to the present. Gaming has changed over the years with the inventions of the Wii and the Xbox Kinect. Games are now more brain stimulating rather than one-dimensional. If Mr Taylor used current data reflecting the change in the gaming climate from the past few years, perhaps his findings might be a little different.
Post your thoughts in the comments.