MAIN > SPOTLIGHT ARCHIVE > Peter Levine (Sep 23)

Tuesday 23rd September 2008 11:21 am

Peter Levine: The Civic Potential of Video Games

We reblog a post by the director of CIRCLE, the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University. The post continues our series on the gaming and civics reports released last week by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and the Civic Engagement Research Group at Mills College.

Many adults who care about civic and ethical education are hostile to video games. We assume that gaming is a solitary, passive, violent activity, unrelated to issues in the real world. Actually, games vary enormously; some of the most popular ones are challenging simulations of democracy and social issues. And gaming is not always solitary; sometimes it is a social and cooperative passtime.

According to the most ambitious and careful study to date, ”Civic Implications of Video Games,” what matters is not whether or how much kids play video games. The question is which games they play and how they play them.

For example, there are strong positive correlations between playing the Sims and active civic engagement in the real world. This is perhaps not too surprising because the Sims requires active thinking about social issues in a fictional setting. In contrast, Halo is a “first-person shooter” game. The report doesn’t say that it correlates with traditional civic activity, but Halo does involve collaborating with other players online. Those who collaborate with others online are also more engaged in active citizenship. For instance, they are much more likely to talk about elections. Thus even Halo has some civic potential. We need to promote and celebrate the best games, develop more like them, and use them in conjunction with school, community, and family activities.

The whole report is worth careful study.

Editor’s Note: Peter Levine’s original post can be seen on his blog here. Also see Connie Yowell’s post on the report’s release here. 

Category: Civic-Engagement, Ecology-of-Games

Tags:

Like this post?

  • Email this page using tell-a-friend, or
  • Save it with one of these social bookmarking tools: , or
  • View author profile for Peter Levine.

Comments

Submit Thoughts

We would love to have you add in the discussion. Please submit your content to our editorial review board:

Name (public):

Email (required but private, only used if our editors need to contact you):

Upload your photo (recommended: this helps bridge online/offline worlds)

Affiliation (public):

URL of your website or institution (public):

Comments:
(We will automatically remove html codes.)

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

Please enter the word you see in the image:

(Warning: You will NOT be warned if our spam filters delete your comment. Cutting and pasting tends to confuse our spam filters, so always keep a copy. If your comment passes the spam test, you will be shown a brief "Thank You" message after hitting the Submit button, otherwise you will be returned to this page with your comment gone and no warning. Only comments that pass the spam test will be emailed to our editors for approval and posting. Contact our editors using the link in the footer if you have a problem.)

Produced by Games for Change. | TOP