Video games and civic education

Just wanted to make a quick note about this study from the pew internet and american life project that argues that video games might foster civic engagement. The basic argument is that there are aspects of video games that mirror civic life. Now, I don't think that video games are necessarily detrimental, in fact, I agree to some extent with the argument made here, but this study fails to acknowledge significant aspects of video games that can have an impact of the quality of the engagement they might foster.

For instance, the study claims that “game playing is social”. The authors note that 76% of teens play games with others at least some of the time, and 65% play games with others in the same room. This is an encouraging finding, indicating that for many kids, video gaming is not a solitary activity (as many folks seem to have assumed, including the authors of the pew study). However, this finding tells us very little about the sort of interactions that occur when gamers play together. Do the players collaborate to make strategic decisions about how to achieve a goal? Do they compete against one another? Do they simply play in the same room? Much more needs to be known about the quality of these interactions before claims can be made about their possible impact on civic engagement.

The authors of the study claim that “game playing can incorporate many aspects of civic and political life”. For instance, 76% of players help others while gaming and 44% learn about a problem in society. But, again, what is the quality of these interactions? Does it really build the sort of solidarity necessary for civic and political participation? What sort of help is offered? What is the depth of learning about social problems - do the players learn about the complexities of these social problems, or do the games essentialize these social problems?

Similarly, 52% of gamers report playing games where they are required to think about moral and ethical issues. But how are these issues presented in the games? Does the presentation complicate gamers thinking about these issues, or does it encourage narrow, black-and-white thinking about ethical and moral issues? The answer to these questions are what will allow us to determine if the sort of thinking and engagement encouraged through gaming will result in the development of the sort of citizen required in a democratic society

One last comment on the findings: 43% of respondents reported playing games where they made decisions about how to run a city/state/nation/business/etc. A lot of good could come from this sort of gaming - constraints in the games might force players to make tradeoffs, weighing competing values in order to make a decision about how to proceed. However it seems difficult for a game to be constructed to mirror the complexity of working within actual democratic institutions. In this way, these games might, again, lead to a simplified picture of how institutions work. Such a simplified picture could hinder the ability (and desire) for citizens to engage with democratic in the sorts of ways necessary to make real change in a democratic society.