DIGITAL DILEMMA

VIDEO GAMES ARE SHAPING A GENERATION OF BOYS, FOR BETTER AND WORSE

- STORY: CLAIRE CAIN MILLER AMY FAN / NYT

Inthe last decade-and-a-half, boys and young men ages 15-24 more than doubled their average time spent gaming, to about 10 hours a week, according to a major US survey.

Some teachers say gaming has disrupted focus in classrooms. Some economists have linked it to the decline in young men’s work hours. Many readers told us it was a chief reason for the recent struggles of boys and young men.

Yet video games also serve an important role in young people's lives. They've become a central way that young people socialise and provide them — especially boys — with a sense of belonging.

The increase in time boys and young men spent playing games was the biggest of any activity measured by the American Time Use Survey, the large federal survey that each year asks a nationally representative sample of thousands of people what they did every minute of a day. (The category includes other types of games, like cards, but evidence suggests it’s mostly video games.)

The rise has coincided with technological changes that made games much more engrossing. Gaming went from an activity done at home on a console or computer to one also done on phones, anywhere and anytime.

While parents have always worried about video games (especially whether playing certain games causes violence, a connection that has not been proved), a pressing concern now is about time spent playing. As it has increased, the fear is that video games have displaced other activities in boys’ and young men’s lives — including physical activity, in-person socialising, homework, jobs and sleep.

“Boys would rather sit in front of Minecraft or Fortnite than play outside,’ said Susan Donohoe, an elementary schoolteacher in Portland, Maine. “They are living a virtual life instead of real outside play and chores, which develop social skills and responsibility”