Survey: 58% of parents play video games with their kids

by Blake Snow { Dec 11th 2006 at 5:15PM }

In light of recent political debate and concerns that video games lead to criminal behavior, Reuters examines a recent online survey suggesting that over half of all parents play video games with their children. From the article: "An online survey of 1,014 U.S. children and their parents, conducted by market researcher Harrison Group -- and commissioned by U.S. game publisher Activision -- found 58 percent of parents surveyed said they play video games and more than half this time is spent with their children."

The survey also found that 74% feel comfortable with games in the home as most are familiar with the ESRB rating system used to asses which content is suitable for which age group. But David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, criticized the poll saying the numbers don't represent parents in general as online surveys are more likely to be completed by technologists, many of which are gamers themselves. Regardless, heaven forbid parents actually spend more time with their children, even if playing video games!

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

LordMinogue @ Dec 11th 2006 5:28PM

You can turn off the violent effects in Gears under options. No smack talk, no blood...its hollow...

Hinkmania @ Dec 11th 2006 5:34PM

And 99% of children hate it when their parents do!

Agent MOO @ Dec 11th 2006 5:44PM

Resynching controls FTW!

Stu @ Dec 11th 2006 5:49PM

What? I find it inconceivable that most parents care what their kids are up to, and/or spend quality time with them!

The people crying about violence in video games are the same idiots that cried about devil worship in DnD 30 years ago and about the terrible violence inherent in superhero comics 60 years ago...

ReverendGadgetBoy @ Dec 11th 2006 5:52PM

when you say asses you mean assess right?

Shagi @ Dec 11th 2006 5:55PM

asses this!

FSK405K @ Dec 11th 2006 6:03PM

I do hope they're playing Mortal Kombat Armageddon, Custer's Revenge, and Hot Coffee.

daxiang12 @ Dec 11th 2006 6:08PM

Last time I checked most of parents out there don't seem to encourage their children to play video games. World changes so fast!!
What a dumb-ass survey.

Squeek @ Dec 11th 2006 6:58PM

I love these surveys asking parents what they do. Of course they're not going to tell the truth. They want to sound better.

Didn't an official survey come out a few weeks ago from the NIMF that had a similar percent of parents who say they play games with their kids, only to actually ask the kids and find out that was a lie?

Please. Parents don't play games with their kids. The whole reason Wii is popular among parents now is because it's easy to play. Parents could never learn how to play video games in the last generation of consoles.

Oh, and since I just actually finished reading this post, you can see that the member of the NIMF says this poll is pretty stupid. Told ya.

Enigma @ Dec 11th 2006 7:01PM

The number will only grow as current gamers get older and have kids, this is what you seeing currently.

abobo kitty @ Dec 11th 2006 7:26PM

i've been a gamer since pong, i'm in my early 30's have three kids, 8, 11 & 12
i play games with them all the time. as do a lot of my other freinds with kids. My parents didn't give a rats ass what i was doing , as long as i was quiet & didn't get into too much trouble. I want to be different, i want to to what the hell my kids are into (plus i've always been a hardcore gamer) i encourage all parents to play games with their children no matter what the system, also then the parents will be aware of the content within the games their kids like.

davarino @ Dec 11th 2006 7:52PM

ever since i had the super nes,, my mum used to play a few rounds of mario kart with me. same with the n64 and the game cube. i didnt mind it, its always good to have company playing games even if you wip their ass everytime. but when it comes to games like pgr3 or halo 2, she pretty much evacuates from the room.

ive recentley gotten her addicted to meteos on my ds. BEST GAME

Andy @ Dec 11th 2006 8:23PM

the same study also found that only 50 percent of parents supervise the games played/purchased by kids.
so the other half let their kids play whatever...and then complain when johnny plays vice city, and they lobby against game companies.

TheBlunderbuss @ Dec 11th 2006 10:04PM

My parents never have.
I side with Squeek

Asterix Attacker @ Dec 11th 2006 11:39PM

One of my first memories was watching my parents play Grand Theft Auto 3. Now I'm old enough to play it with them.

Mal F4cti0n @ Dec 12th 2006 8:52AM

I do run across a small percentage of kids playing Gears of War. 10 to 14 years old when I ask how old they are. Usually they suck, they are annoying, swear and throw out extremely racist comments.

These kids don't have any parents that care what they are doing. I always ask, "does your mommy know what you are playing?"

They typically don't like that and I always have to turn down my volume so I don't have to listen to their high-pitched screaming.

Ice Beam @ Dec 12th 2006 12:47PM

@ #9

Please. They're video games, not rocket science. If they were smart enough to figure out penis + vagina= kid, they're smart enough to figure out a Gamecube.

And who says that they just started playing when they had kids? Kids grow up and have kids of their own. This new generation of parents were the same ones that grew up on Atari and NES.

Get some perspective.