Video gaming exists all over the world. Researchers, parents and educators have mixed things to say about whether or not kids should be playing video games, let alone participating in worldwide gaming communities. Some blame violent video games for why kids become violent or anti-social, while others think they have benefits like teaching high level thinking skills.

In an article published in the journal Machines Like Us, six independent research experts and their studies were synthesized in an attempt to determine the positive and negative affects of gaming. The researchers agreed that video games are extremely powerful teaching tools and the research itself suggests that power can be both good and bad. First-person shooter games improve perceptual and attention skills, but violent games may lead to significant increases in desensitization to violence and decreased pro-social behavior.

A Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 99% of boys and 94% of girls play video games on a regular basis and 76% game in virtual communities. Half of the boys surveyed listed a game rated by the industry’s system as “Mature” M as one of their favorites. Currently, the most popular game in school is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a violent first person shooter game rated “M.”

In a The Rubicon survey, St. Paul Academy and Summit School students grades 9-12, painted a different picture from the national average. The genders responding were balanced almost evenly, with 49% boys and 51% girls responding. Surprisingly, only 69% of respondents said they gamed.

Of those who do game the data revealed that younger males at SPA are more likely to play video games than any other group.

Violent video games were by far the most popular among all boys, with Call of Duty; Modern Warfare the most popular at 61.5%. Halo was written in by many respondents, as it was not an option written on the survey.

Recently, a Halo playing community has formed among senior boys, creating a popular social activity during free periods.

Senior Danny O’Shea said “I got interested in Halo because someone brought the game to school and passed it around. It’s a fun way to compete with your friends, and the games can get very competitive sometimes. I like the fact that we can have lots of people all playing [Halo] together.”

Video games including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, World of Warcraft and Minecraft are among the top games played by students.

The game that showed consistently interest for the SPA community, equally among boys and girls, is the popular pixelated alternat-reality game, Minecraft. Freshman Sam Tipler said that “when you start you just can’t stop.  It doesn’t seem like it should be fun, but it just is.”

Students across the board love Minecraft, with almost equal numbers of players in each grade.

SPA gamers in general don’t game very often: only 19% find the time to game every day with 88% gaming a couple times a week or less.

The biggest question of all though is why do students game? What makes video games so addicting that 99% of boys and 94% of girls cannot get enough of them? Surveys show mixed responses: some play for fun, some play for a challenge and some play because they have nothing better to do.

So what is SPA’s opinion on how gaming affects daily life?  “They’re really entertaining and fun, but they definitely waste our time,” freshman Quinn Smith said.

Researchers have their own answer.  In an article published in Psychological Science, Dr. Przybylski, a researcher of the effects of video games, wrote, “The attraction to playing video games and what makes them fun is that it gives people the chance to think about a role they would ideally like to take and then get a chance to play that role.”