Video Games Are Good for Girls, If Parents Play Along

[The Straight Story]

Video Games Are Good for Girls, If Parents Play Along

ScienceDaily (Feb. 2, 2011) — Dads who still haven't given up video games now have some justification to keep on playing -- if they have a daughter.

Researchers from Brigham Young University's School of Family Life conducted a study on video games and children between 11 and 16 years old. They found that girls who played video games with a parent enjoyed a number of advantages. Those girls behaved better, felt more connected to their families and had stronger mental health. Professor Sarah Coyne is the lead author of the study, which appears Feb. 1 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

"The surprising part about this for me is that girls don't play video games as much as boys," Coyne said. "But they did spend about the same amount of time co-playing with a parent as boys did."

The findings come with one important caveat: The games had to be age-appropriate. If the game was rated M for mature, it weakened the statistical relationship between co-playing and family connectedness.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110201083341.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily:+Latest+Science+News%29

[Odin2005]

1. K&R

:popcorn:

[FLPanhandle]

2. I play the Wii dance games with my daughters & their friends

Nothing pisses off teenage girls more than an old man beating them at the dance games. :)

[abelenkpe]

3. lol!

That is adorable. Good dad!

[Matariki]

4. +1

rule: always act "pissed off" after you let your old man win :p

[FLPanhandle]

6. LOL.

You know, I never thought of that. hmmmm.

[Matariki]

12. I'm just teasing of course!

I'm sure you totally kick ass ;-)

[pacalo]

7. And nothing ticks off 27-year-old sons more than getting outplayed by their moms at Wii Mario.

[Matariki]

11. That's a GREAT photo!

[Dappleganger]

16. Just made that my new FB profile pic.

Awesome!

[abelenkpe]

5. Awwww, I always loved playing video games growing up

Girls still don't play much? I play Mario cart and Mario with my son...and World of Goo....and we'll probably never get enough of Angry Birds. :)

[Dappleganger]

14. All of our kids female friends play video games...

seriously, I haven't met any over the years who weren't interested in at least one or two games we had.

[rucky]

8. Mario Party is a staple at the rucky household.

[woodsprite]

9. We've always had family Bonding time

James Bond, that is, in paintball mode. We started out with
The Nintendo 64 version and just got the Wii version for Xmas.
We also love Monkeyball minigames, Mario Party 8, Mario kart,
Guitar hero, and Wii Resort. All 4 player games.

[cynatnite]

10. Wii games are a family event at our house...

We love it!

[Dappleganger]

13. Our girls are good to go then...

their dad plays Black Ops with them regularly. I keep telling them that they're a terrible influence on their father. ;)

[krabigirl]

15. what about moms who play?