Gaming Versus Television

I was sitting here today thinking about people who watch television versus people who play computer games. Now the general feeling in society these days is that people who play computer games are antisocial lazy people sitting in their mom's basement playing all the time instead of getting out and doing things in the world. But nothing is ever said about the television addicts. It's obvious to me that society thinks better of the t.v. addicts and less of the gamers. So let's have a look at each group and maybe we can see who really is lazy and antisocial.

T.V. Watchers



According to A.C. Nielson, the average American watches more than 4 hours of T.V. per day or 28 hours a week. Basically, they spend 2 months of a year watching television. Now I'm not T.V. watching expert, but during that time they aren't "being productive" unless you are including giving their couch a purpose for being in the house being productive. During this time they are sitting staring at a glowing screen not socializing with others. They are watching in some sort of trance a screen with beautiful colors on it. They aren't working on the house, cleaning up, playing with kids or dogs or even talking to whoever they live with. They are focused on that magical box. By the time this person is 65 they will have spent 9 years of their life watching the television. Talk about a time sink.

Computer Gamers



According to the Entertainment Software Association, the average American woman plays 7.4 hours a week and the average man plays 7.6 hours a week. These same people spend 23.4 hours per week on other activities such as exercising, volunteering, playing sports, etc. Of course these are averages and there are the extremes on both sides for computer gamers. Also, it seems to me that while these people game, many of them are interacting with others in the multiplayer games. So it would seem they are more social than their television counterparts. It also seems to me that computer gamers seem to do more than the average television fanatic. So which ones are lazy?

Maybe it's time for the some of the stereotypes of gamers to change. It seems to me that hiding in a basement applies more to the television fanatics than it does to the computer gamers. The ironic thing is it's the ones watching all the television that say these things about computer gamers. Of course it's much easier for them to say these things than it is for them to peel themselves off their couch that has molded with their bodies.

Sources
If you would like to read more about the statistics please visit The SourceBook for Teaching Science by clicking here or visit the ESA site by clicking here.