Social relationships of gamers and their parents

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand how playing digital games affect children and adolescents. relationships with their parents. Ninety primary and secondary school students from 6 schools were randomly invited to participate in a one-on-one qualitative semi-structured interview. Mixed responses were received from the students, with regard to whether gaming displaced time with their family and whether it caused conflicts with parents. On a positive note, the majority of them felt that playing games did not displace time with parents or lead to conflicts with parents. This paper presents a detailed account of their perception and reasons on the issue. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the 2nd World Conference on Psychology, Counselling and guidance.

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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 30 (2011) 1237 – 1241
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Procedia
Social and
Behavioral
Sciences
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 00 (2011) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
WCPCG-2011
Social relationships of gamers and their parents
Su Li Chaia, Vivian Hsueh-Hua Chenb, Angeline Khooa* 1
aNational Institute of Education, 1Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616, Singapore
bNanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, Singapore
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to understand how playing digital games affect children and adolescents‟ relationships with their
parents. Ninety primary and secondary school students from 6 schools were randomly invited to participate in a one-on-one
qualitative semi-structured interview. Mixed responses were received from the students, with regard to whether gaming displaced
time with their family and whether it caused conflicts with parents. On a positive note, the majority of them felt that playing
games did not displace time with parents or lead to conflicts with parents. This paper presents a detailed account of their
perception and reasons on the issue.
Keywords: parent-child relationship, video computer games, adolescent, child
1. Introduction
The massive popularity of digital games and significant amount of time which children and adolescents have
spent playing them has been well documented in the literature. Recent studies have noted that the amount of time
which children and adolescents spent on digital gaming is increasing. According to a report done by NDP Group
(2007), more than one-thirds of children from the age of 2 years to 17 years in the United States are playing more
video games compared to a year ago. 50% of these children spent on average, 5 hours or less per week, while the
other 50% of these children spent about 6 to 16 hours per week on playing video games. In Singapore, a recent
study reported that most children and adolescents in Singapore between the ages of 10 to 16 years play games (Choo
et al, 2010). On average, a child spent about 20 hours per week on games. Boys reported 22 hours per week while
girls reported 18 hours per week. Obviously, gaming has become a social activity and constitutes a major part of
their social experience (Choo, et al, 2010). However, up to date, there is limited local research on the possible
impacts of gaming on children and adolescents‟ social lives. Further, in view of the increasing amount of game
play, research has argued that excessive game play could lead to detrimental consequences. One of which
consequences is that gaming replaces social activities that are important to maintain one‟s social connectivity with
significant others such as family and friends.
1.1. Time displacement
An early Internet study by Nie and Hillygus (2002) reported that individuals who frequently use the Internet tend
to interact less with other individuals even with just 2-5 hours of Internet time per week. For individuals who used
* Angeline Khoo. Tel.: (+65)-6790-3212 .
E-mail address: angeline.khoo@nie.edu.sg
© 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the 2nd World Conference on Psychology, Counselling and
Guidance.
1877-0428 © 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the 2nd World Conference on Psychology, Counselling and Guidance.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.239

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more than 10 hours of Internet per week, the interaction time reduced even more significantly. According to the
study by Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society (SIQSS), it was reported that 31% of US population
who used Internet frequently spent 70 minutes lesser interacting with family, 25 minutes lesser sleeping and 30
minutes lesser watching television, all on a daily basis compared to those who did not use Internet frequently. Not
surprisingly, when more time is allocated to the Internet, time spent socializing with family, friends and other
people, and performing other social activities decreased. A similar phenomenon was observed in digital games play.
Studies reported that gaming not only displaced time spent with other people and on other activities (Nie & Erbring,
2002), it has also been associated with poorer relationships and increased conflicts with family and friends (Padilla-
Walker et al, 2009).
In a later study conducted by Cumming et al (2007), they specifically examined this notion that playing video
games displace the time adolescents spent in other daily activities. The study involved 1941 children aged 10 to 19
years. Data, in the form of type, number, duration, location and identity of other persons (if the activity was carried
out with another person) were collected via twenty-four-hour time-use diaries on a randomly chosen weekday and a
weekend. Time-use diaries were used to determine adolescents‟ time spent playing video games, with parents and
friends, reading and doing homework, and in sports and leisure activities. Results revealed that gamers spent 30%
and 34% lesser time on reading and doing homework respectively when comparing to non-gamers. Furthermore,
the amount of time gamers spent on playing video games alone was found to be negatively correlated with time
spent on other activities with their parents and friends. Hence, the finding further demonstrated that spending more
time on playing digital games could possibly displace time individuals spent on interacting with other people and on
doing other activities. Indeed, college students surveyed in Jones et al (2003) study also expressed similar
sentiments that playing computer, video, online games took “some” or “a lot” of time away from other leisure
activities. Elsewhere, like Kolo and Baur‟s (2000) study, gamers of Ultima Online also complained about the lack
of time to do other activities except for playing the game.
A number of studies have assessed the length of game play in relation to gamers‟ social relationships with
family, friends and/or other individuals and found negative consequences. For instance, Padilla-Walker et al (2009)
study found that video game use was related to lower relational quality with parents and friends, and usage might be
a risk factor in affecting adult social development. Cole and Griffiths (2007) explored the occurrence of social
interactions of 912 self-selected MMORPGs players in and outside of game. The sample age ranged from 11 to 63
years. They found that the number of hours per week spent on playing MMORPG game has a negative effect on
relationships; the correlation is weak but significant, particularly with friends or family members who did not play
the same game. For some players, they reported experiencing more conflicts with partners, friends or relative whom
felt that they were being neglected due to their game playing (Woods et al, 2007).
1.2. Parent-child conflicts
In some studies, it has been reported that gamers experienced conflicts with the people around him or her in
regarding to their game play. As mentioned above, for some players, conflicts with their partners, friends or family
members occurred when the latter felt neglected due to the gamers‟ devotion to their games (Woods et al, 2007).
Only a few studies which involving parents have examined the frequency of conflicts with their children (for
example Skoien & Berthelsen, 1996) and even fewer have explored the issues in depth. In Skoien and Berthelsen‟s
(1996) study, about 10% of parent participants reported that they had frequently experienced conflicts with their
child because of game issues with regard to such issues as buying games and amount of time to play. 54% reported
occasional conflicts, and 37% reported that they had not experience any conflicts with their child because of digital
gaming.
Parents and children often hold different views and opinions about digital games, such as the appropriateness of
game content, gaming habits and other real life priorities, leading to different benchmarks about playing digital
games and amount of parental mediation (Nikken & Jansz, 2006). For instance, Aarsand (2007) described a case
study in which a grandmother and her grandchild had different understanding on how much time was required to
finish a game. The grandmother gave a particular amount of gaming time to her grandson, how he played the game
was of little interest to her. He had to stop playing when his time was up. In contrast, the grandson determined the
amount of time he required based on “task-bound reasoning” (p. 250), as he wanted to complete the task before
stopping the game. Moreover, parents who have a negative view about the effect of games tend to restrict their
children‟s gaming time more, especially if they thought that their child is spending too much time on playing games

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instead of participating in other more socially beneficial activities (Skoien & Berthelsen, 1996). Hence, it is
proposed that conflicts between parent and child could arise due to differences in perception and expectations about
game play.
1.3. Purpose of study
Existing studies are mostly quantitative in nature. How children gamers view this issue is understudied.
Considering that family plays a major role in children and adolescents‟ lives, it is important to investigate how
gaming influences the family relationships between children and their parents and vice versa. This study aims at
gaining deeper understanding of how the children gamers understand the impact of gaming in their own daily lives
as well as how their family relationship influence their game play habits.
1.4. Research questions
In view of the concerns raised, two research questions were proposed:
 RQ1: How does playing games influence gamers‟ involvement in family activities?
 RQ2: How does playing games influence the frequency and nature of family conflict between parents and
children?
2. Method
This interview study is part of a larger national study to investigate the effects of playing digital games on the
children and adolescents in Singapore. Invitations were randomly sent out to primary and secondary students who
earlier participated in a quantitative study on digital gaming. A total of 90 students agreed to take part, with parental
consent. There were 67 primary students (ages ranging from 11 to 12 years) and 23 secondary students (ages
ranging from 13 to 15 years) from 6 schools. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand
how playing games influence their interactions and relationships with family members. The duration of each
interview lasted about 1 to 1.5 hours. Interviews were audio-recorded with consent from the participants, and
subsequently transcribed. The transcripts were then coded for categories or themes by 2 coders, which the answers
to the research questions were gleaned.
3. Findings
3.1. Time displacement
With regard to whether playing games displaced time with their parents, mixed responses were received from
both primary and secondary students. About half of the students felt that gaming did not affect their time with
parents while the rest were split between agreeing and undecided.
A minority of the students felt that playing games affected their time with their family. When asked to explain
their reasons, one of common reasons given was that they spent much of their time gaming. Consistent with the
time displacement hypothesis, when more time is spent playing on one activities, this naturally lead to lesser time
and subsequently lesser interactions with parents. As one of the students mentioned, “I will spend more time with
my games than with my parents, talk less with them and relationship with them is lesser”. These students often gave
higher priority to gaming when they had to choose between playing games and participating in shared activity with
family, especially if they were not interested in the activity that their parents had decided for them, for example,
shopping. As one student commented, “When they are going for shopping, I too lazy to go out always, then I
always stay at home alone, always, so I play the game”. Another reason given was that they were so engrossed in
the game that interactions with family members, especially parents were reduced or were only half-hearted as they
had to consistently focus their attention to concentrate on the games. Hence, the interviews revealed that for some
students, their relationships with parents could be neglected when they spent more time and attention gaming.

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However, the majority of the students reported that gaming did not affect their time with family, even though
they may spend many hours gaming. Three reasons were commonly cited, low amount of game play, gaming and
family time did not clash, and playing of games with parents.
For the group of students who reported that they spent very limited time on playing games, it is usually due to
either a low interest in playing video/computer games or they have strict parental restriction on the amount of time
they could play games. For the first group, they were keener on other activities, such as playing sports or reading.
For the latter group, their parents, particularly mothers, controlled the amount of time or decide when they could
play games. As one mentioned, “Not really because our mother only gives us limited time to play”. Permission to
play games was usually accompanied with the fulfilment of certain requirements, for instance, after homework was
completed or after exams, etc. When the parents have control over children‟s time, gaming time is less likely to
clash with family time since it was their „under control‟.
Another group of students felt that gaming did not take away time from their family as their gaming and family
time did not clash. As one student explained, “Not really ah (sic) because my parents usually come home late”.
Another student commented that “Because the time I choose to play games my family is busy doing work or
something else”. It is observed that they usually game when their parents were at work, or when their parents were
busy with other tasks at home and thus had no time to do activities together with them. Therefore, it could be
inferred that playing games provided some form of companionship for these children and also functioned as a
medium to pass time and relieve boredom. Two secondary students stated that they usually made prior
arrangements with their family in regards to their gaming time and family time, so that they would enjoy their
gaming without interruption and at the same time, enjoy time together with their family. For a small group of
students, their family activities involved playing games with their parents. Since they were doing the same activity
together, they did not feel that playing games displaced any time with their parents.
3.2. Parent-child conflicts
Although the majority of students did not report conflicts, a handful of them reported that they have often
experienced unhappiness with their parents over playing of games, especially when their play was interrupted,
affecting their game progress, for example, leveling halted. One student complained, “Sometimes I will feel
irritated because it‟s like a quite a long time never play computer game. Then I only played for about one hour. Then
my mother asks me to stop I feel abit irritated”. In the case of another student, “I was starting to play for like about
5 minutes then my mother ask me to stop. Then I only played for a bit, so I was a bit angry. So I told my mother to
let me play for a while more then she didn‟t allow, then I got angry”. It is observed that for these students, conflicts
with parents commonly occurred when parents interrupted their game play or confronted them about their “gaming
time and frequency”. Another student complained, “Ya, they think I spend too long on the computer game then
she‟ll (mother) start shouting. They get like naggy each time, like angrier”. Sometime conflicts occurred when the
student disregarded or breached rules which parents have set regarding the playing of video/computer games. It
seemed that these parents do not understand video/computer games and tend to view it negatively. Gaming is
sometimes portrayed in the media in a negative light as affecting, social performance. Parents tend to react
negatively to their use, and attempt to enforce strict control or access without communicating their concerns to their
children. Conflicts occurred as a result, especially for adolescents who value autonomy.
On the other hand, it was observed that students who did not experience conflicts with parents, placed higher
priorities to other activities, such as studying and thus did not spend much time on gaming, “My dad knows that I
can control the time that I play la, so for me, the most maybe one hour, nowadays la, then I‟ll stop already”. Some
students explained, they have an agreement with their parents about the tasks they were expected to complete, in
return for an amount of time to play games. One reported, , “My family rule is if I want to play game, I need to
finish some of my homework before I can play half an hour to one hour computer games.” Most of these students
understood the reasons for the rules and abided by them. One student said, “so they want me to have balance. So like
I won‟t be playing too much, can study too”. Another reported, “Because if you play too much games, your eye
sight will worsen and you need to wear spectacles.” In other words, these students have internalized the reasons
provided by parents and therefore are more willing and agreeable to abide by rules which they have set.

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4. Conclusion
Results of the interviews with the students painted an interesting picture of the role of gaming within the family
context. Overall, there is also little evidence to suggest that gaming has detrimental effects on parent -child
relationships, although a number of interviews did indicate that playing games could lead to potential problems and
conflicts for some parents and their children. There is a need for parents to better understand the games that their
children are playing. They also need to enforce developmentally appropriate rules when controlling their children‟s
gaming habits. At the same time, it is also important to have enjoyable activities together as a whole family.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Education, Singapore and the Media Development Authority for
jointly funding the research project (Project #EP1/06AK).
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