The relationship between home video game playing and academic success in 4th and 5th grade boys at Telegraph Intermediate School

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify how playing video games at home impacted the academic success of 4th and 5th grade boys attending Telegraph Intermediate School during the 2013-2014 school year. The study was conducted with the use of an optional survey completed by the parents/guardians of male or female 4th and 5th grade students. The surveys were collected and analyzed. The findings of the study reveal a wide gap in academic success between male and female students, as well as several differences in video gaming habits between academically successful boys and non-academically successful boys. Academically successful boys spend less time per day playing video games than boys who are struggling to achieve academic success. There are also differences in the genre of video games played by academically successful boys versus academically struggling boys. This paper discusses several challenges in incorporating video games into the classroom such as cost, time, and teacher resistance. It also gives several recommendations on how to successfully incorporate video games into the classroom environment in an attempt to increase male student engagement and therefore increase the percentage of boys experiencing academic success.