According to a study by Pew Research, as reported by CNN.com, 97 percent of children ages 12 to 17 play video games.
“Ninety-seven percent of young respondents play video games. That’s 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls, with little difference in the percentages among various racial and ethnic groups and incomes. In fact, 7 percent of those surveyed said they didn’t have a computer at home, but did have a game console, such as Sony Corp.’s PlayStation, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox or Nintendo Co.’s Wii.”
I think that’s a pretty amazing statistic — I can’t think of any other activity that can claim near-100 percent of youth participants. When I quoted the stat to my husband, he rolled his eyes. Until now, he’s been adamant that our son never have a gaming console, lest he become a drooling couch potato.
“Well,” he grumbled. “I hope he at least gets a Wii. Those look pretty cool.”
Of course, our son is only 2, and the Wii will almost certainly be a dinosaur by the time he’s old enough to manipulate a controller — a few years from now.
