Ouderlijke zorgen over het 'gamen' van hun kinderen

Abstract

Research into parents' worries about the amount of time spent by their children playing computer games, measured by means of a questionnaire distributed among by a random sample of 765 parents of children aged between four and eighteen, produced the following results. One out of six parents thinks that her/his child spends too much time playing these games. Worried parents estimate the amount of time spent on 'gaming' significantly higher than parents who don't share these worries (on average 175 minutes pro day against 89 minutes). Parents' worries concern mostly fanatic players, boys and teenagers. They fear especially negative effects on the social development and behaviour of their children. Especially children between eight and fifteen years of age are likely to be the subject of worried parents' fears that too little play with peers will have negative effects on their development. In case of teenagers, parents most often mention neglect of homework as a risk.