Even in our modern time, there’s so little that we know about how video games are influencing the civic engagement of the youth. There haven’t been a lot of studies available whether civic development is backed by civic gaming experience as working with others cooperatively, creating a virtual nation, expanding social network online or even help the less seasoned players to get around the game.
While the latter is possible by reading guides such as RAID guide and tutorials (if you’re into it), still it requires thorough studies to support any arguments. Though the connection between these civic activities in other civic outcomes as well as domains has been studied.
Studies Showing the Youth’s Political Point-of-View
Experts in the subject of civic education have performed quasi-experimental and longitudinal studies that checks the connection between social contexts and school-based civic learning opportunities and the political and civic engagement of younger people. In the research, the contexts and opportunities that are discovered to be effective include the following:
- Learning how political, governmental and legal systems work
- Learning about social issues
- Taking part in simulations of both political and civic activities
- Volunteering to help others and;
- Taking part in extracurricular activities in which young people could expand their social networks and practice productive group norms
When such experiences are handed out to young people both in school and in an after-school setting, especially to adolescents who are at their critical age of development for civic identity, the research discovered that it boosts their commitment to political and civic participation.
Video Games and its Impact
The continuous growth and popularity of video games especially among teens raises some eyebrows whether it can deliver the same opportunities for political and civic engagement with similar results. In this regard, the civic gaming experiences measured include:
- Guiding or helping other players
- Playing video games in which one knows about a challenge or problem in the society
- Playing games that are exploring social issue that the player cares about
- Playing games wherein players need to think of their ethical or moral issues
- Playing games where players can help in making decisions on how the community, the city or the nation as a whole must be run and;
- Organizing guilds or game groups
A consequence of cultural democratization basically lies on public expectation itself. These expectations are what compelling politicians in elections to debate among each other in circumstances where they don’t have control with. This includes live TV broadcast and the likes.