Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion college - video games.

Do some kids go to college and since their parents are not monitoring them the do video games all day and flunk out? just curious. Or do they just get mature? Maybe this is silly, but I just saw a commerical that made me think. My DS11 has some time ...

My sister flunked out of college, but she was spending all her time running a freenet out of her dorm room, which isn't exactly the same as gaming.

IMHO, not everyone ought to go to college right after high school, particularly if they'll incur debt to do so.

I did books all night first years out of high school (missing class wasn't an option, fortunately for me). Impacted where I ended up, but I didn't flunk out.

I don't think it is specifically a video games issue, and from past experience teaching kids better executive function before they leave the net is key. If the only thing keeping them on track is a parent constantly nagging...

Oh, man, I nearly flunked out playing Tetris in 1989. If there were any Sim games back then, I probably would have. Had to resist buying SimCity until the first draft of my MA thesis was done.

I'm sure this happens but it partially an association/causation question. Do kids who aren't transitioning well use video games to help them feel better short term while digging their hole deeper long term? I'll bet they do. I try to talk about short term and long term coping mechanisms - alot! One thing I love about my son's current situation is that as a boarding school student he isn't allowed video game systems in his room, but he gets to learn how to handle a moderate amount of independence in a protected environment before the big transition to college.

Smiles,
Grinity

there was an article a year or so ago in the NYT about boys who were having trouble adjusting to college because they had lived such controlled helicopter lives. they no longer had someone getting them up, telling them where to go, when to go, and who to go with. The upshot of the article was that they had never learned to control their own behavior so they took the opportunity to sleep in, play games all night, because they could.

In my experience as a professor though its about ownership - does the student take ownership of the courses and responsibilities. Those who are there because they are "supposed to be" or because there parents said so don't usually do very well. Or do well but are angry or depressed. If you have no ownership it is much easier to get distracted by anything - video games, no curfew - the freedom can be overwhelming.

DeHe

That sounds about right. Pretty much my college experience. One big long five year trauma resulting in permanent anger, depression, and underachievement.

I never did recover from college. Seriously. Worst time of my life.

Part of it, however, was being able to play video games all the time in high school and graduate valedictorian.

This.

A good friend from my Army days had an enormous problem going from boarding school to the real world. He went to a top Jesuit school and when he got out, the freedom and exposure to the real world just floored him. It took him several years to get his footing, and when he did, he really excelled.

DW is REALLY good at video games. And she gets good really fast. When she was in school, she did not play at all during class time. She only played during break. By playing I mean getting started at 5pm on Friday and going non stop until noon the next day. Napping for four hours, then repeating. She learned to control it so she could shut it off Sunday at noon to get ready for the week. When you combine high ability, high drive, and ability to focus, it can get people in trouble very quick!

It is not just games, but so many other forms of media or personal dramas, ie unhealthy relationships.

On the general topic of distractions at college causing poor grades, a recent study found this effect for colleges with winning football teams:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/22/s...nning-football-and-declining-grades.html
Study Links Winning Football and Declining Grades
By MARY PILON
New York Times
December 21, 2011

When a college football team is successful, students put down their books and pick up some beers.

At least, that is the case made by three University of Oregon economists whose study was released this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

In examining the grade-point averages of the Oregon student body and the performance of the Ducks� football team, the researchers found a relationship between declining grades and success on the field.

�Our results support the concern that big-time sports are a threat to American higher education,� the paper�s authors � Jason M. Lindo, Isaac D. Swensen and Glen R. Waddell � wrote. They said their work was among the first to take a look at the �nonmonetary costs� of college sports.

Male students were more likely than female students to increase their alcohol consumption and celebrating and decrease studying when a team fared well, resulting in lower grade-point averages, according to the study.

Women also showed a decline in academic performance, though smaller than their male counterparts. For both sexes, the slack in studying and pop in partying was present only in fall quarters, aligning with the football season.

�The gender gap widens as the football team succeeds,� said Waddell, an associate professor.

�I teach these students,� he said. �And I know that on Thursdays there�s this subtle distraction in the classroom, and the game isn�t even until Saturday.�

<end of excerpt>

My 13-year-old son plays a lot of video games but while he has a game going on the PS3 he is usually playing Youtube videos (a lot of them are educational in some way) or reading news or Wikipedia on his computer which is next to the PS3. He says he gets bored doing just one thing. When he had to do a lot of writing last year he would think of something to write, play a game for a while, write some more, then go back to games and he managed to get his work done in time, but it was last minute. I think he will probably continue to do this in college.

His highly gifted adult half brother played a lot of video games and dropped out of college so this does worry me a little. My stepson wishes he could afford to go back to school because he can't find a job using the excellent IT skills he has without a degree. My son hopefully will decide to work harder in college than his brother did.

My son wants to live in a big city like his sister does with lots of things to do. He is tired of living in a small town where he doesn't fit in. Hopefully that will be enough motivation for him to put away the video games when he needs to.

His sister didn't play video games at all but she didn't finish college--yet. She wants to go back. I think her social life was more distracting than video games, but she got a job in sales and marketing by making a higher score on a test than most of the college graduates applying for the job and by knowing the right people. Her excellent people skills learned while she was doing all that socializing turned out to be an asset on her job.

It seems like all the video game players I know socialize more online and I don't think they are able to develop that network of friends that can help them find jobs after college. I would love for my son to have all the friends that my daughter has. She just has so much fun in life. But then he would argue that he enjoys life (except for chronic pain issues) just as much as his sister does by playing video games.