This Summer a battle will play out in homes across the country, with parents raging at their teenage children to ‘get off that thing’ - AKA the gaming console, mobile phone, laptop - and ‘do something useful instead’ - AKA homework or work experience.
It’s a battle that is understandable. Gaming is seen by some as a vortex that can suck hours away from vital academic study, with many teachers attesting to the lack of concentration that afflicts young people who game into the early hours and come into school unable to focus or perform to the best of their ability.
A cultural touch point that can’t be ignored
But railing against games altogether - as parents of teens will vouch for - is fruitless, as well as perhaps unnecessary. For many young people, games have become as much a part of their social world and connecting with peers as owning and using a mobile, and in some cases may be their most important cultural touch point, ahead of film, or even television. Today this can be equally true for girls as it is for boys, with females making up 42% of UK gamers (GameTrack 2016).
The answer? Working with rather than against this insatiable interest. If this interest in playing games can be transformed into a passion for creating them, gaming, far from being a hindrance to academic advancement can actually inspire it. And being ‘stuck to a keyboard’, so often seen as being detrimental to securing a successful job, can play a vital part in securing a role in one of the UK’s most exciting, dynamic and fast growing sectors.
‘Go and find a respectable career’
Some years ago we conducted a survey - the BAFTA Career Pathways Survey – that found over half (57%) of young people have at one time considered working in the games, television or film industries.
Yet, of those actively wanting to pursue careers in these industries, one in six (17%) felt they’d been actively discouraged. Nearly half (43%) had been told there were more people wanting to get into these industries than there were jobs, 38% had been told to try something with ‘more reliable prospects’ and a third (33%) had been told pay would be ‘too low’ (BAFTA Career Pathways Survey, 2012).