Oz parents using video games to connect with their kids | Australian Herald

Oz parents using video games to connect with their kids

Australian Herald (ANI) Sunday 9th October, 2011

Parents in Queensland are increasingly turning to video games as a family activity in order to connect with their children, with gaming devices present in almost every home, according to a new survey.

The survey of 1,252 Australian families by Bond University has found that 95 per cent of households with children under 18 have at least one gaming device, the Courier Mail reported.

Driving the trend are parents looking for a fresh way to interact with their children, with more than 80 per cent of parents playing video games.

The majority of parents told researchers that they took up video games as a way to "spend time with their children", "monitor what they play", "educate them" and described it as "fun for the whole family".

Chief researcher Jeffrey Brand said games targeted at families made up about 20 per cent of Australia's 1.5 billion dollars video game industry, out-selling action, racing and military-themed shooting games in 2010. (ANI)