Kids who use their school nights for playing videogames spend significantly less time on reading and doing homework, according to a new study carried out in the US. Specifically, easily distracted boys and girls who fill their evenings with fighting alien hordes spend 30 percent less time reading (boys), and some 34 percent less time doing their mandatory homework assignments (girls).

However - and this is worth making a note of, for the next time we’re accused of being pallid-skinned sun-dodgers (he writes, sitting at his computer monitor for the fourth consecutive hour) - the research also indicated that games don’t seem to significantly interfere with family and friends time.

"Gamers did spend less time reading and doing homework," said Hope Cummings of the University of Michigan. "But they didn't spend less time interacting with their parents or their friends, nor did they spend less time in sports or active leisure activities. […] These findings do not support the notion that adolescents who play video games are socially isolated."



Nearly 1,500 youngsters took part in the investigation, 36 percent of whom played games. 80 percent of that 36 percent (still with us here?) were male, and the study found that boys were more likely to overlook reading, while girls were more prone to evading homework.

Conclusion? Our young gamers are lazy procrastinators, but hey - at least they’re not socially-impeded hermits.