Survey: Parents Keeping Girl Gamers From 'Hardcore' Games

A new PopCap survey conducted by Information Solutions Group has examined the attitudes of parents and grandparents towards their children's video game habits, and found that nearly three quarters (72 percent) who play "casual" video games say they do not allow their kids or grandkids to play "hardcore" games. All of these "family gamers" say they allow their children or grandchildren to play "casual" video games, and 80 percent say they play casual games with them. However, the survey found a significant gender bias in the survey responses – while nearly half of the parents and grandparents forbid their kids to play hardcore games, 60 percent forbid girls from playing them, compared to just 37 percent forbidding boys. New York-based psychologist Dr. Carl Arinoldo is quoted in the results as saying that "boys do tend to be more active and aggressive than girls, and their choices for play activities are no different. It is generally considered more acceptable for boys to engage in more action-oriented and even somewhat violent activities (such as contact sports) than it is for girls." Continued Dr. Arinoldo: "Parents often tend to be somewhat more protective of their daughters in what they do than they are of their sons, allowing for a bit more independence and leeway for the boys. This is somewhat outdated thinking, but obviously a perspective shared by many parents even today."