The survey size quoted here seems a little bit small, but still, the findings aren’t: out of about 1,100 kids ages 12-17, the Pew Internet & American Life Project found 97% of them play video games.

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Kahne also looked at games’ effect on civic engagement, anything from political involvement to raising money for charity. He found that those who spent the most time playing video games weren’t any less likely to be involved in their communities.

The survey did, however, find that those who played games in face-to-face social settings were more likely to say they were committed to civic participation.

Mimi Ito, an anthropologist who studies the use of new media, said more research is needed to explain this phenomenon. But she speculates the ties that gamers make with “real-life local friends” stimulate civic engagement.

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