![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/resources_listing_page.png)
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
The Good Things About Video Games
Good-quality video games offer lots of benefits to children and teens.
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
The Concerns About Video Games
The video game sector is the fastest growing entertainment industry and second only to music in profitability. Global sales of video game software hit almost $17 billion U.S. in 2011. [1]
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
Video Games - Special Issues for Girls
Sixty-two per cent of Canadian gamers are male:[1] and in a market targeted primarily at males, games that appeal to girls can be hard to find. Generally girls aren't interested in the violent "first person shooter" games favoured by boys, and many of the girl-specific games promote stereotypical interests such as cooking and babysitting. (Industry representatives claim these topics are chosen based on their surveys of what female games want.)
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
Video Games - Special Issues for Young Children
Throughout the elementary years, parents are the main gatekeepers for their children. As such, they need to be actively involved in their children’s video game playing – selecting the games, managing how much time children spend playing, and talking to them about the values in the games they like.
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
Video Games - Special Issues for Teens
For most teens, playing video games is just another recreational activity they enjoy with friends. The concern is when video game playing becomes an addictive or isolating activity.
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
Movies - Special Issues for Young Children
- It can take young children several viewings to fully absorb and understand the story and images in a movie. Indulge their need to watch a favourite movie over and over again. They're learning more every time, as well as getting comfort from the familiar.
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
Forms of Privilege
Social justice activists and writers have built on Peggy McIntosh’s original essay on privilege in 1988, by adding to and modifing the original list to highlight how privilege is not merely about race or gender, but that it is a series of interrelated hierarchies and power dynamics that touch all facets of social life: race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, education, gender identity, age, physical ability, passing, etc. These categories will be further discussed below.
![](/themes/mediasmarts_2021/img/lg/article.png)
Benefits of Privilege in Relation to Media
I can look at the media and see people from my group widely represented as heroes, role models, leaders, news anchors, television hosts, and experts.