THE EFFECTS OF ONLINE GAMES TO THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

OF GRADE 12 HUMSS STUDENTS OF SAINT FERDINAND COLLEGE

_______________

A Thesis Proposal Presented to

The Faculty of the Senior High School

St. Ferdinand College

City of Ilagan, Isabela

_________________

In Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Practical Research

_____________________

By:

Melafae P. Bayan
 Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Internet as a source of information plays an important role in developing one's mind and

life experiences by creating productive works in schools, offices, and even at home. Nowadays,

this can be a person's most efficient strategic tool for enabling himself to take charge and cope

with the fast growing technology.

The fact that people live in on informative lifestyle where everything is updated, internet became

one of the necessities of human beings regardless of age or sex in today's society. However, the

influence of this useful machine on youth is undeniably questionable. As to what Rock [1] said,

all these technologies are very good at distracting people. In line with this development, online

gaming was created to give entertainment to people.

Online gaming is one of the widely used leisure activities by many people. For some people it is

said that playing video games has a number of reasons to be played, for it can be a stress reliever,
challenge and competition, relaxation, enjoyment, social interaction, and even mentally escaping

from the real world.

For most people, on-line gaming is one of the best past time that they acquire specially

for teenagers, youngsters and students. According to Kuss & Griffiths [2], teens who play online

games are just having fun. They do not just actually play because of some sort of seriousness, but

also because they just want to feel relief. During school hours, students tend to feel stressed due

to loads of school works and through playing it will relive their stress.

It is undeniably questionable that playing online games provide them something that no

one can give. According to some researches it is beneficial. It enables the mind of the players to

be more active, especially those puzzle-based games. Furthermore, it helps the player to come up

with decisions in tight situations, especially those adventure games that keep the players to be

alert, active and strategic.

Students' learning takes place unexpectedly, but the inappropriate usage of playing online

games also leads in some problems such as being distracted in school. Further, it is where the

attention of the child were divided that even their health and social life is unknowingly affected.

Several studies in psychology have found out that increased time spent on the Internet can lead to

negative impact on a person's ability to communicate appropriately face-to-face with friends,

peers, family members including parents [3].

Studies revealed that the human brain is easy to destruct and one of the reasons is using

technology. The education system tends to go with the flow with this constant change in the

society in order to get things relevant with the generations today.

 The researchers felt the need to determine the impact of online gaming to students'

academic performance and their social behavior. The purpose of this study is to find out the

implications of on-line gaming to the academic performance and social behavior of the students.

Background of the Study

Computer gaming is one of the fast-developing sectors of this generation of computer

technology. Computer games offer their patrons with a new dimension of virtual entertainment.

The youth especially, college students are the usual patrons of computer games. According to

NIKO Media Research, the projected number of online computer gamers in the Philippines rose

from 21 million in 2012 to 28.72 million in 2014. Meanwhile, statistics from Juha Sompinmaki

of Tech In Asia show that about 409, of the gaming population of the Philippines is aged 18-24

years old.

Computer games receive a generally negative reception from people especially parents,

because for them, there are wastes of time. Additionally, critics and researches have linked

computer gaming to video game addiction, violence, anti-social behavior, and attention

problems, among others. These researches are supported by their analyses on the usually violent

content and the addictive implications of these games on the brain.

As founded in the study of Gentile, Lynch and Walsh in 2004, academic achievement

may be negatively related to over-all time spent playing video games. Studies have shown that
the more time a kid spends playing video games, the poorer is his performance in school. Also, a

study by Argosy University’s Minnesota School on Professional Psychology found that video

game addicts argue a lot with their teachers, fight a lot with their friends, and score lower grades

than others who play video games less often. Other studies show that many game players

routinely skip their homework to play games, and many students admitted that their video game

habits are often responsible for poor school grades.

However, there are also researches that support the positive effects of video games,

especially on the brain. According to University of Wisconsin psychologist C. Shawn Green,

“video games change the brain.” Video games change the structure of the brain and can help

release beneficial neurotransmitter surges that can build the brain. Furthermore, many

multiplayer games such as DOTA or Defense of the Ancients and LOL or League of Legends

involve cooperation with other online players in order to win. These games encourage players to

make the most of their individual skills to contribute to the team. Moreover, a study in United

Kingdom found out that students who played online games almost every day scored 15 points

above average in maths and reading tests and 17 points above average in science.

In the Philippines, the population of gamers is very huge. Beginning from the simple

cartoon games played by the toddlers up until the riot playing games played by the college

students and the older ones too. An article posted in PhilCare in 2014 pointed out that

researchers found that video games, particularly shooter games, have the tendency to strengthen

the cognitive skills of their test subjects, especially in the areas of spatial navigation, reasoning,
memory, and perception. These effects shooter games have on test subjects were not evident on

other types of safe video games like puzzles or role-playing games. Gamers can utilize these

advantages of computer games provided they play in moderation. They should not allow

themselves to be enslaved by these games. Priority setting and proper guidance by parents,

teachers, and other elders can play a part in this goal. The effects of computer games on gamers

are influenced not only by the game content, but most especially, by the manner on which the

gamers play them. Video gaming is not bad for the health as well as the well-being of the

individual. It may also give some benefits depending on the frequency of the gaming of the

person. In proper moderation and supervision, video gaming might be a tool for enhancing the

cognitive and social skills of an individual.

Technology aims to generally be helpful to us and the whole world. It is really up to us

how we will use technology, while its features to our advantage, and how we will let it impact of

lives.

Conceptual Framework
Statement of the Problem

This study aims to know the perceived effects of online gaming to the academic

performance among Grade 12 HUMSS students.

The research wanted to answer the following questions:

1. What id the profile of the respondents, in terms of

1.1 Name

1.2 Section

1.3 Gender

1.4 Age

2. How does playing online games affect the academic performance of the students in

relation with:

A. Class participation

B. Number of hours in studying

C. Frequency of absences in class

3. Is there a significant relationship between playing online games and academic

performance of the students

Significance of the Study

This study will help the students have an insight on the impact of online gamestowards their

academic performance.
To the Parents, it will serve as basis to help share with other parents the information about

certain games or ideas to help each other in parenting. Also it will help them understand the

behavior and study habit of their children when they are engaged into such activity