A recent survey of Turkiye middle and high school students revealed that students spend an average of three hours playing video games every weekday.
The study was carried out under the guidance of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure's Information and Communication Technology Authority (BTK) Safe Internet Center in collaboration with the University of Mous Alparslan, and aims to understand the digital gaming habits of Turkiye students. . As a result of this research, the “Report on digital gaming habits of secondary and high school students in Turkiye'' was prepared by a specialized academic team.
The report examined various aspects of students' video game playing habits, based on data collected from 20,384 students (11,891 in secondary schools and 8,493 in high schools). This includes levels of digital gaming, internet and social media usage, happiness, cyberbullying, distress, stress and loneliness.
The study consisted of three main parts. The first part included demographic findings, parental education status, students' technology device ownership, weekend and weekday digital gaming habits, and the types of games they play.
The second part of the study summarized the results obtained from the scales used in the data collection process. Finally, the third part introduced digital gaming addiction in the context of social media addiction, internet addiction, loneliness, happiness, cyberbullying, and distress variables that influence students' digital gaming habits.
Researchers utilized an 11-question dataset to assess various aspects of youth behavior, including digital gaming addiction, internet addiction, social media addiction, happiness, cyberbullying, stress, and loneliness. .
The survey found that 95.49% of students own a mobile phone and that participating students spend an average of three hours a day playing digital games during weekdays. Approximately 35% of students are classified as at risk for digital gaming addiction, indicating potential problems in both middle school and high school students.
Internet addiction was higher among female high school students than boys, with 31% of high school students and 20% of middle school students classified as “high risk'' or “moderate risk.''
The risk of Internet addiction was similar for boys and girls at the middle school level, but higher for girls at the high school level.
When it comes to social media addiction, 50% of high school students and 35% of middle school students were found to be at severe or moderate risk.
The survey also revealed that 10% of students had experienced some level of cyberbullying, indicating that mild cases of cyberbullying are prevalent.
Overall, this study showed that both high school and middle school students experience significant levels of distress and loneliness, with high school students generally exhibiting higher levels of distress.
