New research revealing children’s perspective on digital play

What opportunities does play in the digital world offer children, from their perspective? A new doctoral thesis has explored how children of different ages experience playing video games. Through gaming, children gained several positive experiences, such as friendship, freedom, the opportunity to explore their identity and a place to escape.

Digital play is now part of children and young people's everyday lives, a life that looks different than when many adults were children. In a new doctoral thesis in Occupational therapy at Luleå University of Technology, Fiona Loudoun has taken a closer look at an aspect of gaming that has been largely missing in previous research – the children's perspective. How children experience gaming and why they continue to choose to play in digital spaces. During the course of her research, Fiona Loudoun has changed her mind about children's gaming.

“As an Occupational Therapist, I considered video games as something we need to discourage. But I have changed my opinion. Play in digital spaces offers so much value for the children. The real issue is how we as society and parents facilitate a balance and support a dialogue around the use,” says Fiona Loudoun.

The doctoral thesis is part of an international project investigating different aspects of play, P4Play, and Fiona Loudoun conducted her research at both Luleå University of Technology and University College Cork. In her research she has interviewed Irish children aged 7-17.

Freedom of choice, creativity and responsibilities

The games used by children included for example Minecraft, Fortnite and Adopt me. The digital space offered children possibilities to make their own choices, such as which character to be or what materials to use. But also, a space in which to challenge themselves, manage responsibilities, and be responsible for themselves and their resources. The digital space provided children with dimensions of flexibility and variation in the ways in which games were designed. This provided multiple opportunities for children to demonstrate their creativity and imagination.

“Younger children were constructing their digital world using tangible digital objects, and older children were inhabiting their online world”, she says.

The interviews showed that the social aspect is important. Games are a place to both maintain and make new friendships. There is also a freedom to explore one's identity and an opportunity to make connections across the world. For older children, the digital world also provides an opportunity to escape from the pressures of the real world, such as exams, providing a space to manage their health and well-being. Those interviewed were aware of the importance of finding a balance across their everyday life and not letting games take over their lives.

“Excessive gamers are a minority, but how to position gaming as part of children’s everyday life can still be a challenge for many parents. To limit screen time is not enough since it doesn’t distinguish between playing and watching, which to children are completely different ways of using the screen,” says Fiona Loudoun.

“We need to start by sharing children's digital lives”

The interviews provided a space for children to talk openly about their experiences of the digital world. However, children also expressed that they did not necessarily talk to their parents since they did not understand.

“We need to start by sharing children's digital lives and having a dialogue around it. By sharing and understanding it will be easier to help them find a balance and healthy habits related to gaming. It's less about screen time and more about what's happening in the digital world," says Fiona Loudoun.

• Doctoral thesis: Play Occupations in Digital Spaces: Children’s Experiences Throughout Childhood External link, opens in new window.