Online Gaming: Impact on the

Academic Performance and Social

Behavior of the Students in
Polytechnic University of the
Philippines Laboratory High School
Dennis O. Dumrique
Jennifer G. Castillo
DOI: 10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447

Abstract
This study was conducted to assess and find out the impact of on-line
gaming on the academic performance and social behavior of the
students in the Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Laboratory High
School. Furthermore, this study sought answers on the significant
relationship between playing on-line games and academic performance
and to social behavior of the students.
The study revealed that boys are more of a player compared to girls
who often play games that require three or more players like League of
Legends, Clash of Clans, Crossfire and many more to mention. It is also
stated that those who play online games are around 14-15 years old
who are believed to be in the Grade 8 level. These students who often
play games have an average weekly allowance of 101 pesos to 500
pesos. Playing online games do not affect their grades badly for they
know how to limit themselves. They know that they need to control
themselves in order to function well in their class that is why they only
play games during vacation and weekends with a lot of time compared
when they have classes.
Even though they play online games; they know how to socialize well
and they can perform very well when it comes to academic
performance. However, it is inevitable not to play even for half an hour
especially when they are accustomed to it. Therefore, it is just a matter
of discipline.

Main Text
1. 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.

2. Objectives of the Study

The purpose of this study was to find out how online games affect the
students' intellectual capacity in relation to their academic performance
and social behavior.
The purpose of this study was to find out how these online games affect
the students' intellectual capacity in relation to their academic
performance and social behavior.

3. Materials and Methods

This study used the descriptive – correlation method utilizing a
questionnaire to get the needed data for the study. Purposive sampling
was used in this study. The participants in this study were high school
students of Polytechnic University of the Philippines - Laboratory High
School. They were selected through purposive sampling which the
persons chosen for the investigation are themselves not expected to be
the representatives of the population, but rather they possess the
necessary information about the issue being investigated upon. In
addition to this, there are only 126 respondents chosen for this study.

4. Results and Discussion

The attainment of the objectives of the study was made possible
through the utilization of the descriptive method of research. The
sampling techniques were made through a purposive sampling, where
only those students who played on-line games were the only
respondents selected to meet the population size of the study. With a
total of 126 respondents coming from PUP-LHS, all of them returned
the survey questionnaire – the main instrument of data gathering.
Statistical treatment of data was done through the use of percentage,
weighted mean, and Pearson r Correlation.
Based on the results of the study, the following salient findings were
drawn:
As according to the result, in terms of playing on-line games, the overall
weighted mean is 3.08 which lies on the verbal interpretation of
“Sometimes”. And with the indicators “I play on-line games only on
week-ends” and “I repeatedly play on-line games after losing” gathered
3.37 interpreted as “often” got the highest mean.
While the level of assessment of the respondents on playing online
games in the aspect of number of hours spent in playing was assessed
as 3-5 hours with the weighted mean of 2.75.
On the other hand, in the types of games played, `League of Legends'
got the highest mean which is 3.48 interpreted as “Sometimes”.
Generally, 2.38 is the computed grand mean of types of games played
and considered as “seldom” in verbal interpretation.
However, the self-assessment of the respondents in playing On-Line
Games on their Social Behavior got an overall weighted mean of 3.2
and arrays that the verbal interpretation of all the indicators show that
the students from Grade 7- Grade 10 assessed that they all agree doing
the listed indicators. This shows that even after playing online games it
does not affect their social behavior and it has a positive effect.
As per the academic performance of the respondents the result shows
that from the 126 responses, most of the students that plays on-line
games obtain a grade ranging from 86-90 interpreted as “Good” that got
68 or 53.97%. Followed by a grade ranging from 81-85 with a
description of “satisfactory” got 49 from the respondents or 38.89%.
Next is the grade ranging from 91-95 which means “Very Good” got the
second to least, which is 7 of the respondents or 5.56%, and lastly, the
remaining number which is 2 or 1.59% is the grade ranging from 75-80.
And in terms of the frequency of playing online games and the
respondent's social behavior. The indicators `I play on-line games
before going to bed' got a computed p-value of 0.040 and `I play on-line
games only on week-ends' obtained a p-value of 0.002 which is less
than the level of significance of 0.05. This means that the null
hypothesis is rejected and it is significant in this study. And all remaining
variables resulted as “not significant”.
On the other hand, the relationship between the number of hours in
playing and the social behavior of the respondents does not have
significant relationship since all of the p-value are greater than the level
of significance of 0.05.
While in terms of types of on-line games being played and its
relationship in the social behavior of the students, it reveals that the null
hypothesis has been rejected with p-values of Minecraft (0.030),
Defense of the Ancient (0.019), Farmville (0.014), Smite (0.014), and
Candy Crush (0.004) are lower than the level of significance of 0.05.
And lastly, the frequency of playing on-line games and the academic
performance of the respondents the only indicator that has a
significance is “I play on-line games only on week-ends” that obtain a p-
value of 0.026 lower than the level of significance of 0.05 and indicates
that the null hypothesis is rejected. This reflects to the grade of the
respondents having good grades even when they play on-line games.
In tenures of the types of on-line games being played by respondents
and their academic performance the result of their p-value is higher than
the level of significance 0.05 therefore the null hypothesis is accepted.
Likewise, the number of hours playing on-line games and its relation to
the academic performance all indicators got p-value higher than the
level of significance of 0.05 remarking to not significant. Resulted to its
null hypothesis being accepted.

5. Conclusion and Recommendation

As the respondents assessed, it can be inferred that Playing On-Line
Games results to a positive effect in the social behavior of the
respondents. Even if the respondents play online games still the
personal interaction with others are not affected. They still do have their
friends personally and are able to socialize effectively.
The Academic Performance of the respondents is not affected even if
they play online games. Their grades are still good enough even if they
spent time for playing. To sum up with the result, the respondents have
a good academic performance despite their involvement in playing
online games.
There is a significant relationship between the social behavior of the
respondents and playing on-line games in terms to its frequency
specifically in the item saying: “I play on-line games before going to
bed” and “I play on-line games only on week-ends”. Also, in the types of
on-line games such as Minecraft, Defense of the Ancient, Farmville,
Smite, and Candy Crush.
There is a significant relationship between the academic performance of
the respondents and playing online games during weekends. Which
result to having a good grade while playing online games. This can be
interpreted as the trade-off when playing computer games. If the
student decides not to play, then there will be no deduction in the
grades. Which is true to the researchers' study for the respondents'
academic performance is only significant to playing online games during
weekend. Weekends are the days when the respondents have their
pleasure time for recreational activities.
Meanwhile, since most of the student respondents are male and they
are more frequently engaged in playing on-line games, the school
administrators and teacher in collaboration of the parents might
consider to promote physical health, sportsmanship, camaraderie and
pro-social skills to the students instead of getting engaged with online
games.
Further, Parents-Teachers Association might consider being functional
in all their responsibilities. For example, the teacher might consider to
notify the parents about the academic performance and social behavior
of the students inside the school facilities. This association can
strengthen the home and school partnership to supervise the students'
activities.

Author's Note
11 Dennis O. Dumrique; Polytechnic University of the Philippines,
College of Education, Department of Business Teacher Education;
+639178225232
22 Jennifer Castillo; Polytechnic University of the Philippines, College of
Education, Department of Business Teacher Education;
jenjel143@gmail.com
Causes and Effects of Online Video
Game Playing among Junior-Senior
High School Students in Malang East
Java

Abstract
Science and technology development causes a lot of changes in
any fields including the form of popular games among the Junior
and Senior High School students in Indonesia. The traditional
games that are famous formerly have been replaced by the
modern games like online video game. This article discusses the
cause and effect of the online video game playing on the Junior
and Senior High Schools students in Malang. This study reveal
that students play video games online due to peers pressure; and
online video games are liked because they are considered more
modern, practical, realistic and varied. Initially, students play online
video games to relieve the fatigue due to studying at school, but
subsequently, they are becoming addicted, and reach a condition
that they find it difficult to stop playing games. This condition will
directly affect their achievement in school.

NTRODUCTION
Playing is very important especially for
young people because it can prepare their
future. According to the Anthropological
study done by Gosso, play is way for human
to learn their world and culture. Through
playing, children do not learn only futu-
re adult skill but also gender identication
courage, trust among friend and cooperati-
on (Gosso 2005). Groos and Piaget say that
humans use play to prepare their adult life
(Groos 1908; Piaget & Inhelder 1969). Hall
also say that play is used by humans to iden-
tify their world. Through play human inte-
racts with their physical and social world
to establish their mentality (Hall 1916). For
example, when girls playing with a broom to
imitate mother cleaning the house, she also
learns the role of becoming a housewife. Boy
who roams in the river looking for sh, he
actually also learn to recognize beneccial or
harmful ora and fauna in the nature. Play-
ing game in a group also make children awa-
re about their physical strenghth, capability,
superiority, seniority, cooperation benet,
leadership skills and sympathy-empathy.
Playing game also important in
children physical tness and creativi-
ty. Traditional game that based on physical
activity is important to develop children
1
I Dewa Putu Eskasasnanda
1
Social Studies Department, Universitas Negeri Malang,
Indonesia
Received: July 2016; Accepted: August 2016; Published:
September 2017
Abstract
Science and technology development causes a lot of
changes in any fields including the form of popular
games among the Junior and Senior High School
students in Indonesia.The traditional games that are
famous formerly have been replaced by the modern
games like online video game.This article discusses
the cause and effect of the online video game playing
on the Junior and Senior High Schools students in
Malang.This study reveal that students play video
games online due to peers pressure; and online video
games are liked because they are considered more
modern, practical, realistic and varied. Initially, students
play online video games to relieve the fatigue due to
studying at school, but subsequently, they are becoming
addicted, and reach a condition that they find it difficult
to stop playing games.This condition will directly
affect their achievement in school.
Keywords
online video games; cause; effect
Article
Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society
and Culture 9 (2) (2017): 191-202 192
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JOURNALS
muscle. Since traditional games usually uti-
lizing handmade equipment, it can develop
children brain creativity. A wooden stick
used to play hit the ball, banana stems and
tires made into swimming buoys are some
example of children’s creativity.
Online video games are now popular
among children especially to junior-senior
high school students in many town in Indo-
nesia. In Malang East Java, in the afternoon,
after students getting back from school,
up to late night a lot of junior-senior high
school students playing online video games
in internet cafes (warnet). On Sundays or ot-
her holidays, internet cafes are also usually
full of students who play online video game
and this situation sometime makes adult
customers dicult to rent a computer. The
popularity of online video games makes
students prefer to spend their time playing
online video game than doing outdoor ac-
tivities. This makes city parks and football
elds becoming quite, vacant and deserted.
Closely related with this phenome-
non, a study on the cause and eect of onli-
ne video game consumption among student
is urgent to carry out . This is due to the an-
xiety of many parties concerning the online
video games impacts in decreasing student
creativities, tness and other forms of social
skilsl. In online video games, all equipments,
rules and playforms are created by their cre-
ators. This make students feels don not need
to be creative in playing the games. Online
video games also cause their players was-
ting or using up a lot of their time sitting in
front of the computer screens. This acitivity
could in turn make students loosing their
physical tness and social skill because they
will never notice their physical and social
surroundings. The condition will eventually
bring various fatal eects for their physical
and mental developments (Van Rooij et al.
2011; Mehroof & Griths 2010; Przybylski et
al. 2010).
ONLINE VIDEO GAME
Video game according to Bogdanowicz et
als. (2010) , is dened as “ an electronic or
computerized game played by manipulating
images on a video display or television sc-
reen”. Online video games are popular among
students and they are used them as a means
for them to be accepted by their peers. Peer
pressures according to Erikson have great
impact on the life of an adolescence. Erik-
son said that in adolescence phase, person is
required to seek self-identity and indepen-
dence (Erikson 1968). When they try to get
free from all adult inuence and protection,
they become closer and more dependent on
peer acceptance. Peer acceptance brings out
pressure that in turn can make the adole-
cences vulnerable to youth behavioral prob-
lems (Allen et al. 2006; Van Rooij et al. 2011;
Porter et al. 2010).
Another reason that makes onli-
ne video games becoming popular among
students is because these games are sophi-
castedly designed to amaze and evoke the
players’ curiousity. To amaze the players, vi-
deo games usually presents attractive game
plays, realistic images and sounds. Virtual
worlds in video games are created by inspi-
ration of real life location. This is inten-
ded to provide sensation as if the player is
visiting a real site location so they are not
easy to get bored and the games also make
players becoming familiar and easy to me-
morize the location.
Bogost and Poremba also nd that
many video games are also popular because
their storyline are based on actual events or
movie storylines. Some games even exploit
documentary styles to add the authenticity.
“The Matrix” movie, allied forces landing
in Normady, and the assassination of John
Frank Kenedy (JFK) are used by video game
creators to make the player enable to imagi-
ne becoming the main character of the lm
or feel that they have a central role in an im-
portant world event. Movie storylines and
real events are also proposed to familiarize
players with the goal of the mission (Bogost
& Poremba 2008).
On his the study about racing video
games, Berger says that the actual based
race track is getting more fans than imagi-
nary one. Even, imaginary race track are de-
sign to create fair race and spectacular, ac-
tually authentic based race track gives more
193 I Dewa Putu Eskasasnanda, Cause and Effect of
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fun for the players. Berger said that this is
due to the sensation of be a real race driver
and win the world championship. Playing
in the imaginary track in contrast, makes
the players get bored and leave the game im-
mediately because the players felt it useless
(Berger 2008).
Video games are also enjoyed becau-
se it is designed to entertain and amuse the
players. Creators make video game storyli-
ne simple and easy to understand. This will
make the players not easy to get frustated.
Players use video games to get fun and and
escaping them from life pressures, As such,
they will leave the game if they nd it too
complicated.
To maintain the reasonability of vi-
deo game playing, creator also must balance
the challenges in the game. The game must
not too hard or too easy to win. Players do
not like easy game because they feel useless
to play. However, if the game is too hard,
player will get frustrated and they will lea-
ve the game. There are also some Strategies
used to maintain players’ enthusiasm. One
of which is by giving game assistance. Assis-
tance such as coin bonus or prize to buy new
weapons or vehicles is used by the creator
to help player completing the game missi-
on when they encounter diculties. To keep
the video game looks real, any assistance
in game must be built in disguised so the
players are unaware of it. By this sterategy,
Klimnt et als. (2008) said completing one
mission in video games can make someone
feel worth and proud. so they feel reaso-
nable to continue playing the game.
For most students, another pulling
factor of online video games is the economic
system that operates in it. Cain shows that
many players are interested to play online vi-
deo games because of the economic system
being operated. In online video games there
is a virtual currency circulation that is cal-
led “coin”. Coin is a reward for players when
they are able completing a mission. On line
video games coins can be accumulated to
buy virtual equipment to help nishing the
game (Cain 2008). Although every missions
gives coin bonus, the reward is usually too
small. Game creators always make the pri-
ce of virtual equipment so high that players
will be motivated to play more or exchange
their real life money into virtual coin to buy
equipment. Cain also states that the deci-
sion of the players to buy coins is not solely
inteded for facilitating the game. They do
not hesitate to buy expensive virtual equip-
ment because they can sell it back to other
players (Cain 2008).
Transaction of virtual equipment in
online game create a chance for making mo-
ney in online game. Through this, it is not
surprising that many players are willing to
spend a lot of time to look for money. Stu-
dents are even willing to be absent in class
or eventually drop out from school because
they prefer playing online games. Coin and
virtual transactions in online video game
make students think that it is better to play
game and get coins that can be sold rather
than study in school but never making any
money (Olson 2010; Kowert & Oldmeadow
2013)we must understand what motivates
children to play electronic games and what
needs the games meet. Drawing on a sur-
vey of 1,254 middle school children, focus
groups with boys and their parents, and n-
dings from other quantitative and qualitati-
ve research, the author describes a variety of
motivations for video game play (including
games with violent content.
It is not only visualization, game play
or economic system that makes online ga-
mes interesting. Marshall says online vi-
deo games also enable players to play with
virtual bodies (character) that commonly
referred to “avatars” . In the online video
game, players are free to choose an ava-
tar depending on taste and experience they
want to get, and image they want to show
(Marshall 2008). In online video game an
overweight, short, and black player can
choose a tall, white and athletic avatar. Men
players also possible to choose a women
avatar, depending on experience he wants
to get during the game. Avatars in video
games online provide the opportunity for
players to get ideal things that can not be
obtained in the real world.
Stone says that online video games
make players eliminate their physical identi-
Komunitas: International Journal of Indonesian Society
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ty (Stone 1991). In the game, players become
a new individual with new behavior. Stone
and Turkle calls this phenomenon multiple
selves (Turkle 2011; Stone 1991). A person’s
identity in the real world is formed by his or
her interaction with other people and ma-
terial objects they consume, but in virtual
world, the identity is highly uid, allowing
player to rewrite their identity beyond tra-
ditional boundaries. With avatar, a man can
be a woman’s, a poor can wear expensive
clothes and a pacist can kill other because
of the video game mission (King et al. 2011;
Gentile 2011; Hellman et al. 2012).
The Effect of Online Video Games
Kücklich says that there are two kinds of
video game in the world. The rst is “casu-
al game” or video game that is only played
for killing time and the second is “serious
game”, a video game which makes players
always curious and force to spend a lot of
time to play it (Kücklich 2005). From these
two types, the “serious games” is conside-
red more dangerous, because it can make
players become a slave of the game which
is commonly called “playbour”. In a line
with Kuklich, Hjorth uses term of “hardco-
re game” to refer to the serious game. This
game is called “hardcore” for its potential
to make players spending a lot of time and
energy to nish the game (Hjorth 2011).
In online video games, people play
in virtual world using avatar (virtual body).
Even though the virtual world are a fun but
all human beings must always go back to
the real world. No matter how great a player
might play in the virtual world, his physical
body will feel hungry, thirsty and fatigue.
So, he should always come back to real life
to get a meal, drink and maintain his physi-
cal tness.
Human behaviors are shaped by their
experience. The danger of online video ga-
mes will appears if the experience gained
in virtual world aects the real life. Herbs
says that many experiences gained during
online video playing can not be applied for
real life. For example, death in real life is a
nal event of a person. Contrary, in video
games there are no limit how many death
player can experience. If avatar die, players
can turn it back to life unconditionally to
continue playing. o course this experience
will become a danger if it is applied in real
life (Herbst 2008).
One kind of video game that can
bring a seious dangerous for students is vi-
olence games. In violence games such as war
games, players are required to kill all ene-
mies. Death, explosions, screams and gun
shoot constantly and repetedly happen. War
games are more bloody and sadistic than any
kind of action lm. In war game, players
do not have time to think. He must kill all
enemy without thinking of grief. There are
no smell of blood, smoke and gun powder.
There are no time of silence to think about
the tragedy of the murders. In war game,
players are built like a machines, and res-
ponding quickly all the action of the game.
War game is designed not to create a feeling
of love, compassion or sentimental feelling
in the players.
Klimnt et al. (2008) said that violen-
ce game are enjoyable especially for human
male because the culture is idealized hyper-
masculine gender ideal. Violence is percei-
ved as manly. Hyper-male ideology believes
in socioevolutionary theory says that only
the strong will survive. Destruction on vir-
tual world can be benecial if it is used pro-
perly like a channel to safely release anger
and aggression. There will be no one har-
med because blood, re and debris in onli-
ne video games are only pixelwork, and all
experiences are simulated and virtual. The
negative thing will occur if a player apply vi-
olent experience in virtual world to the rea-
lity. In this case Klimnt suggests that heavy
users of violent video games should posses
a higher cognitive ‘preparedness’ for over ri-
ding moral concerns as well as for avoiding
violent behaviours in real life.
The other positive side of online video
game is proposed by Dyson. In busy life of
urban communities, people are isolated
from each other. On line video games pro-
vide space for children to interact with ot-
hers. In dense urban population that prone
to criminality, playing online video games
indoor at home or internet cafe is relati-
195 I Dewa Putu Eskasasnanda, Cause and Effect of
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vely safer than letting them playing out-
side. Indoor playing will protect children
from the danger of trac, sun heat, and air
pollution. Children are also protected from
criminality, kidnappings, harassment and
bullying by older children who are bigger
and stronger than them (Dyson 2008). This
research aims at nding the causes and ef-
fects of online video games carried out by
junior-senior high students in Malang city,
East java province.
Online video games are favored by va-
rious groups ranging from todler, students in
elementary school up to university students
and adults. This research will study junior
and senior high school students because the
majority of video game players online is a ju-
nior-senior high school students. According
to Nicolson and Ayers (2004) junior-senior
high school period is the age of adolescen-
ce or transition between children into adult.
This phase begins around the age of 10-13
years and ends at age of 18-22 years. At this
phase a person experiences biological, so-
cial, emotional and cognitive development.
If the adolescence phase is not addressed
satisfactorily, it can lead to behavioral prob-
lems in the future.
This research is conducted in Malang
City, East Java Province. Interviews are done
using Junior and senior high school student
as informants. The Informants are selected
through a purposive and snowball sampling.
Senior-Junior high schools at Malang are
selected based on criteria of public-private
and favorite and non favorite school. Based
on this criteria, Malang 1 junior and Malang
1 Senior high school are choosen to repre-
sent favorite public school. Meanwhile, Ma-
lang 10 junior and Malang 16 senior high
represent non-favourite school and Mu-
hammadiyah 1 junior and Brawijaya Smart
School (BSS)’s senior high is representatives
of private schools.
Motivation
Based on interviews to eight junior-senior
high school students, it gains that students
know online video games from their peers,
such as school friends, brothers or cousins
whose parents have a internet cafe business.
I tried to play games because my friends
asked me to try it. In school more and
more of my friends played online games
and these made me becoming more inter-
ested. There were a lot of my friends play-
ing online video games so it became more
excitings and I wanted to try it (interview
with Nr, 1 Malang Senior High School July
16, 2013)
I started playing online game at the 5 th
grade elementary, this because I follo-
wed my cousin. My cousin introduced
me to online video games because his pa-
rent operated internet café in his house. I
played online games starting from there,
and continued until now (interview with
Ad, 1 Malang Junior High School, July 18,
2013 )
Beside the inuence of the peer, there
are students who inform that the become
interested to play online video games be-
cause often watch online video games com-
mercial banner displayed in front of inter-
net cafe. His motivation to try online video
games increased when internet cafés also
oered one hour free trial play.
I knew PB (point blank) online games
when I was in six grade elementary. It
started when I was passing through the
internet cafe near my house, I saw com-
mercial banners which oered one hour
free trial to play online game. I asked to
the internet cae operator then he I gave
one hour free trial. I continued to play up
till now because it is enjoyable (interview
with Af, 16 Malang Junior High School,
July 17, 2013)
Peer pressures have a big deal of cause
for student trying online video games. Two
students said that there were sense of infe-
riority if they did not know how to play on-
line video games. Students would be consi-
dered outdated and coward if they resisted
the challenge of friends to play online video
games.
I play online video games in order not
to be ridiculed by my friends. For examp-
le when my friend challenged me to play.

Online Gaming: Impact on the Academic Performance and Social Behavior of the
Students in Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School Dennis
O. Dumrique and Jennifer G. Castillo Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Abstract This study was conducted to assess and find out the impact of on-line
gaming on the academic performance and social behavior of the students in the
Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Laboratory High School. Furthermore, this
study sought answers on the significant relationship between playing on-line games
and academic performance and to social behavior of the students. The study revealed
that boys are more of a player compared to girls who often play games that require
three or more players like League of Legends, Clash of Clans, Crossfire and many
more to mention. It is also stated that those who play online games are around 14-15
years old who are believed to be in the Grade 8 level. These students who often play
games have an average weekly allowance of 101 pesos to 500 pesos. Playing online
games do not affect their grades badly for they know how to limit themselves. They
know that they need to control themselves in order to function well in their class that
is why they only play games during vacation and weekends with a lot of time
compared when they have classes. Even though they play online games; they know
how to socialize well and they can perform very well when it comes to academic
performance. However, it is inevitable not to play even for half an hour especially
when they are accustomed to it. Therefore, it is just a matter of discipline. Keywords:
On-line Gaming, Social Behavior, Curriculum, Academic Performance. 1.
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. How to
cite this article: Dennis O. Dumrique and Jennifer G. Castillo, (2018), “Online
Gaming: Impact on the Academic Performance and Social Behavior of the Students in
Polytechnic University of the Philippines Laboratory High School” in 4th
International Research Conference on Higher Education, KnE Social Sciences, pages
1205–1210. DOI 10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447 Page 1205 Corresponding Author: Dennis
O. Dumrique dodumrique@pup.edu.ph Received: 23 April 2018 Accepted: 8 May
2018 Published: 4 June 2018 Publishing services provided by Knowledge E Dennis
O. Dumrique and Jennifer G. Castillo. This article is distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and
redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. Selection and
Peer-review under the responsibility of the IRCHE 2017 Conference Committee.
IRCHE 2017 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. DOI
10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447 Page 1206 IRCHE 2017 2. Objectives of the Study The
purpose of this study was to find out how online games affect the students’
intellectual capacity in relation to their academic performance and social behavior.
The purpose of this study was to find out how these online games affect the students’
intellectual capacity in relation to their academic performance and social behavior. 3.
Materials and Methods This study used the descriptive – correlation method utilizing
a questionnaire to get the needed data for the study. Purposive sampling was used in
this study. The participants in this study were high school students of Polytechnic
University of the Philippines - Laboratory High School. They were selected through
purposive sampling which the persons chosen for the investigation are themselves not
expected to be the representatives of the population, but rather they possess the
necessary information about the issue being investigated upon. In addition to this,
there are only 126 respondents chosen for this study. 4. Results and Discussion The
attainment of the objectives of the study was made possible through the utilization of
the descriptive method of research. The sampling techniques were made through a
purposive sampling, where only those students who played on-line games were the
only respondents selected to meet the population size of the study. With a total of 126
respondents coming from PUP-LHS, all of them returned the survey questionnaire –
the main instrument of data gathering. Statistical treatment of data was done through
the use of percentage, weighted mean, and Pearson r Correlation. Based on the results
of the study, the following salient findings were drawn: As according to the result, in
terms of playing on-line games, the overall weighted mean is 3.08 which lies on the
verbal interpretation of “Sometimes”. And with the indicators “I play on-line games
only on week-ends” and “I repeatedly play on-line games after losing” gathered 3.37
interpreted as “often” got the highest mean. While the level of assessment of the
respondents on playing online games in the aspect of number of hours spent in
playing was assessed as 3-5 hours with the weighted mean of 2.75. DOI
10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447 Page 1207 IRCHE 2017 On the other hand, in the types of
games played, ‘League of Legends’ got the highest mean which is 3.48 interpreted as
“Sometimes”. Generally, 2.38 is the computed grand mean of types of games played
and considered as “seldom” in verbal interpretation. However, the self-assessment of
the respondents in playing On-Line Games on their Social Behavior got an overall
weighted mean of 3.2 and arrays that the verbal interpretation of all the indicators
show that the students from Grade 7- Grade 10 assessed that they all agree doing the
listed indicators. This shows that even after playing online games it does not affect
their social behavior and it has a positive effect. As per the academic performance of
the respondents the result shows that from the 126 responses, most of the students that
plays on-line games obtain a grade ranging from 86-90 interpreted as “Good” that got
68 or 53.97%. Followed by a grade ranging from 81-85 with a description of
“satisfactory” got 49 from the respondents or 38.89%. Next is the grade ranging from
91-95 which means “Very Good” got the second to least, which is 7 of the
respondents or 5.56%, and lastly, the remaining number which is 2 or 1.59% is the
grade ranging from 75-80. And in terms of the frequency of playing online games and
the respondent’s social behavior. The indicators ‘I play on-line games before going to
bed’ got a computed p-value of 0.040 and ‘I play on-line games only on week-ends’
obtained a p-value of 0.002 which is less than the level of significance of 0.05. This
means that the null hypothesis is rejected and it is significant in this study. And all
remaining variables resulted as “not significant”. On the other hand, the relationship
between the number of hours in playing and the social behavior of the respondents
does not have significant relationship since all of the p-value are greater than the level
of significance of 0.05. While in terms of types of on-line games being played and its
relationship in the social behavior of the students, it reveals that the null hypothesis
has been rejected with p-values of Minecraft (0.030), Defense of the Ancient (0.019),
Farmville (0.014), Smite (0.014), and Candy Crush (0.004) are lower than the level of
significance of 0.05. And lastly, the frequency of playing on-line games and the
academic performance of the respondents the only indicator that has a significance is
“I play on-line games only on week-ends” that obtain a p-value of 0.026 lower than
the level of significance of 0.05 and indicates that the null hypothesis is rejected. This
reflects to the grade of the respondents having good grades even when they play on-
line games. In tenures of the types of on-line games being played by respondents and
their academic performance the result of their p-value is higher than the level of
significance 0.05 therefore the null hypothesis is accepted. DOI
10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447 Page 1208 IRCHE 2017 Likewise, the number of hours
playing on-line games and its relation to the academic performance all indicators got
p-value higher than the level of significance of 0.05 remarking to not significant.
Resulted to its null hypothesis being accepted. 5. Conclusion and Recommendation
As the respondents assessed, it can be inferred that Playing On-Line Games results to
a positive effect in the social behavior of the respondents. Even if the respondents
play online games still the personal interaction with others are not affected. They still
do have their friends personally and are able to socialize effectively. The Academic
Performance of the respondents is not affected even if they play online games. Their
grades are still good enough even if they spent time for playing. To sum up with the
result, the respondents have a good academic performance despite their involvement
in playing online games. There is a significant relationship between the social
behavior of the respondents and playing on-line games in terms to its frequency
specifically in the item saying: “I play on-line games before going to bed” and “I play
on-line games only on weekends”. Also, in the types of on-line games such as
Minecraft, Defense of the Ancient, Farmville, Smite, and Candy Crush. There is a
significant relationship between the academic performance of the respondents and
playing online games during weekends. Which result to having a good grade while
playing online games. This can be interpreted as the trade-off when playing computer
games. If the student decides not to play, then there will be no deduction in the
grades. Which is true to the researchers’ study for the respondents’ academic
performance is only significant to playing online games during weekend. Weekends
are the days when the respondents have their pleasure time for recreational activities.
Meanwhile, since most of the student respondents are male and they are more
frequently engaged in playing on-line games, the school administrators and teacher in
collaboration of the parents might consider to promote physical health, sportsmanship,
camaraderie and pro-social skills to the students instead of getting engaged with
online games. Further, Parents-Teachers Association might consider being functional
in all their responsibilities. For example, the teacher might consider to notify the
parents about the academic performance and social behavior of the students inside the
school facilities. This association can strengthen the home and school partnership to
supervise the students’ activities. DOI 10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447 Page 1209 IRCHE
2017 Author’s Note 1 Dennis O. Dumrique; Polytechnic University of the
Philippines, College of Education, Department of Business Teacher Education;
+639178225232 2 Jennifer Castillo; Polytechnic University of the Philippines,
College of Education, Department of Business Teacher Education;
jenjel143@gmail.com References Strictly follow the numbered format of citation
while observing the proper APA style of referencing [1] Rock, Dave. (2009, October
4). Easily distracted: why it’s hard to focus, and what to do about it(Blog Post).
Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/
blog/your-brainwork/200910/easily- distracted-why-its-hard-focus-and-whatdo-about-
it [2] Kuss, Daria J. and Mark D. Griffiths. (2012). Adolescent online gaming
addiction. Education and Health, 30 (1), 15-17. Retrieved from
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/ owl/resource/560/07/ [3] Anderson, Janna and Lee
Rainie. (2012, February 29). Main findings: Teens, technology, and human potential
in 2020 (Blog Post). Retrieved From http://www.pewinternet.org/2012/02/29/main-
findings-teens-technology-andhuman-potential-in-2020/ DOI 10.18502/kss.v3i6.2447
Page 1210

Effects of Computer Gaming on High School Students’ Performance in Los Baños,

Laguna, Philippines Maria Daisy S. CORTES＊ , Jhoana V. ALCALDE＊＊, Jose V.
CAMACHO, Jr.＊＊＊ Abstract This study examined the effects of computer games
on school performance of high school students in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.
Allowance, gender, peer group and year level positively affect student’s decision to
play while time spent on studying, year level, previous grade, number of books and
time spent playing computer games are found to be significant in affecting student’s
performance. Results showed that the probability of a computer gamer to fail is 39%,
given the student has more than four siblings, a previous grade of at most 84, lesser
teachers, lesser hours on studying, living near a computer shop, and spends more
hours playing computer games. Moreover, 60% of the students’ daily allowance is
spent on playing computer games. Keywords : investment in human capital, computer
games, education production function, high school performance, Logit regression
model 76 国際公共政策研究 第 16 巻第 2 号 1. Introduction Education is an
important element of investment in human capital and economic growth. Secondary
education as being the link between primary schooling, tertiary education, and the
labor market, is significant in creating social opportunities and economic benefits.
During the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century, new types of mass
media were produced and consumed such as dime novels, films, comic books, radio,
recorded music, television, video and computer games, and the Internet. Each medium
was often immediately praised for its potential benefits and criticized for its potential
harms. Many studies have been conducted to test whether technological advances,
specifically computers, are advantageous or disadvantageous to individual’s school
performance. Many teachers, parents and other concerned organizations and people
continuously clamor for a tighter clamp over computer gaming. Protest mainly
focused on how the trend is becoming a cause of distraction among students in their
studies. Many entrepreneurs set up cafés near schools to cater the youngsters, the
market by the industry is seemingly tailored for. Many students are designating cafés
as hangout places where hours are spent playing – be it until late at night, or worse,
during school hours which makes students skip classes. In 2007, complaints have
been received from schools all over Manila, Philippines’ capital city regarding
students getting more and more addicted to online computer gaming. This is in spite
of the fact that the government’s Department of Education (DepEd) values how online
computer gaming also helps sharpen the young generation into highly proficient
individuals in new technologies and digital trends. DepEd also recognizes that internet
and computer shops cater to the research needs of students, especially those without
internet access at home. In addition, it is viewed that computer gaming is a shift from
the usual vices of young students today, such as drinking and smoking. Apparently,
computer game critics are clamoring that many internet and computer shop owners
could not care less since it meant more income for the business. The effects of
computer games on student’s academic performance can be both advantageous and
disadvantageous. With the boom of computer games, income of computer shop
owners and operators are expected to increase. This will mean higher revenue for the
local town economy. However, additional revenues from computer shops are
generated at the expense of future potential human capital through education.
Estimates show that in the Philippines, online computer gaming makes up around
80% of the total usage of Internet in the Philippines. Also, computer gaming
constitutes to a quarter of the entire business. Several studies abroad, especially in the
United States, supported the use of computer games as a tool in teaching. However,
many studies also argued that computer games pose disadvantages to student’s
academic performance. Several studies have documented negative correlations
between computer game use and school performance for children, adolescents, and
college students. Another argument is that, computer games are Effects of Computer
Gaming on High School Students’ Performance in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
77 addictive. Once an individual started playing, he tends to spend much of his time
playing. Quality of education and school performance of students are measured by
different factors. In a study by Angeles (2004, 28-29), several determinants of school
performance in the primary and secondary levels were identified. Income, foregone
income, school quality, and health are the factors that affect the demand for education.
These factors have a positive relationship with student’s performance, which means
that higher/ better values of the factors lead to higher demand for education. On the
other hand, factors that affect the supply of education are proximity to school,
accessibility to schooling, infrastructure and teacher-pupil ratio. All mentioned
determinants, except teacher-pupil ratio, positively affect school performance. With
the emerging technological advancements, there are new factors that may affect the
quality of educated population (Oliveros and Sapio, 2007, 17-18). Several studies
were conducted to find out the relationship between technological advancements,
specifically computers and computer games, and students’ school performance.
Studies indicate that children who play computer games can improve visual
intelligence skills. Parents believed that computer use is related to better academic
performance of the children. It was found that high school students who used
educational software at home scored significantly higher on computer literacy tests
than other students. Computer use at home is also associated with improvements in
general academic performance. Other studies also found that students who own
computers at home had higher over-all grades, particularly in Math and English, than
those without home computers. On the other hand, a study done in Taiwan by Chuang
and Chen (2007, 30) investigated and discovered that digital games improve
children’s cognitive achievement and can facilitate student’s cognitive learning
process. Moreover, the findings indicated that digital game playing not only improves
participants’ fact/recall processes, but also promotes problem-solving skills by
recognizing multiple solutions. However, the question on which type of digital games
works best for students was not discussed in the study. Majority of studies regarding
the impacts of computer games on school performance were conducted abroad or
internationally. There were only few attempts in discussing the subject locally. Thus,
this study analyzed the impacts of computer games on school performance of high
school students in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. Specifically, the study (a.)
identified the factors that influence students’ decision to play computer games; (b.)
established the relationship between the number of hours devoted by the students on
computer games and the level of performance in school; (c.) determined the
probability of computer gamers to fail in academics; (d.) estimated the average cost
incurred by computer gamers who play in computer shops and the portion of this to
their allowances; and (e.) identified economic implications based on the results of the
study. 78 国際公共政策研究 第 16 巻第 2 号 2. Theoretical and Conceptual
Framework Production function refers to the physical relationship between the inputs
or resources of the firm and the output of goods and services at a given period of time,
ceteris paribus (Costales et al., 2000, 67). This can also be applied for education
where output is represented by the grade and the inputs are the resources and other
factors affecting the student’s performance. There is no single model that can fully
capture the relationships between school inputs and quality of education. However,
educational production function remains a good analytical tool to determine the
significance of any input used to enhance student learning. The effect of new
resources like televisions, information technology and computers on education can be
measured using the education production model. The education production function is
a structural relationship and depicted as: G = gpf (C, FS, MS, Q, S, E) where G is
grade, ‘pf’ denotes a production function, C is a vector of fixed child characteristics
(innate ability), FS and MS are fathers’ and mothers’ education, Q (‘quality’) is a
vector of school and teacher characteristics and EI refers to all educational ‘inputs’
under parental control (e.g. time spent studying at home and education materials at
home). Figure 1. Factors affecting school performance. Charts and Diagrams Number
of Siblings Peer group Gender Owning a PC Year level Time spent on playing
Computer Games School factors IQ Student’s Performance Proximity of computer
shops to house School type Number of Teachers Parent’s education Family income
Family factors Number of books Class size Effects of Computer Gaming on High
School Students’ Performance in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines 79 School
performance is affected by several factors, however, for the purpose of the study; the
factors considered are limited to school factors, family factors and factors affecting
computer gaming, and IQ level (see Figure 1). School factors such as class size,
number of books and number of teachers affect students’ performance. It is
hypothesized that class size is negatively related to student’s performance. Bigger
class size will have a negative impact on school performance. However, number of
teachers and books positively affect students’ performance. Schools can be private or
public. School type affects school performance due to the differences on grading
system and resource endowments. Private schools have higher ratio of resources than
public schools relative to students. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) level, proxied by
student’s final grade during the sixth grade in elementary, directly affects students’
academic performance. Holding all other variables constant, students with higher IQ
level tend to perform better than others. Family income, indirectly, has a huge
influence on school performance. Students from high-income families are more
capable of buying school supplies, paying tuition fees, and attending review and/or
advance classes that may help them perform well in class, resulting in higher grades.
Parent’s education also affects students’ performance. Parents with higher educational
attainment will have higher valuation on education thus; will motivate children to
exert more efforts in studying. Having a personal computer at home will mean better
access to computer games since the machine is free and always available. Longer
hours of playing games may be spent when there is computer at home. Time spent on
playing computer games largely affect students’ scholastic performance. As a student
spend more time playing, lesser hours are devoted for homework, reviews, and other
school-related activities. Longer hours of computer gaming might have a negative
impact on school grades. Proximity of computer shops to student’s house is another
determinant of school performance. If a computer shop is located near a student’s
house, there is a greater tendency to play computer games rather than do school tasks.
Gender is one of the major determinants of computer gaming. Several studies have
shown that the probability of male students to engage in computer gaming is higher
than females. Moreover, in terms of frequency in playing, males are more frequent
players than females. Many studies have shown that the number of siblings is also a
determinant in playing computer games. Frequent players are usually those who
belong to a small family with 1-2 children, especially if of opposite sex. Peer groups
affect individual’s attitude towards computer gaming. Those who belong to a group
wherein members are computer gamers have higher tendency to become a computer
gamer than those who do not have. 80 国際公共政策研究 第 16 巻第 2 号 3.
Methodology 3-1 Data Collection The study was conducted in Los Baños, Laguna,
Philippines. Both primary and secondary data were used in the study. Secondary data
were composed of school records, municipal records, other related studies, journals,
books, and other publications. Interviews/surveys were also conducted. Both students
and teachers participated in the interview and survey. Data gathering was done from
October-December 2008 through personal visits in respondents’ schools. A total of
240 students from both public and private schools were interviewed. The schools
included in the study were Maquiling School Inc. (MSI), Trace College, Los Baños
Community National High School, and Los Baños National High School (LBNHS).
Using random sampling, 15 students for every year level were selected as respondents
of the study, or a total of 60 students per school. 3-2 Data Analysis To identify the
factors that could influence student’s decision to play computer, the logit model
below was employed. A value of 1 is assigned if the respondent is a computer gamer,
and 0 if not. The variables in Figure 1 illustrate the factors that influence students’
decision to play or not. Peer group is a dummy variable; a value of 1 was assigned if
more than half (majority) of the members were computer gamers and 0 if not. To
identify if playing computer games is a significant factor that contributes to student’s
school performance, an Ordinary Least Squares method was conducted. The
dependent variable was student’s performance (measured by the student’s previous
average grades). Explanatory variables include family’s monthly income, parents’
education, number of siblings, student’s peer group, distance between student’s
school and nearest computer shop, child’s year level, number of hours spent on
playing computer games and doing school work, presence of computers at home, class
size, number of teachers and number of books. To determine the probability of a
computer gamer to fail in his/her academics, the logit equation was used. Sample size
consisted of computer gamers only. Variables used in the model denote the factors
that affect the student’s probability of passing and failing. The passing mark for both
public and private schools is 75%, so a dummy value of 1 was assigned if the student
got below 75% while 0, if otherwise. Explanatory variables included hours spent on
playing, time spent on studying, distance between house and computer shop, distance
between computer shop and school, family’s monthly income, student’s gender, type
of school, student’s year level, ownership of a PC, peer group, class size, number of
teachers, number of books, parents’ education and student’s final grade during the 6th
grade. Effects of Computer Gaming on High School Students’ Performance in Los
Baños, Laguna, Philippines 81 4. Results and Discussion 4-1 Overview of the
Respondents Results showed that forty-eight percent of the respondents are classified
as non-computer gamers while 52% are computer gamers. More than 75% of the total
number of computer gamers belong to a peer group whose members are also
computer gamers. Also, 68% of non-gamers belong to a peer group whose members
are, likewise, non-gamers. With regards to parents’ education, 23% of computer
gamers have parents who did not reach college level, 30% have a parent who reached
college level, either mother or father, and 47% have parents who reached college
level. Meanwhile, 27% of non-computer gamers have parents who did not reach
college level, another 31% have parents who reached college level and 42% have
parents who both reached college level. The survey revealed that 61% of the total
number of computer gamers have less than three siblings while 33% have greater than
four but less than six siblings. Lastly, only 6% belongs to a family with greater than
seven siblings. The average daily allowance of computer gamers is PhP 70.69,
relatively higher than the average daily allowance of non-gamers which is PhP 58.28.
Twenty-six percent of computer gamers have a daily allowance of more than PhP 101
while only 3% of non-gamers have the same amount of daily allowance. (At the time
of the study, a Philippine peso (PhP) is equivalent to approximately 1.79 Japanese
yen). Majority of the respondents (74%) have monthly family income ranging from
PhP 0-30,000. Computer gamers and non-gamers whose monthly family income is
less than or equal to PhP 30,000 comprised 66% and 84% of the samples,
respectively. However, it is important to note that 11% of computer gamers are within
the range of PhP 60,000-120,000 monthly income compared to that of non-gamers
which is only 6%. From the results of the survey, it can be concluded that computer
gamers have higher monthly family income than nongamers. Out of 124 computer
gamers, 54% owns a computer at home while the remaining 46% does not have
computers at home. Also, the survey showed that most respondents who have
computers at home are from private school. On the average, a computer gamer spends
two hours per day doing school tasks while non-gamers spend three hours for the
school tasks. In fact, 69% of computer gamers spend a maximum of two hours on
doing assignments, etc. while the largest part of non gamers spends 3-5 hours. This is
because, 56 out of 124 computer gamers claimed that if not playing, they are most
likely doing the assignments, reviews, projects, etc. It is also shown that extra-
curricular activities and household chores are given up when playing computer games.
On the other hand, 31% of the total number of computer gamers revealed that sleep
had to be given up as well 82 国際公共政策研究 第 16 巻第 2 号 as other leisure
activities such as watching television just to play computer games. More than half of
computer gamers are from private schools while the remaining 48% are from public
schools, another indication that most of computer gamers come from rich families.
First and second year high school students are more frequent computer gamers than
those students who are already juniors and seniors. Basically because junior and
senior students spend more time studying to prepare for college years. Grades
incurred by the students during the second grading period were noted. Results showed
significant difference between the grades earned by computer gamers and non-
gamers. Lower grades were achieved by gamers compared to non-gamers. Thirty one
out of 124 computer gamers got a grade ranging from 70-75. In addition, 29 out of 31
students earned a failing mark (74 and below). The average grade of non-gamers is
86, higher than the average grade of computer gamers which is only 82. There seemed
to be a negative relationship between grades and time spent on computer gaming. In
fact, 80% of computer gamers spend 1-3 hours a day playing. Furthermore, gamers
who play for 4-6, 7-9, and more than 10 hours daily amounted to 14%, 5%, and 1%,
respectively. The average daily number of hours spent on playing is 2.5. Given the
amount of time spent on playing, it is also important to know the types of computer
games that students play. Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games
(MMORPG) are games that do not have ending and is designed to be played forever.
MMORPG’s are usually played with thousands of other players online at the same
time, adding a highly addictive social component to the game. Examples of endless
games are Warcraft, DOTA, Ragnarok and Cabal. Another type of game is fighting
game which is also called versus game. That is, one player versus another. The game
emphasizes brutality of fighting, and learning of the fighting moves. Fighting games
often take a lot of playing in order to master all of the moves of a given fighter.
Examples of versus games are Tekken and Street fighter. Role-playing games
(RPG’s) on the other hand, are usually designed for only one player, unlike
MMORPG’s and RPG’s, have an ending. Depending on how the gamer plays the
game, the ending is often different. The more a gamer plays, the deeper he gets into
the story, and the more powers the character gains. The player usually portrays a role;
waitress, musician, etc. Examples of this kind of game are dinner dash, automania and
burger restaurant. There are games which are typically abstract games of logic with no
theme or characters, they are called Puzzle games. Players of logic games must line
up blocks or games to solve math problems. Abstract games are simple to learn and
play. Examples of these are Zuma, Textwist, and Solitaire. Survey showed that the
most played type of computer games is the Massively Multiplayer Online
RolePlaying Games (MMORPG), next is fighting games followed by puzzle games
and lastly, role-playing games. Results revealed that MMORPG and fighting games
are usually played by male gamers while role-playing and puzzle games are common
for female gamers. More than half of the male gamers (53%) frequently play
MMORPG, while 33% usually play fighting games. On the other hand, there are 32%
and 24% female gamers Effects of Computer Gaming on High School Students’
Performance in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines 83 who commonly play RPG’s and
puzzle games, respectively. 4-2 Factors Affecting the Decision to Play Computer
Games A Logit regression model was used to identify the factors that could influence
students’ decision to play computers. Results of the regression are summarized in
Table 1. Table 1. Factors affecting the decision to play. Parameter Estimate Number
of siblings -.022 Type of school -.389 Gender .66＊＊ Peer group 1.95＊ Mother‟s
education -.02 Father‟s education .31 Allowance .013＊＊ PC at home .49 Year level
.69＊＊ ＊ = significant at 1% Prob ＞ chi2 = 0.00 ＊＊ = significant at 5% Pseudo
R2 = 0.23 n = 124 Based on the results of logit, at 5% level of significance, factors
such as allowance, gender, peer group, and year level increase students’ the decision
to play computer games. All factors exhibited a positive sign. This means that the
variables imply a directly proportional relationship to the decision-making behavior of
the students. Student’s daily allowance is a significant factor that affects decision to
play. The factor can work in two ways. First, students with higher daily allowance
may mean that they are from a rich family. Families with higher income are more
capable of buying a computer set. Thus, making computer gaming more accessible to
children. However, availability of computer at home was found to be insignificant
regression analysis. Secondly, children with higher daily allowance can spend more
money for playing. This also explains why computer gamers have higher daily
allowance compared to non-gamers. From these, it can be concluded that students
from rich families are more prone to computer gaming. The study also found out that
being a male increases the student’s decision to play. This explains why 60% of
computer gamers are males and only 40% are females. Students who belong to a peer
group whose members are also computer gamers are more prone to computer gamers
than those whose peer groups were non gamers. This is because the usual computer
games, especially those which are played by males, require three or more players.
Year level was also found to be significant in the regression analysis. Freshman or
sophomore is more likely to become a computer player. This is because junior and
senior students devote more time studying in 84 国際公共政策研究 第 16 巻第 2 号
preparation for college education (college entrance exams). The result showed that
more than half of the total number of computer gamers are freshmen and sophomores.
4-3 Factors Affecting High School Students’ Performance in School Results of the
regression analysis revealed that at 5% level of significance, factors such as time
spent on studying, year level, final grade during Grade 6, number of books and time
spent playing computer games are found to be significant (Table 2). Table 2. Factors
affecting academic performance Parameter Estimate Income -.0000165 Year level
1.37＊＊ Time spent on studying .47＊＊ Proximity of computer shops -.0000279
Presence of PC at home .61 Time spent on playing -.91＊ Class size .01 Number of
teachers .14 Number of books .30＊＊ Final grade during Grade 6 .70＊ Peer group
-.53 Mother’s education -.32 Father’s education .32 Number of siblings -.13 ＊ =
significant at 1% R-squared = 0.49, n=240 ＊＊ = significant at 5% Prob ＞ F = 0.00
Among the significant variables, only time spent on playing computer games carries a
negative sign, which indicates a negative relationship with student’s grades. This
means that one more hour spent on playing computer games results in a 0.91 point
decrease in student’s grade. This can be interpreted as the trade-off when playing
computer games. If the student decides not to play, then there will be no deduction in
the grades. Furthermore, if the student decides not to play and devote more time to
study, instead of a 0.91 decrease, an increase of 0.47 point in the grade will be
attained. That is the reason why time spent on studying and doing school works show
a positive relationship with grades. School inputs such as number of books have a
positive relationship with grades. The regression results show that, giving one more
book to a student, increases grades by 0.30 point. Students’ final grade during Grade
six was used, as a proxy variable for child’s IQ level. A one unit increase in the
student’s final grade during Grade six causes a 0.70 increase in grades. Year level is
also a positive factor. If a student is a junior or senior, grades increase by 1.37
compared with freshman or sophomore. According to the interview and survey, lower
level students tend to participate more Effects of Computer Gaming on High School
Students’ Performance in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines 85 in extracurricular
activities such as clubs, organization, etc. while juniors and seniors concentrate more
on academics in preparation for enrollment during college years. A correlation
between the dependent and independent variables was conducted. Result showed that
class size and income were correlated to the type of school and daily allowance. Also,
the matrix confirmed that the distance of the nearest computer shop to school and the
respondent’s house are highly correlated. Therefore, to eliminate multicollinearity in
the model, variables such as class size, allowance, and distance between the nearest
computer shop and school were dropped. 4-4 Determining Computer Gamers’
Probability of Failing Another logit regression was carried out to determine the
probability of a computer gamer to get a failing mark. The results of the logit
regression analysis are as follows: F=3.47-0.67 Income-0.84 Gender +3.70
No_siblings-1.10 TOS +0.97 Year_lvl +2.81 ProxH+ 0.88 Peer-2.12 TimeS+0.60
Mo_educ-0.41 Fa_educ-1.96 NoTe +0.60 NoBo+3.27 Gr6+4.50 TimeP At 10% level
of significance, factors such as number of siblings, final grade during grade six,
number of teachers, time spent doing school works, distance between the nearest
computer shop and respondents’ house, and time spent playing computer games
proved to be significant (Table 3). Table 3. Probability of having a failing mark
Parameter Estimate Gender -.84 Type of School -1.10 Number of siblings 3.70＊＊
Year level .97 Final grade during Grade 6 3.27＊＊ Number of books .60 Number of
teachers -1.96＊＊＊ Time spent on studying -2.12＊＊ Proximity of computer shops
2.81＊＊ Peer group .88 Time spent on playing 4.50＊ Mother’s education .60
Father’s education -.41 Income -.67 ＊ = significant at 1% Pseudo R2 = 0.72 ＊＊ =
significant at 5% Prob ＞ chi2 = 0.00 ＊＊＊ = significant at 10% n=124 Students’
final grade during grade six showed a positive relationship with students’ probability
of failing. Meaning, if a child’s final grade during Grade 6 is less than or equal to 84,
the probability of failing in the current year is increased. Probably because high
school years consist of relatively harder subjects which 86 国際公共政策研究 第 16
巻第 2 号 require stronger foundation of basic lessons in Math, Science, English, etc.
Also, high school years have more extra-curricular activities that might lessen
student’s time for studying. Number of siblings has a positive relationship with
probability of getting a failing mark. Having more children in the family increases the
probability of the student to get a failing mark. According to the interview, students
from bigger families, especially females, need to look after younger siblings and do
household chores thus reducing time for assignments, etc. The quantity of teachers in
a school is an apparent factor for students’ performance. The greater the number of
teachers employed by the school, the probability that students will fail is reduced.
This is simply because another entity will help students understand the lesson more.
This explains the negative relationship between the numbers of teachers and students’
grades. An obvious negative relationship between the number of hours devoted on
studying and probability of failing was observed. If a child decides to spend more
hours on doing assignments, projects, etc. the probability of getting a failing mark is
reduced. The result was confirmed by the significance of the number of hours spent
playing. That is, more hours devoted for playing increases the probability that a
student will get a failing grade. An additional hour devoted to playing computer
games will mean lesser hours devoted for other activities such as doing household
chores, assignments, extra-curricular activities, etc. The distance between the
respondent’s house and the computer shop, in the absence of a computer at home, and
the probability that the student will fail is positive. In the interview, majority of the
students who do not have computers at home tend to go to the nearest computer shop
to play. The exact value of the probability that a computer gamer will get a failing
mark was also computed using the equation below: F= 3.47+3.70 NO_SIBLINGS
+2.81 PROXH -2.12 TIMES -1.96 NoTe +3.27 Gr6+4.50 TIMEP F=3.47+3.70 (1)
+2.81 (.222)-2.12 (2.2)-1.96 (9) +3.27 (1) +4.50 (2.4) Z=ln (p/1-p)=-0.44 PF = ez
=0.39 (1+ez ) Based on the computations, the probability of a computer gamer to get a
failing grade is 0.39. This is true if the student: (1) has greater than four siblings, (2)
has a final grade 6 rating of at most 84, (3) has lesser teachers at school, (4) spends
fewer hours per day on studying, (5) living near a computer shop, and (6) spends
more hours per day on playing computer games. 4-5 Average costs incurred by
computer gamers Results from the survey showed that on the average, a computer
gamer who plays in computer shops spends about 60% of daily allowance or PhP 39
on playing. The amount is a significant portion since only 40% is left Effects of
Computer Gaming on High School Students’ Performance in Los Baños, Laguna,
Philippines 87 for more important expenses such as food, transportation, savings, etc.
Given that 78 students (32.5%) spend PhP 39 on playing, the estimated total effect on
the demand for computer games is PhP 1,267.50. Food comprises 56% of the
displaced expenses. This means that 56% of those who spend part of the allowance on
computer games sacrificed their food consumption. Savings cover 31%, a relatively
significant percentage. Given that food is the most displaced expenses, a negative
impact on student’s academic achievement could be observed. According to Behrman
(1996), better health and nutrition are positively associated with gains in schooling in
many areas: enrollment at younger ages, less grade repetition, less absenteeism, more
grades completed and better performance on test scores. Some observations in the
study showed that the money spent on computer gaming exceeds daily allowances of
the respondents. So, aside from the daily allowance, some respondents have other
means of acquiring money just to be able to play. 5. Conclusion Computer gaming,
measured by number of hours spent playing, contributes to the probability of a student
to fail. The study of Mañugo (2007, 45-46) proved that the number of subjects failed
increases the probability of a LBNHS student to drop out. Thus, computer gamers
also have the tendency to drop out of school; either repeat one academic year or stop
schooling. Because computer gaming poses negative effect on student’s performance
in school, there is a possibility that education in high school would have a tendency to
deteriorate. As computer gaming industry continues to grow, bigger number of
students will lose interest for studies. This might mean that investment on higher
education will lead to lower rate of return among students. Thus resources such as
money, time, school inputs, etc. are probably go to waste. Number of books was also
found to be a significant factor affecting student’s grade. Adding one more book per
student increases student’s grade. However, it is apparent that public schools lack
books compared to private schools. Thus, the government should place serious
attempts in giving more books especially to public schools where inadequacy of
books is apparent. Also, the government should allocate the national budget such that
it caters to the needs of the people, most especially human capital development
through education. With higher allowance, students are most likely to become
computer gamers. A student with higher daily allowance tend to play more which
leads to higher demand for computer games. This will give wider market for computer
shop owners and an opportunity to increase revenues. Likewise, child/children from
rich families, capable of giving higher allowances to children, are more prone to
computer gaming, and eventually failing. Based on the opportunity cost of the
student’s expenses on computer games, some implication might be 88 国際公共政策
研究 第 16 巻第 2 号 observed on the nutritional and health status of high school
students. Aside from food, savings is also greatly affected when a student spends
money on computer games. It was also proven that the quantity of teachers affect
student’s probability of failing. More teachers would mean lower probability of
failing. However, due to the demand of teachers abroad, many teachers decide to go
out of the country because of higher income and greater job opportunities. This
resulted in less number of teachers which can lead to higher probability of students’
failing. Thus, a greater allocation of resource for teachers would potentially help
upgrade the seemingly deteriorating quality of education. Providing greater incentives
would keep teachers in their jobs so as to prevent brain drain in the country. Literature
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Children’s Cognitive Achievement. Journal of Multimedia 2(5): 30. Costales, A. C.,
et al. 2000. ECONOMICS: Principles and Applications. Quezon City: JMC Press,
INC. 322 p. Mañugo, M. R. G. 2007. Analysis of Factors Affecting Dropouts in Los
Baños National High School. Undergraduate Thesis, UP at Los Baños. Mitchell, A.,
and C. Savill-Smith. 2004. The use of computer and video games for learning: 7-24.
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