Over the past fifteen years, a significant shift has occurred in the lives of young men. Boys and young men aged 15 to 24 have more than doubled their weekly gaming time, now averaging around 10 hours, according to a prominent survey.
This surge in gaming has raised alarms. Educators report it disrupts classroom focus, while economists have connected it to a decrease in young men’s work hours. Many readers have also pointed to extensive gaming as a primary factor in the broader challenges faced by boys and young men, a topic our ongoing series has been exploring since May.
However, video games aren’t simply a source of concern; they also play a vital role in the social development of young people. For many, particularly boys, gaming has become a crucial platform for making friends, building communities, and fostering a strong sense of belonging.
Data from the extensive American Time Use Survey reveals that the rise in time dedicated to gaming by boys and young men represents the largest increase across any measured activity. This federal survey annually tracks the daily minutes spent by thousands of individuals, and while the ‘games’ category encompasses various forms like card games, the overwhelming evidence points to video games as the dominant activity.
This phenomenon isn’t coincidental; it aligns perfectly with technological advancements that have made games increasingly captivating. What began as a home-based console or computer activity has evolved into a ubiquitous pastime, accessible on phones anytime, anywhere.
Parents have long harbored concerns about video games, particularly regarding their potential link to violence, a connection that scientific research has not substantiated. Today, a more immediate worry centers on the sheer amount of time young people are dedicating to gaming. The concern is that this increased screen time is actively displacing other crucial activities in boys’ and young men’s lives, such as outdoor play, face-to-face social interactions, academic work, employment, and adequate sleep.
“Boys would rather sit in front of Minecraft or Fortnite than play outside,” said Susan Donohoe, an elementary school teacher in Portland, Maine. “They are living a virtual life instead of real outside play and chores, which develop social skills and responsibility.”
Despite these concerns, both researchers and teenagers themselves emphasize that these virtual environments also serve as fertile ground for forging genuine friendships and strengthening social bonds.
Annie Maheux, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who researches adolescents and digital media, states that the subtle complexities of boys’ gaming habits are often ignored. She explains, “There’s this social outlet for gaming that much of the research has missed.”
The Magnetic Pull of Gaming for Boys
Gaming is an almost universal pastime among teenagers; a Pew Research Center survey from last year found that 97% of boys and 73% of girls play online games. However, a significant gender gap exists in the time dedicated to it: boys averaged 10 hours per week in 2024, starkly contrasting with girls’ two hours.
According to Ms. Yue, video games fulfill crucial developmental needs for young individuals: they offer a sense of competence through skill mastery; autonomy via character creation and world exploration; and relatedness through peer connections. While these are universal adolescent desires, boys and young men might increasingly turn to online gaming to meet them, especially as many report feeling disconnected in their offline lives.
The evolving nature of technology, however, poses a risk, transforming games into highly immersive and potentially addictive experiences, notes Zach Rausch, chief researcher at N.Y.U.’s Tech and Society Lab.
Rausch highlights a pivotal shift in the 2010s when many games transitioned from upfront purchases to free-to-play models. This change fundamentally altered company strategies, focusing on maximizing player engagement time and encouraging frequent, small in-game purchases.
Modern online games are designed to be continuously engaging, with constant updates, daily rewards, exclusive virtual items, and real-time adjustments all aimed at keeping players immersed. Their often endless nature makes them particularly difficult to disengage from.
By 2015, these transformative changes had completely redefined the gaming landscape. Time-use data indicates that by this point, the hours boys and young men devoted to gaming surpassed the time spent on traditional activities like sports or socializing with friends and family. Furthermore, many now spend even more hours passively consuming gaming content on platforms like YouTube and Twitch.
Popular games among young people, identified by Morning Consult, often share key characteristics: they are cross-device compatible, offer multiplayer experiences, and are available as free-to-play versions, with examples including Roblox, Fortnite, and Call of Duty.
“Millions of boys are struggling because they carry in their pockets constant access to products that are addictive by design,” states Mr. Rausch. He clarifies, “I am worried about boys, but my focus and my worries are aimed primarily at the predatory business models that profit from their vulnerabilities.”
Research indicates that males are more prone to video game addiction compared to females, who tend towards social media addiction. Dr. Marc Potenza, an addiction researcher at the Yale School of Medicine, attributes this partly to males’ inherent attraction to competition and risk-taking. Brain imaging further supports this, revealing greater activation in the brain’s reward processing areas for males during video game play than for females.
Amy Gifford, a mother of two adolescents in Salem, Mass., observes a clear distinction in her children’s social habits: her daughter regularly meets friends in person, whereas her son’s peer interactions predominantly occur online. This online preference, she notes, is largely due to its minimal planning requirements.
“It is more addictive for boys and it’s hard for them to pull away from that,” Gifford states. She shares a telling anecdote: “We have literally sent our kid knocking on doors asking other kids to play or ride bikes, and they say no because they’re gaming.”
Gaming: A Social Avenue with Limitations
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically accelerated gaming habits; in 2022, males aged 15 to 24 dedicated 13 hours a week to games, a sharp increase from 7.5 hours in 2019. Many found it a valuable means of connection during lockdowns, with evidence suggesting it helped alleviate stress and depression. Notably, gaming time has not reverted to pre-pandemic levels since.
Julian Minkoff, 19, recalls playing Fortnite and Minecraft with friends during the pandemic as “really, really helpful.” Even now, at college, he often uses video games to socialize with dorm mates, emphasizing, “It’s really good at creating memories.”
A study by the Digital Wellness Lab revealed that while lonelier adolescents, particularly boys, engaged in more gaming, it did not necessarily reduce their feelings of loneliness. Researchers suggest this might be because individuals with weaker social skills find online interactions more comfortable, inadvertently reducing their practice in offline social settings.
No researchers interviewed advocate for a complete ban on video games. They acknowledge gaming’s crucial role in modern childhood bonding and its documented benefits for cognitive abilities, problem-solving skills, mood regulation, and self-esteem.
Instead, experts advise parents to engage in gaming with their children, closely monitor screen time, and initiate conversations about potential risks. These risks include addiction, exposure to gambling, harassment, violence, or extremist ideologies. They also note that certain games are inherently safer than others.
The primary challenge, akin to managing other forms of screen time, rests with individual parents to navigate. Aubrey Quinn, a senior vice president at the Entertainment Software Association, highlights that the video game industry provides numerous resources for parents. These include a comprehensive game rating system and various safety controls, allowing parents to limit screen time or block unwanted interactions with other players.
Conversely, some experts in youth and technology argue that tech companies themselves bear the initial responsibility to implement safeguards, proactively blocking addictive or unsafe features within their products from impacting children.
Bennett Sippel, a research assistant at the Tech and Society Lab, emphatically states, “Parents’ boundaries don’t stand a chance against products designed to keep kids hooked.” He concludes, “Platforms must take responsibility.”