Girls should play more computer games

Faroese pupils want to learn more about using IT tools. This became clear from analysing the latest PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results.

“Girls should get more involved in playing computer games and start doing so at a younger age;” Laufey Blaasvær, a political scientist at the Department of Education at Setrið, the University of the Faroe Islands, said on Tuesday as she presented the PISA results of Faroese pupils’ IT skills.

 >> SEE ALSO New screen time guidelines

“PISA and other tests reveal fundamental differences in how girls and boys use the internet. Girls focus mostly on social media while boys gravitate towards gaming environments.”

This has led researchers to believe that boys generally have stronger IT skills than girls and that this can be remedied by encouraging girls to get more involved in computer games.

“We’re recommending moderate gaming exposure, no more than one hour per day. Introducing girls to e.g. Playstation games as early as at age three could help develop their general IT awareness,” she said.

“We believe that this early introduction to IT would benefit girls in a learning environment which is becoming increasingly dominated by IT.”

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.