Abstract
This study is a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the primary leisure pursuits of children in the computer age. In a society dominated by electronic media, the conceptualisation of ‘leisure’ is rapidly changing and there is a perception that children are increasingly using technology as entertainment. In light of growing concerns that there may be an association between the use of television-based video games such as *Playstation and *Nintendo, and the increasing number of childhood behavioural disorders being diagnosed, these leisure pursuits are worthy of further investigation. The quantitative component of this research is a comparative analysis of leisure activities of six-to-eight-year-old children by gender. The qualitative component draws from parental responses to open-ended questions. The findings confirm the assumption that boys spend substantially more time engaged with interactive technological pursuits than do girls of the same age. However, the findings also suggest there is a growing level of parental anxiety concerning this social phenomenon. The parental concerns expressed in this study justify exploration, especially considering that this data reflects personal and confidential, first-hand observations of the physical and mental health of children.
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