Just toys? Researchers say video games may be key to teaching youngsters.

Tired of badgering the kids to quit wasting time with those computer and video games and get started on homework? Here’s a news flash for the 21st Century: It turns out many of the games might be better than homework.

In a series of research projects as likely to thrill young people as they are to horrify their parents and teachers, academic experts across the country are unearthing educational benefits in the digital games that surveys show are now played by more than 80 percent of American young people ages 8 to 18.

At the top of the experts’ lists are simulation and role-playing games, often played on the Internet alongside thousands of other participants, because of the vocabulary, reasoning and social skills they can boost.

Click here to read the rest of the Chicago Tribune article, ‘Skip the textbook, play the video game.’

By Howard Witt
Chicago Tribune senior correspondent