Video Game Exposure and Academic Performance among Students of Libacao National Forestry Vocational High School

Background: The increasing accessibility of online video games has raised concerns about students' learning habits, classroom focus, and academic grades. Objective: This study determined the level of video game exposure among students and examined whether exposure differed by selected demographic characteristics and general weighted average (GWA). Methods: A quantitative descriptive-comparative design was used among 323 Grade 7 to Grade 12 students of Libacao National Forestry Vocational High School who had experience playing video games during School Year 2018-2019. A researcher-made four-point Likert checklist measured video game exposure, while first-grading GWA represented academic performance. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, means, t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and least significant difference (LSD) post hoc comparisons at alpha = .05. Results: Overall, 90 students (27.86%) had low exposure, 111 (34.37%) had mild exposure, 90 (27.86%) had moderate exposure, and 32 (9.91%) had high exposure. Exposure did not significantly differ by age (p = .153), family income (p = .709), or gender (p = .079), but it differed significantly by grade level (p < .001). GWA also differed significantly by exposure level (p < .001), with the low-exposure group obtaining the highest mean GWA (86.36). Conclusion: The findings indicate that lower video game exposure was associated with higher academic performance. However, because the design was descriptive and cross-sectional, the findings should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.