Research by Emilie Smith, OIBR Fellow, Shows Game Reduces Hyperactivity and Delinquent Behavior in Children

Over the course of a five-year project, Emilie Smith, OIBR Fellow and head of the human development and family science department at UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences, and her team from Pennsylvania State University studied 72 community-based after-school programs in urban, suburban and rural areas in Pennsylvania and Georgia serving children from kindergarten to fifth grade. The staff and children in these programs played the Pax Good Behavior Game, or PaxGBG, a team-based game where children earn privileges to be more active and expressive at given times.  It is a game that encourages good behavior, positive reinforcement and self-regulation can keep children on task and out of trouble. Read more