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Video games teach, entertain |
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Thursday, 09 November 2006 |
by JON LAFONTAINE
A general standard for comparing what parents deem as good video games versus bad video games is something that comes from what psychologist’s book is mom or dad reading now.
Regardless of what certain psychologists say or believe, there are two
games that come to mind that most everyone’s parents would consider
thought-provoking, wholesome games.
“SimCity” and “Oregon Trail” are both interactive and teach children
how to deal with managing money, supplies and caring for the people
they are continually looking after. With both of these games, the child
has a sense of providing for their families.
With such games as these, why would anyone ever question the moral ethics and standards of a video game?
Oh yes, I forgot, what about those war games?
Before discussing the war games, be aware there is a rating system in
place and most war games either fall under the mature (17+) or teen
(13+) ratings.
The fact of the matter is World War II was bloody and violent, and a World War II video game is about history.
Not only do these war games follow the historic bloody and violent time
line, they also incorporate culture, foreign languages, map-reading
skills, mathematical thinking and geometric reasoning.
Katherine and Roxanne Ward, video game behavior analysts, said video
games often build vocabulary, incorporate real-world geography, enforce
literary references, explore moral issues and create unique artistic
appeal.
Children learn through interactive video games. These video games teach
actions and ideals that happen in the world today. Not only is
knowledge coming out of a child’s video game extravaganza – mental
growth is also apparent.
“Fear, greed, power-hunger, rage: these are aspects of ourselves that
we try not to experience in our lives but often want, even need, to
experience vicariously through stories of others,” according to an
essay by Melanie Moore, Ph.D., a psychologist who works with urban
teens. “Children need violent entertainment in order to explore the
inescapable feelings that they’ve been taught to deny, and to
reintegrate those feelings into a more whole, more complex, more
resilient self-hood.”
Some games do not have anything to do with history of the world and are
violent. Parents often times do not look past the obvious fact that a
game is violent in order to analyze character building techniques these
games have to offer.
According to Moore, certain feelings need to be released. Otherwise,
you have unnecessary build-up of aggressive emotions that could
potentially cause a person to snap.
Everyone is born with innate aggression. With some, this aggression is
higher than others. It does not matter whether you play a video game or
not, aggression is not caused by violent video games.
The history of the world 2,500 years ago would show that there was more
killing per capita than what is going on today. Whenever nations
fought, they would not only kill the men of the city, but also the
women, children and even the pet dog Spot. Any living thing or any
building was burned and destroyed.
You know, I bet these killings were because of games like “Grand Theft
Auto.” I know if I were a Greek soldier, I would definitely be “popping
a cap.”
Of course, intelligent people can see that this theory of violent video
games causes violent people is entirely ridiculous and ignorant.
Video games offer many different forms of skill-building techniques that people forget about.
Remember, video games don’t kill people, people kill people.
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I'm glad that the Appalachian is wise enough to provide both sides.