Who’s gaming?
Compare these two headlines, both reporting on the same survey:
- Nearly half of all adults play video games (PC World)
- Many parents avoid video games with kids (Washington Post)
Meanwhile, The Wired Campus reports that video games can promote health and peace.
I find it interesting (not surprising, though) that so many parents avoid video games. I was introduced to video games by my dad. This was back before the Xbox, back in the days of the VIC-20. My dad even wrote a game to teach my little brother how to use a joystick, a skill he apparently thought would be useful. I am sure that if the internet existed back then, my dad would have introduced us to that too.
In a recent piece in Library Journal, Terence Fitzgerald urges librarians to develop more of a sense of play in their work. I feel like I have that sense, and I wonder if it comes from growing up with computer games. To me, the computer was always something to try things out on, to experiment with. Gaming teaches you to play, to pick things up and try them out, to try to hack the system. Far too often, I see people who are afraid they will “break” the computer by playing with it. In most of my jobs, I’ve become a default Microsoft Office “expert”, but I didn’t get that way because I took lots of Microsoft training. I got that way by playing with the software when I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted.
I don’t believe video games can change the world, but I do think a sense of play, and a sense of DIY, can’t hurt the up-and-coming generation.
Oh, and thanks Dad!
