Not surprisingly, I've found a lot of material suggesting that "good" video games can be helpful in promoting some form of literacy among children. After all, they are learning much about why characters make decisions, conventions of story, and how to form compelling material. The articles I've read, however, have offered only a cursory treatment of what I'll call "bad" video games -- ones that offer heavy doses of violence and realism, ones that further offensive gender stereotypes, etc. While some games might offer content and depth that promote healthy literacy habits like those mentioned above, what about games such as these?
It seems to me that none of the authors I've read would be entirely dismissive of the violent/suggestive genre of gaming, although I'm yet to see the research to justify a claim of any kind. The question is, however, as one author puts it: "is one type of narrative better or more valuable than the other?" (Ranker, 2006) The driving question for this paper came about as I saw more and more students with whom I worked consumed with violent gaming to the point where any opportunity they were given to write/draw ended with gore-soaked depictions of the games they played. From a strictly literary standpoint, you could do work with their content and craft. But is it OK? Should these students (often low-income males in my experience) be told: "I'd like for you to make some other choices in regard to content?" And if so, when?
I tend to lean toward the literary -- let them write what they write and work on craft. But it's content I would hope my sons would not write, and as a teacher, where do we draw the line between explicitly promoting literacy and implicitly condoning sex and violence?
This sounds like a really interesting paper and I look forward to reading it! I know that when I was in college the first time I read a lot of research that violent video games and TV shows actually don't increase the tendency for students to act out violent acts. But, this seems so contrary to common sense, that I never really knew where I stood on the subject. I know that I have had stubborn students write a "death note" journal entry for me, just so they would have some excitement in what they are writing. But, I have never really cared about content when I asked them for an assignment. So, do you have a stance right now? Best of luck, it sounds quite interesting!
ReplyDeleteMatt, have you heard of Jane McGonigal? She writes games that save the world. Or will. Her big idea is that let's have all those creative minds working towards solutions instead of mundane things, so she write world games that suck you in and make you part of a big, problem-solving brain trust. She did a TED presentation. http://www.avantgame.com/. I don't believe any of her stuff is for kids yet, but I'm sure it's coming. She has some interesting ideas that have nothing to do with violent games but lots of storytelling.
ReplyDeleteThere was a BBC report out in the last year that confirms the desensitizing effect of violent video games, but the big conclusion was one you've already heard: playing video games prevents many children from doing the things they really need to do in order to learn and grow--experience the world. Their view is skewed only because they don't have any other experience. Kids with more rounded lives didn't seem to be impacted by the video games as much. A lot of previous research was done on American middle class kids, where you don't see the impact of violent video games as strongly.
I have some avid gamers at my house, so I'm interested to see what you learn!
You've identified a crucial tension in inviting popular media into our classrooms! Where are the lines drawn? Who decides? There are not easy answers for these but they do require thoughtful consideration!
ReplyDelete