Thursday, July 18, 2013

Video Game Stigmas

By Kristin Weidick
Keweidic@syr.edu


Video Games:
·         Are a waste of time
o   Video games are works of art. They are feats of visual imagery, film, and logic. (Daley, 2011)
·         Cause violence
o   In their book Grand Theft Childhood, Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson found that video games help children and teenagers learn “collaboration, problem-solving, teamwork, and coping with negative emotion. (Levine, 2009)
o   A study performed by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention found that between the years 1994 and 2000 when videos became popular that violent crimes in juveniles ages 15-17 dropped 44% and in young adults ages 18-24 dropped 24%. (Theirer, 2003)
·         Don’t promote learning
o   Typically about half of gaming in school libraries is recreational, while the other half is designed to support the curriculum. (Nicholson, 2012)
o   Video games promote ”meaningful learning – including critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and intertextuality” (Hommel, 2010).
·         Cause antisocial behavior
o   “Many libraries are now using video games as an infrastructure to provide transformational experiences for traditional nonusers in order to connect with them on a personal level. When this happens, these connections become just as powerful as the ones today's adults experienced in their youth, and they give these teens that same sense of engagement with their libraries.” (Levine, 2009)
o   “A key way in which games differ from other forms of media is that they are participatory, and this participatory nature creates the opportunity for the library to create connections between users through facilitating shared experiences.” (Nicholson, 2012)

Resources:

Daley, M. (2011). Using Video Games to Embrace Inquiry: Learning for Life Through Fun. Knowledge Quest40(1), 66-69

Hommel, M. (2010). Video Games and Learning. School Library Monthly, 26(10), 37-40.

Levine, J. (2009). Gaming, All Grown Up. American Libraries40(8/9), 34-35.

Nicholson, S. (2012). Time to Play: Recreational Gaming at Libraries. ILA Reporter30(4), 12-15.

Thierer, A. (2003). Regulating Video Games: Must Government Change Mind Our Children?. Cato Institute:Tech Knowlegde. http://www.cato.org/publications/techknowledge/regulating-video-games-must-government-mind-our-children

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