Diane Chen said: >Shonda Brisco, MLIS
US / Technology Librarian
Fort Worth Country Day School
Fort Worth, TX
sbrisco@fwcds.org
>>> Many myths are debunked, such as the idea that videogame playing makes you
>anti-social.
If you could see my house of 4 teenage boys playing X-box live, Gamecube and
2 computers simultaneously - all interacting with each other and
friends via the internet, you'd know this is not entirely a solitary sport.>>>>
While I am investigating this video gaming situation (both in real life and through
observation of others' comments---I too, have a house-filled with boys and adult
men (my husband and his adult, police-officer cousin--- who enjoy video games), I
have also seen the other side of the video game obsession (and this IS an obsession
in many ways).
Just this week I watched the A&E series entitled "Intervention"
http://www.aetv.com/intervention/about.jsp
which involved a young adult male whose family and girlfriend went to an
intervention specialist to get their son / boyfriend help with his obsession with
gaming. This young man had become isolated, even with the options of playing online
with others, and began to fail to communicate with his family, go to work, and live
in the "real world"--he started to speak as the characters on the video games. The
situation that was presented was obviously extreme, but I am still not convinced
that playing games ALL THE TIME is educational and not harmful (and for most
students, the summer offers an endless gaming season--at my house, I am encouraging
"field trips" outside to the museums, the library, and special events like the
circus, just to require social interaction and some time off from the games).
On the flip side, I DO think that being aware of gaming and the impact that it has
on our students is important for librarians. I also think that libraries can
become a part of the video game craze through purchases of games for their
collections, but I think that for many school libraries, this is an expense that
can't / won't be pursued because of budgets, selection policies, etc. (And as I
write, I am remembering the impact of video tapes, DVDs and other technology had as
it entered the library programs....we were concerned about their effects on
education, student learning, instruction. Are PS2, X-box, and Gamecube games the
next thing for librarians to worry about? I think it's coming faster than we
thought. I just don't know how to prepare for it without cynical thoughts.)
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