My own 2 cents, for whatever it's worth -- in this economy prob'ly less than 0. :-)
...meet young people who are in prison because they seem to have no real sense of right or wrong...
...and tell me if they honestly say they think such games would be helpful to the kind of youngsters who murdered James Bulger!
I would like to hear comments from others on the subject.
Lesley Wells
I'm not sure how much effect a game can have on kids. Some of those you mentioned in prison may have been put on that path long before they could manage pretty much any video game, not by virtue of who they are but by where they lived. I grew up in an environment in the 60s where we went to school armed in 2nd/3rd grade [we'd straighten large diaper safety pins into shivs carried hidden in our un-tucked shirt tails -- it's worse of course nowadays, but we couldn't get our hands on anything else back then]. If there was a fight, including the one-sided affairs, if someone wound up on the ground everyone watching would rush in kicking -- perhaps one reason gangs became so popular later on. It was less about having low expectations for the future & more about not expecting a future. In that sort of situation games can't compete with real life. That said, since we can't make a wish & change the world, trying to reach those you can should be applauded, Lesley. Thanks.
...today's game simply by the fact that it's including the name of a real live person changes the rules for me and I consider it in very bad taste...
I think you've hit on the essence of it Whiterabbit. Thankfully not every kid suffers that sort of environ I had or worse. Whatever their life is like however I think we should remember that as adults we see more shades of grey than kids/teens/young adults that haven't fully matured psychologically -- though they're not hesitant to exploit that perspective to get their way, I think they realize it as just a ploy. Not letting your kids play BiberKicker & then carrying on watching the soccer match can make you a hypocrit in their eyes [the difference you see they may not], used as excuse to forget everything else you'd teach them. If as adults we try to set an example or send a message above all we need to be consistant in their eyes, not ours. IMHO everything about BiberKicker should be condemned like any other personal attack, because it is a personal attack -- condeming today's Game GOTD, & then later ranting about the boss or some politician/political candidate unfurls that hypocrit banner in many a kid's perspective [I only wish more adults felt that way too]. If BiberKicker is wrong, I don't think you're going to convince a kid it's because you're *kicking* a cartoon head -- much worse happens to cartoon characters & in the newspaper comics every day. It's wrong because that head represents an individual, by name, providing a way to attack them personally. If that's wrong, & I believe it is, than so is every other personal attack, every attack based on whom a person is or what they think, rather than dissagreeing with whatever it is they do &/or advocate &/or the ideas they present. Granted it's much easier to attack an individual [which is probably why personal attacks are so popular, particularly in the media], but then I've never heard of anyone actually trying to teach anyone to be lazy.
In a side note, I can well imagine the GOTD & Wheemplay crews being a little perplexed -- we read & watch & many often take part in personal attacks on political, governmental, banking, corporate leaders etc. all day long, 7 days a week, yet this cartoonish game gets the heat. If I'm right, I hope too many don't hold it against either if they in fact they just misunderstood popular western politics/culture... it's popularly acceptable to personally attack those people whom it is popular to dislike, though you have to be careful, e.g. only attacking the left when you're among the right & vice versa, or you could find yourself in big trouble. Unfortunately the only people I can imagine really disliking Justin Bieber at that level are the fathers of Bieber enraptured daughters. :-)
