FAQ when talking about games

A colleague at the Macarthur Foundation is collecting “frequently asked questions” about games and learning, and asked me for the top questions I get asked when I talk about games–as well as the answers I (more or less) usually give.

Here’s what I sent her:

1. Aren’t a lot of computer games violent and bad for kids?

Well, yes, there are a lot of bad games out there, just as there are a lot of bad books out there. And there are some good games that aren’t appropriate for young kids.

To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book of all time, but I don’t read it with my 7 year old.

The more important question, it seems to me, is to look at what makes games good, and how we can help children learn to choose good games and play them well.

2. What should I do as a parent or teacher about computer games?

Good parenting and good teaching don’t simply mean turning kids loose in a media jungle. Wise parents and good teachers need to do become educated about games and engage with their children. They need to help their children choose appropriate games.

Playing games with children is one of the best ways to do that, and what parent wouldn’t want to do things with their kids?

At the very least talking with them about the games–what works and what doesn’t, what is interesting about the game, what they are learning, what the strategies are–is an important part of helping kids play games thoughtfully and reflectively, and that reflection is an important part of the learning that can happen in games.

Henry Jenkins makes the excellent point that although that might not always be our first choice as parents, we spend a lot of time at soccer games and violin recitals and other things that we do not because we like them but because they matter to our kids.

3. Do we really need games to learn? Aren’t they just something that helps motivate kids?

Yes, we really do need computer games. They aren’t just something that would be “nice to have” because they “make learning more fun.”

Computers and video games are tools that let us make simulations that let players do things that are too expensive, too complicated, too dangerous to in the real world. In that sense good games can be more authentic than school by offering more realistic and more meaningful ways of thinking about problems that matter in the world–the kind of problems that young people need to be able to solve if they are going to find good jobs, express themselves in an increasingly technological world, and figure out how to keep us from melting the planet, using up all the water we have, or just killing each other off in the fight for dwindling resources.

4. Can’t kids get addicted to playing games?

Yes, people can become addicted to anything that they like. Kids need a balance in the things they do: read books, do arts and crafts, watch TV and movies and learn to do that responsibly, play sports, hike in the woods, sit around talking with friends about nothing in particular. But kids also need a chance to use the technologies that are shaping the world they live in, and computer games are one way to do that.

Part of our job as adults is to help children find a good balance, and sometimes that means saying “no” when they want to do things they want to do. If someone is doing anything–playing computer games, reading books, playing sports, whatever–to the point where it interferes with their ability to maintain healthy relationships, function in school or work, if they become belligerent when asked to stop, well, then there is a problem, and you need to get help to solve it.

The post should be appearing on the Macarthur Digital Learning and Media Blog sometime soon….