Bond
04-02-2008, 04:36 PM
Here is my response to an editorial written today in the London Times. You can read the full article here (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3663097.ece).
"Scene 1. Gatwick South Terminal, spring 2008, early morning. Shafts of limpid sunlight. Nicely shampooed family of four in pastel Boden (not my own) step gateward on to airside travelator. Hols start now. Low-fare Europe beckons. Whither these lucky bourgeois paragons on such a blessed morn? Val T? Nicosia? Palermo? Like the kids could give a s***. They've got their noses in their matching pink and blue Nintendos, thumbs a-tremble, and they'd sooner get eaten by the travelator and spat out as mince than look up and take the slightest bit of interest in reality.
Scene 2. Later that week, elsewhere in Europe. Your notebooker is tired after lashings of fresh air and exercise and dinner with friends. Tired and a little emotional.
He says: “I will never buy my children a Nintendo. Never.”
The friends laugh.
Your notebooker: “I don't care what Dr Byron says. I will never buy my children a Nintendo. Or anything like it. Ever.”
The Times education editor: “Yes you will.”
Me: “You mean I have to give in?”
Her: “You have to give in. They'll hate you if you don't. This stuff is all part of their world and you should know about it. Don't worry. A lot of it is great.”
By the end of Scene 3, which our education editor concurs transpired more or less as above, I was more depressed than I can ever remember being. It was a sudden Marianas Trench of depression from which I knew I had to come out snarling or get stuck there. Hence this."
What the hell kind of opening for an editorial is this? First of all, the bourgeois has nothing to do with videogames - why even reference it? Secondly, this man's view of the world is so manichaest it's ridiculous. He's creating this false world where you can either: a) exercise and eat well or b) play videogames. That's simply not true. I personally exercise 5 days a week, eat a very healthy diet, and, oh my god, play videogames.
Also, the idea of "giving in" to your children by buying them videogames or else they'll "hate you" is also ridiculous. If your child is going to hate you over you not buying them a videogame console then I think there are more serious parenting issues, and your relationship between you and your child is extremely weak.
And the notion of videogames being part of "their world" is part of the problem here. When you have the mindset that something is not of "your world" then you are starting out with a stigma that it is something you can never understand or become accustomed to - which is simply not true. I have seen many senior citizens learn, enjoy, and embrace the wonders of the internet, even though it did not come from their generation. To ignore these new innovations is fine, but to dismiss them on the grounds that they are "not from my time so they must be evil" is not okay, it's ignorant.
"I hate video games, on or offline. I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them."
How in the hell do you get off comparing videogames to crack and teen pregnancy? Where is your empirical data? Where is your convincing qualitative argument. Oh, that's right, it's nowhere to be found.
"Scene 1. Gatwick South Terminal, spring 2008, early morning. Shafts of limpid sunlight. Nicely shampooed family of four in pastel Boden (not my own) step gateward on to airside travelator. Hols start now. Low-fare Europe beckons. Whither these lucky bourgeois paragons on such a blessed morn? Val T? Nicosia? Palermo? Like the kids could give a s***. They've got their noses in their matching pink and blue Nintendos, thumbs a-tremble, and they'd sooner get eaten by the travelator and spat out as mince than look up and take the slightest bit of interest in reality.
Scene 2. Later that week, elsewhere in Europe. Your notebooker is tired after lashings of fresh air and exercise and dinner with friends. Tired and a little emotional.
He says: “I will never buy my children a Nintendo. Never.”
The friends laugh.
Your notebooker: “I don't care what Dr Byron says. I will never buy my children a Nintendo. Or anything like it. Ever.”
The Times education editor: “Yes you will.”
Me: “You mean I have to give in?”
Her: “You have to give in. They'll hate you if you don't. This stuff is all part of their world and you should know about it. Don't worry. A lot of it is great.”
By the end of Scene 3, which our education editor concurs transpired more or less as above, I was more depressed than I can ever remember being. It was a sudden Marianas Trench of depression from which I knew I had to come out snarling or get stuck there. Hence this."
What the hell kind of opening for an editorial is this? First of all, the bourgeois has nothing to do with videogames - why even reference it? Secondly, this man's view of the world is so manichaest it's ridiculous. He's creating this false world where you can either: a) exercise and eat well or b) play videogames. That's simply not true. I personally exercise 5 days a week, eat a very healthy diet, and, oh my god, play videogames.
Also, the idea of "giving in" to your children by buying them videogames or else they'll "hate you" is also ridiculous. If your child is going to hate you over you not buying them a videogame console then I think there are more serious parenting issues, and your relationship between you and your child is extremely weak.
And the notion of videogames being part of "their world" is part of the problem here. When you have the mindset that something is not of "your world" then you are starting out with a stigma that it is something you can never understand or become accustomed to - which is simply not true. I have seen many senior citizens learn, enjoy, and embrace the wonders of the internet, even though it did not come from their generation. To ignore these new innovations is fine, but to dismiss them on the grounds that they are "not from my time so they must be evil" is not okay, it's ignorant.
"I hate video games, on or offline. I hate the way they suck real people into fake worlds and hold on to them for decades at a time. I hate being made to feel hateful for saying so, and I hate being told to immerse myself in them before passing judgment, because it feels like being told to immerse myself in smack and teenage pregnancy before passing judgment on them."
How in the hell do you get off comparing videogames to crack and teen pregnancy? Where is your empirical data? Where is your convincing qualitative argument. Oh, that's right, it's nowhere to be found.