Beer, Pornography and Video Games (Part 3 of 3)
Friday, August 29th, 2008I promised to share a story that is at odds with the perception of Jack Thompson and his believers. I believe gaming is beneficial more often than it is harmful. I gathered this from not only my own experience as a youth and an adult, but from those in the gaming communities I’ve been a part of over the years. Gaming taught me much about community, technology and science that I would have never been interested in otherwise, and this is far more common an occurrence in my experience than the horror stories portrayed by Thompson.
I recently received an e-mail from the mother of a youngster named Douglas. She found that gaming actually helped him overcome many of the hurdles his autism presented him with. He had difficulty reading and writing when he finished the first grade, and yet really wanted to play World of Warcraft.
She writes:
“He really wanted to play WoW and had been literally begging but we’d never let him because 1) he still had a hard time reading and 2) he was practically incapable of writing and basically refused to do it in any form. We made a deal with him that he could play it over the summer after first grade with the understanding that those things were a part of the game. By the time school started back up for second grade, he was reading ABOVE the recommended level when tested. Normally kids lose a few levels over the summer. He started out the summer a few levels below what they wanted and ended it several above. He also was typing very nicely and now loves to write. He fills up his writing notebook and likes to take it with him.”
She continued:
“He also went from a child that didn’t want to play with others or even talk to them much to child who enjoys playing with other kids. He also loves to talk about games and he has friends now. I do attribute that, in large part, to learning to communicate with others through WoW and it carried over. He loves grouping, doing PvP, and other social type stuff in game and it’s a huge change from the fearful, withdrawn kid he once was.
“I can’t credit everything to WoW, but it certainly made a big difference. He went from being a child that had to be ‘promoted’ to both first and second grade because he didn’t pass, wouldn’t and couldn’t write, played by himself, and had troubles reading… to the child he is today who no longer receives any form of special education services except for speech and was getting upper 80 averages on his report cards. There was a point in time I truly despaired if he would ever be able to live a normal life. While I still worry, I know that he is now almost unrecognizable from other kids. You really have to know what you are looking for to realize that he’s autistic.”
I met young Mr. Douglas a few weeks ago, and I have to admit, she’s absolutely correct. I had no idea he dealt with autism until I later received his mother’s e-mail. I did know, however, that he was a bright young lad who LOVED gaming.
The moral I am trying to impart is this: If your child is interested in gaming, you don’t need to discourage it. Gaming can teach a child many things, and an interest in gaming, if approached correctly, can be highly beneficial. The anti-gaming hype we’ve been inundated with over the past several years is highly overblown. If your kiddo wants to game, pick up the controller and game with them! You may think video games are a waste of time, but any time you spend with your child doing what that child wants to do is definitely time well spent!
Gaming is worse than alcohol? Ridiculous!










