Well, after much conversation with the intelligent and insightful people that I work with, and many minutes of deep thought on the subject (setting aside the whole ‘suck it up and actually parent your kids, thing) here are my thoughts on how to combat the sheer volume of talk about how Video Games Are Destroying The Very Fabric Of Society:

Calm, rational, well expressed rebuttals that don’t mock those expressing concern. Also, live a good example.

Well, ok, mock them, but be smart about it. Be Jon Stewart on The Daily Show pointing out that parents have the power to forbid a game they feel is too violent. (ok, so I did mention the ‘parent your kid’ thing. So sue me.) Satire is an extremely effective way to point out the ridiculousness of a point of view, but that doesn’t give you permission go out and start harassing protesters outside a Game Stop. Satire is extremely difficult to do well, and Jon Stewart has a team of lawyers waiting in the wings, just in case.

So. Back to the calm, rational, well expressed rebuttals. There is no lack of forums in which to put forth a good point, the trick is how you express yourself. Remember back in high school when they taught how to write argument papers? No? Go back and look at your notes. Do not resort to name calling. It will not convince anyone of anything but the weakness of your argument.

Now that you have a good way to express your concern about the spurious arguments against your favorite pastime? Well, newspapers are often a good place to start. Letters to the editor regarding an article decrying violent video games will very likely be read by those you are trying to convince. Heck, you might even be able to write a whole article, if you can convince your newspaper to take it! Blogs are also a good place to express yourself- whether your own or in the comments of someone else’s. Chat rooms are good if you can think (and type) quick with your arguments. One of the best ways I’ve found to defend your point of view is actually the second thing I mentioned up there.

Live an example. What I mean by that is don’t be the stereotype that people point to when they decry the effects of video games and comics and such on Today’s Youth. We grew up with these things and we still enjoy them, so we ARE the results they are trying to vilify. We ARE the proof that these things don’t inevitably result in raging sociopaths out to bring our favorite game to life. We can distinguish real from imaginary just fine, thanks. We don’t try to fly or think that we can turn into elves or dragons or that we can find submachine guns in handy crates lying scattered about, and it is up to us to prove it.

Next week, if I remember it, I might talk about the ratings system on video games. Get into specifics and out of the blanket statements. Or maybe I’ll talk about fluffy kitties!!

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 29th, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under politics, Fandom, games, Neomera. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.