"The best thing about childhood, the bit that makes up for people constantly telling you what to do and where to be, is that you have those years outside the productive economy, where no one thinks to measure your worth by the net value you create, where all you have to do is grow and be endearing. While it remains the case that none of them is creating any value, in every other respect they are at the coal face, wage slaves without the wages. I’m worried that the kids have a seriousness of purpose, a rigidity of application totally out of whack with the task in hand, that nobody should rightly learn until their mid-20s...."
From "Video games have turned my kids into wage slaves – but without the wages" by Zoe Williams (The Guardian).
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7 comments:
Temujin writes:
I have two sets of grandkids. Two of them are growing up in a house of tech parents where spending hours of time gaming is seen as a positive. The kids (still very young) have become detached from relating to us. They stare at some sort of video pretty much all day. Inside, outside. They have a tablet or some sort of device in hand. And when corralled to speak with the grandparents via Facetime, they manage about 2 minutes of reluctant grunts before they head back to a large screen video game. They just seem glum and unable to connect with other human beings. (interestingly similar to adult New Yorkers these days). I cannot imagine how a generation of these kids will do anything other than respond to commands from a higher authority as they get older. I think they'll yearn for an authority to take care of the things that need to be done, so they have more free time for videos. These kids are growing up in or near a large urban area.
The other two, growing up in a more rural area, are even younger so we'll see how it goes, but the other parents are not allowing their kids any video time at all. They know it's inevitable, but are hoping to keep it at arms length during these most important brain development years. The oldest (who is still only 3) loves the outdoors, goes on hikes with his dad, is extremely creative and finds a multitude of ways to play with his toys, creating scenarios and little worlds of his own. And books. He loves books and is starting to be able to read. He is smart, creative, happy, and extremely engaging with others. His sister is still a baby, but she'll probably be raised in the same way as much as possible given that, by then, videos will have crept into her brother's life.
I watch it and it only reinforces my belief that, while the internet changed the world for the good in so many ways, it has also destroyed the fabric of our society. And I'm not sure we get it back.
Paul writes:
Zoe Williams: "There are currently three computer games occupying the house: the 13-year-old (M), sometimes in conjunction with the 11-year-old (F), plays Fortnite, a game mainly about shooting people; the 13-year-old (F), also sometimes with the collaboration of the 11-year-old, plays Genshin Impact, a whimsical, open-world environment game, whatever the hell that means. Avatars dressed as pirates or fairies wander about the place, doing chores, occasionally fighting giant warthogs. Mr Z plays Hitman, another shooting game with very densely layered storylines, though he always skips them so never knows what’s going on beyond that; the aim is to leave everyone else dead in a laundry hamper."
Ms. Williams doesn't understand any of the games she describes.
"Fortnite, a game mainly about shooting people..."
"Fortnite is a Free-to-Play Battle Royale game and so much more. Hang out peacefully with friends while watching a concert or movie. Build and create your own island, or fight to be the last person standing." — Fortnite home page
Fornite is, first and foremost, a social media platform. It also happens to have a Battle Royale mode.
"the 13-year-old (F), also sometimes with the collaboration of the 11-year-old..."
Isn't it rather endearing, and surprising, that the same game appeals, even a bit, to a 13-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother?
"Genshin Impact, a whimsical, open-world environment game, whatever the hell that means."
Perhaps Ms. Williams should look up open world game and find this article on Wikipedia. The problem is, the explanation, and list of examples, destroys her predetermined narrative of "task-driven, repetitive and often frustrating."
"Hitman, another shooting game... the aim is to leave everyone else dead in a laundry hamper."
Categorically incorrect. First of all, while you can shoot people, that's generally not the best way to assassinate someone. Also, part of the point is to only kill your assigned targets—it reduces your score to kill innocent people, and you increase your score by, e.g. killing your targets in ways that look like an accident. Ideally, none of the NPCs even know you were there. Ideally ideally, you don't even don any disguises in the process.
There may be good critiques of some—maybe even many, or most—modern games. But this particular selection of examples exhibits both ignorance and, by the author's own admission, overlooks their social nature. The result reads like nothing more than half-generation-gap whining (or, I suppose, whinging), and half-culture-gap whining (there's shooting in these games)!
“ It’s nothing like having a job. It’s like being trapped in a nightmare that is much more real than any of my nightmares. I love it.” — Zoe Williams
My inalienable right to enslave myself in pursuit of real nightmares shall not be infringed by government.
PatHMV writes:
I have an 8-year old daughter who loves to play Minecraft. Looked at from one perspective, she engages in a great many activities that are "Task-driven, repetitive, monotonous but immersive, [and] often very frustrating." The end result of all that time? She has created elaborate, beautiful, functional houses, castles, pathways, farmed terraces, even a roller coaster! She proudly brings her creations to me for review and praise, and it's clear to me that she's had a lot of fun doing it.
The author's next line, about repetitive and monotonous activities being like a "bullshit job" is what gives her away. She believes that repetitive and monotonous activities are beneath her, rather than required components of human existence on this planet.
Presumably, she would not classify piano playing as a "bullshit job," but ask any decent piano player how they got good, and they will tell you that they spent thousands of hours in "repetitive and monotonous" activities, while they were "immersed" in that task. That's how you get good at anything. Architects are creative professionals, but nearly every architect I know had to spend quite a number of dues-paying formative years doing very mundane, repetitive work before they got good enough to design the really "fun" stuff.
More importantly, the purpose of childhood is not to "have fun," but to become prepared to be a real, functioning adult, a "productive member of society." Sure, it's better (produces better adults) if it can be fun, and no children should be hobbled by overwork to the point of exhaustion, but childhood is also a time to practice adult behaviors at much lower stakes. Puppies play-fighting together (clearly having fun) are also evolutionary behaviors that prepared those puppies to survive as adults, back when they were wild animals.
Ms. Williams has no one to blame but herself for her kids' behavior. Don't like what they're doing? Take the devices away. Do what parents have been doing for centuries: "Get out of my house! Go outside and play!" Or tell them to go read a book. Or play a board game with them. We do all of those things in my house. It's called balance. The problem is not the video games, the problem is spending too much time on any one activity, to the detriment of all others.
Kay writes:
"I don’t play video games myself, but a lot of the activity on social media feels like mindless, repetitive, work to me. It also feels like there’s a game-like aspect to a lot or social media. "
LA_Bob writes:
Let's consider Zoe Williams's surprisingly (and gratifyingly) short article in the context of Temujin's comment.
The first pair of grandkids seem mind-numbingly attached to computer screens. The other grandkids aren't there yet. Maybe they will be and maybe not. But the three-year-old is just fine without them.
What Zoe doesn't seem to understand is that the major experience of childhood is boredom punctuated by intense experience, sometimes pleasant, sometimes not (we're assuming "normal" circumstances here; no abuse, neglect, or other profound dysfunctionality). There's school, of course, which is "work", and some degree of chores. There may be structured activities (such as sports, music, dance, and so on). But the remaining time challenges many a child. What do I do now?
Video games and television -- screens -- fill that void and do it very well. Parents find they make great baby-sitters. They offer images, involvement, control, and responsiveness, and even very young children love them.
If you give children other things to do and pay attention to them, they will happily do those things. At fifty, I was taking my two-year-old grandson to the park and playing with him on the swings and the monkey bars (I noticed few parents "participating" to that degree). I can tell you he loved it. Later on, we rode bicycles and went swimming. I also took him bowling and miniature-golfing. Later on it was laser tag, paintball, and shotgun and pistol shooting.
Most of his friends were from school or karate, so at home he was alone a lot. Of course, he did things with his parents, too. Theme parks, movies, school activities, board games. And he played video games as well.
So, Zoe, chill out about the video games. If it bothers you so much your kids are "unpaid wage slaves" to the screen, take them out of the house sometime. Play with them. Or find them some kids to play with. You might be surprised.
ALP writes:
From the title of this article, I was convinced it was about microtransactions in gaming. THAT is a real issue as games will extract tiny amounts of money over and over and over to enable the gamer to move forward at all. On the parent's credit card, of course.
Reading the comments, it doesn't sound like anyone read to the end of the article:
"The best solution I’ve come up with is to find a game of my own. I play Five Nights at Freddy’s on a virtual reality headset. The genre is indie horror, which I think means it’s like regular horror except with bears and a more sinister atmosphere. It’s nothing like having a job. It’s like being trapped in a nightmare that is much more real than any of my nightmares. I love it."
In the end, she chose the "if you can't beat them, join them."
My own thoughts on this: I started gaming as an old fart - around 40 or so. There are many ways gaming can sharpen your thinking in addition to your reflexes. The key is to keep it in its place and not let it push out everything else. If I had kids I'd probably let them game in moderation.
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