Wendy Harmer- Warlike family fun

Wendy harmer has weighed in on the disucssions about World of Warcraft- food for thought...
http://tinyurl.com/y4y7t6


Wendy Harmer
October 31, 2006
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The debate is perennial, but at least one family finds real benefits in video gaming.
THE familiar "thwack, swish , thwack , clank. AAAARGH!" coming from the computer room tells me my eight-year-old son is grinding in the World of Warcraft. He's belting the hell out of assorted Taurens and Undead with his level 30 Paladin, but little does the young bloke know that there's a bigger battle being waged off-screen.

The forces of the Horde and the Alliance are hard at it again this week, debating the merits of the on-line game, which now boasts some 5 million players worldwide. A new exhibition at London's Science Museum asks the question: Are video games a blessing or a curse? Opinions are as widely divergent as the traverse across The Great Sea between the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.

You know the arguments by now: video games are either turning our kids into brain-dead, addicted cyber-lumps or training a super-race of analytical multi-taskers. Of course, the video game debate is a replay of the television argument that still rages half a century later. My father, a primary school teacher for some 40 years, thinks TV is one of the greatest educational tools ever invented. I feel the same way about video games. And, I believe, there's only one sure way to battle the so-called evils of on-line gaming - play right alongside your kids.

My father spent many hours watching television with his four children. He de-constructed the magic of the ads: "That toy racing car doesn't go by itself. You have to push it with your hand."
"Awww, Dad."

He wrecked many a TV show too: "There's a bloke inside that robot."
"Awww, DAD!"

But, looking back, I see we were given valuable tools that enabled us to be critical consumers of the medium. Likewise, my son and I play WoW together. ( I often muse on whether the Warcraft community has any idea that our on-line persona as a tough Level 30 Paladin is inhabited by an eight year-old boy and his 50-year-old mum!)

There is no doubt that the game is compulsive entertainment. The bloke who sold it to us said he'd been playing it for two years (that was a clue). I watched my son graduate from CD ROM games to Neopets and Club Penguin on-line, but with WoW he (we) have found the real thing! Game on!

From my observations, he's learning an astonishing range of skills.
One New York study found that surgeons who played video games were 30 per cent faster and more accurate than their non-gaming colleagues. Video games are used by the military to train fighter pilots. Problem-solving under stress, strategic and analytical thinking are two key areas where gamers do well.

However, through the virtual society in WoW, my son is also learning something more subtle: how to be a good citizen. As a member of a guild, he sees that if he actively participates in the social niceties, he will build a bank of goodwill that will be useful for his personal aims. From joining in party battles he learns that his contributions are critical for the success or otherwise of a mission.

These are big lessons for little boys who can be extremely ego-centric. The same lessons are learnt when my son plays in his rugby league team, but in the Warcraft world he is often playing alongside much older people who have high demands on courteous behaviour and fair conduct.
There is a need for competence in numeracy in many video games. My son has mastered the intricacies of the Stormwind auction house - how to research the going price for an item and then list it, so it will sell.

He has also learnt how to manage his stash of gold and spend it wisely, although he does have a weakness for buying pets, when his mother would rather a new spell.
As for his literacy skills? He has now been advised (by his maternal Guild Master) that he has to spend 15 minutes a day to learn to touch type - the same amount of time his younger sister devotes to her piano lessons. Players of WoW will already know that speedy and accurate reading is essential to good game play.

A further charge made against video games is that they are a solitary pursuit; however, my son's friends play the game too. They either play together on one computer, taking turns, or meet on-line. The most remarkable thing of all is to watch them charge into the backyard, armed with plastic swords and helmets, to play Warcraft in the real world (bad luck for the chooks that have to serve as hostile vultures!). I remember my brothers watching Bonanza or Gunsmoke and playing cowboys and indians down the local creek. In the end, thankfully, little boys will be little boys.

I am determined my son will never have a computer in his bedroom, even if it means that I will be accompanied by the "thwack, swish, clank" of his gaming for years to come. A new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine concludes that an indicator of internet addiction is a need to hide on-line activity from friends, family and colleagues. As long as the two of us are fighting over whose turn it is to have a go, I figure that can't happen.
Just as the great television experiment is still being played out, the educational outcomes for the video-game generation will not be known for many years. But with the industry now worth an estimated $A32 billion worldwide, there's one thing you can guarantee - we'll be having this argument long into the future.

I also know for sure that if our house is ever attacked by a yowling pack of Flamescale Dragonspawn , Heavy War Golem and Mottled Raptors, my son and I will be ready! Beware!!