Legal Niches

Positive Thoughts: Boy Scouts Videogame Education

By james_fudge

While a good portion of the America's media and child advocacy groups jumped all over The Boy Scouts of America's video game related awards, some, like Bill Walsh, think it's a good idea. Walsh also tackles a similar media related award for the Girl Scouts that teaches about the positive and negative value of watching television.

At first glance these awards sounded like a bad idea to parents who want the scouting experience to center on learning about the Wilderness; but that's a pretty hypocritical approach considering all the awards and merit badges that deal with issues and skills that might not necessarily have anything to do with the scouting life.

Walsh points out the obvious: we now live in a media focused society, and taking the Rudolph Steiner-like approach to technology like television and video games isn't all the helpful. Instead, these awards are a motivation to teach kids about the media they consume on a daily basis. These award programs also reveal something that child advocacy groups don't want to admit: there are good things about television and videogames.

Here's a lengthy excerpt that brings home the crux of Walsh's argument: Read More

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Full post as published by GamePolitics.com on July 19, 2010 (boomark / email).