Unit 9 Kids and Computers Digital Danger翻译

Unit 9 Kids and Computers: Digital Danger

Alison Sperry

1.

There's

a

familiar

saying,

is

children's

work.

Through

play,

people

who

study

child

development tell us, children develop the skills and outlooks that determine the adults they will

become.

Playing house or school, for example, helps them

teacher. Athletic activities help kids develop coordination, learn to work as part of a group, and

gain

confidence

and

a

sense

of

fair

play.

Even

solitary

activities

like reading

connect

children

with the wider world, encouraging a sense of empathy with the greater human family.

2.

But

in

very

recent

years, other

forms

of

entertainment

have had

an

enormous

impact

on

growing children. For many kids, computer activities and video games now take up much --even

most -- of the time formerly devoted to more traditional forms of play. Entering adulthood now

are the first Nintendo babies, a generation raised more on Virtual Boy and Mortal Kombat than

baseball and Uncle Wiggly. How have they been affected by this change in the concept of

Social scientists, parents, and talk show pundits will be debating the question for years to come.

But

we

can

start

drawing

our

own

conclusions.

As

amusing

and

ingenious

as

electronic

entertainment can be, children -- and society they live in -- are the losers when they rely on these

forms

of

fun.

Unlike

traditional

games

and

toys,

entertainment

encourages

kids

to

be

unimaginative, socially immature, and crudely desensitized to the world around them.

3.

Watch a child take a ball of Play-Doh in her hand and begin to roll it experimentally. First

it's a simple ball, then a snake. The snake might become a figure eight or a bracelet. She coils the

bracelet

on

top

of

itself

to

create

a

pot

that

she

uses

for

a

make-believe

tea

party.

Next

she

smashes the pot back into a ball, which may next morph into a snowman, a horse's head, a bunny,

a sea serpent, or a skyscraper. With nothing but her hands and an inexpensive chunk of flour and

salt, she forms a universe in which she makes the rules and creates the inhabitants. When she

tires of it, she can wad it back into a shapeless mass that awaits her next creative impulse. The

act of playing with the Play-Doh sparks other interests

—

maybe she'll work with modeling clay

that she can bake into a permanent form, or paints, or papier-m?ché Although she doesn't give

what she's doing a great deal of thought, she's learning something valuable: I am a creator. I can

give my ideas tangible form.

4.

A video game, on the other hand, is cynically programmed to give the illusion of creativity.

The player is given various choices at every turn

—

Which door will I go through? Which weapon

will

I

use?

What

clue

shall

I

read?

—

But

they

are

choices

in

the

same

sense

that

a

pigeon's

pecking at a lever to get a grain of corn is a choice. The player is as much a tool of the game as

the

joystick.

Her

momentary

fun

is

unsatisfying

because

it

leads

not

to

any

genuine

sense

of

achievement

but

only

to

the

hypnotic

experience

of

watching

someone

else's

creation

unfold.

Hand a ball of Play-Doh to a child reared on the sterile adventure of video games, and you're apt

to

get

a

blank

look

and

the

hesitant

question,

do

I

do

with

it?

The

video game

player

learns her own lesson: I don't create. I let someone else's creativity happen in front of me.

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5.

It's a beautiful Saturday in autumn, and a group of kids are playing a pickup game of soccer.

A dispute arises about whether a kick went over the foul line. Some of the kids are sure it did;

others insist that it did not. Voices are raised; tempers flare. Maybe a hothead or two will stalk off

the

field.

But

the

sky

is

crystal

blue,

and

there

are

chores

waiting

at

home.

Making

a

quick

calculation about the relative benefits of continuing the game, the players work out a solution.

Maybe they replay the kick. Maybe they flip a coin. Maybe they agree to say that the ball was fair,

or foul. Their willingness to compromise, to accept the idea that such give-and-take is part of life,

allows the game to proceed. The players move on, having learned a small lesson about getting

along with others.

6.

Contrast

that

scene

with

the

world

of

the

Internet

chat

rooms,

where

many

adolescents

spend uncountable hours. On that same lovely Saturday, a young Internet queen hunches over

her keyboard, alone in her room. Her buddy list includes dozens, even scores, of

never met. Her fingers fly across the keyboard as she races from one dialogue box to another,

keeping up multiple conversations. These are peculiar conversations, however, including none of

the vulnerability that is part of real-world friendship. In the buddy-chat world, status is based on

the ability to keep up a rapid pace of one-liners, insulting zingers, caustic put-downs. The chat

queen's most intimate friendships take the form of brief alliances with buddies who join with her

to

too,

zap!

She

can

instantaneously

erase

him

from

her

buddy

list,

or

even

block

him

so

he

is

unable to contact her again. It's no great loss. There are literally millions of new acquaintances

waiting to be picked up in a chat room to fill that void. The lesson: I shouldn't have to work at

relationships. They come and go instantly and at my convenience. If someone displeases me, I

can make that person disappear.

7.

When kids sit down to play Monopoly, they form a loosely knit group that is still part of the

world around it. When company arrives at the house, it's no problem to halt the game briefly.

The players can greet visitors, laugh together, talk about the game, even quickly rearrange it to

include new players. Even after the game continues, chatting with other players and non-players

is

easily

accomplished.

Despite

their

involvement

in

the

game,

the

players

are

not

ruled

by

it.

Human contact, courtesy, and communication are not seen as threats to their enjoyment. They

are

learning

that

they

can

enjoy

their

own

activities

and

still

be

sensitive

to

the

larger

world

around them.

8.

Contrast

this

board

game

scene

with

one

that

has

become

depressingly

familiar

in

many

living

rooms.

Visitors

arrive

at

a

home

to

find

a

child

hunched

in

front

of

the

TV

set,

video

controls in his lap. Even when spoken to directly, he does not pull his eyes from the screen.

playing!

Far too

often,

even

his

parents,

intimidated

by

the

high- priced,

high-tech

gadget

that

has

sucked

their

child's humanity away, tiptoe around rather than disturb him. The game itself is all too likely to be

one

that

presents

the

most

hideous

suffering

as

entertainment,

with

the

player

in

the

role

of

psychotic killer -- maybe in Duke Nukem, with its

Bloody Roar, which offers the player

ever.

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