Issues in Contemporary Media and Entertainment

1. Awareness and Critical Thinking

1.1. Students need to know where things come and how they are marketed

1.2. Psychology – kids need to be aware of the things that are happening

1.3. Heavy ad placement in video games: did you notice this? (examples: Duracell, Deus Ex, Frontlines, )

2. Concerns regarding Video Games

2.1. - Effects of Violence: Of the top 10 selling video games of 2012, 5 are extremely violent in nature (if we are not counting NFL football simulation Madden 13 as extremely violent). The most popular games often involve combat. There have been many studies on this issue, but the majority of the findings point to video games as a factor in increasing aggression

2.2. - Increasing risk-taking tendencies: Most concerns regarding gaming issues focus on violence, but non-violent games involving the simulation of risky activity, such as the popular Need for Speed racing series, have been proven to promote more risk-taking activities in users.

2.3. - Gender and Racial Stereotyping: Video games often reflect stereotyped views of gender and race. Women are often overly sexualized, and in some cases treated misogynistically (such as in the Grand Theft Auto games, to give a famous example) and men are often portrayed as aggressors. Racially, the demographics in video game worlds do not reflect reality, as they contain relatively few minorities. Additionally, minorities are often showcased as stereotypical caricatures, and they often have less-than-flattering characteristics; black characters, for example, are “more likely to be represented as villains and [are] often given particularly frightening characteristics.”

2.4. - Attention Deficit: Longitudinal studies suggest that a child's frequency of gaming has a causal role in loss of attention capacity. This effect may be considerably larger in games requiring constant reactive behaviours (shooters and racers) than those requiring controlled thought and planning; the shooters and racers are of course more popular

2.5. - School Performance: There is a negative correlation between time spent gaming and school performance; however, causation is undetermined. It could be explained simply by displacement of time (the more time you spend gaming, the less you do studying), it could be that less successful students would prefer to play video games, a world in which they find success easier, or the aforementioned effects on attention span could be partially to blame

3. What to do as educators

3.1. - Introduce the students to pro-social and educational games. We know that the students are going to be gaming, we should steer them towards games that could have more positive influences

3.2. - Encourage parents to monitor the types of games that their children play and the amount of time spent playing them. They can do things such as monitoring the age ratings to the games and keeping game machines in common areas and out of bedrooms. They can also have open discussions about the content of the games.

3.3. - Have open discussions about the issues. Do not do this in a dichotomous "video games are bad" way. Rather, have an open discussion about the positive and negative aspects of gaming. Do not even demonize the violent games, just let students know that, though they are good fun, they are best used in moderation

3.4. - Discuss the process behind making video games, how, like any popular media, they are made for a profit, not to reflect any sort of reality. Advertisements are becoming much more prevalent in video games, with big corporations beginning to assert their influence over game content

3.5. - Promote Outdoor Education. Outdoor education can be a key tool it taking away from students’ excessive screen time and allowing them to appreciate nature, a healthy alternative to excessive gaming