Some true quotes.

"There always have been and there probably always will be individuals who believe that children are innocent and who complain when they believe this innocence is being threatened". Judith F. Krug

"It's not what you're thinking about when you're playing a game, its the way your're thinking that matters". Stephen Johnson

Bibliography

Anderson, C.A., Buckley, K.E., Gentile, D.A. (2007). Violent Video Game Effects on Children and Adolescents Theory, Research, and Public Policy. New York: Oxford University Press.

Cox, M. (2005). The Pictorial World of the Child. USA: Cambridge University Press, New York.

Damasio, A. (2000). The Feeling of What Happens: Body, Emotion and the Making of Consciousness. London: Vintage.

Johnson, S. (2005). Everything Bad Is Good For You. New York: Riverhead Books.

Jones, G. (2002). Killing Monsters Why Children Need Fantasy, Super-Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence. New York: Basic Books.

Levine, M. (1996). Viewing Violence How Media Violence Affects Your Child’s and Adolescent’s Development. New York: Doubleday.

Shaw, D. (1996). The Pleasure Police How Bluenose Busybodies and Lily-Livered Alarmists Are Taking All the Fun Out of Life. New York: Doubleday.

Steins, R. (1995). Censorship: How Does It Conflict With Freedom? Canada: Fitzhenry & Whiteside Ltd.

Steyer, J.P. (2002). The Other Parent. New York: Atria Books.

West, M.I. (1988). Trust Your Children: Voices against Censorship in Children’s Literature. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

TED - David Perry on videogames

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/david_perry_on_videogames.html

Talk in todays class and research this evening

Today we got into our groups again as we did earlier with Snow Crash and had a great discussion about our projects. Craig also sat in on ours which was very helpful. I was given some interesting ideas to think about, namely these:

1) You can join the army at 17 but you cannot play the video game Call of Duty. Exposure to the 6pm news is also readily available to children.

2) While it may be that violence is being hidden, one may argue that it is not necessarily needed. In the game Batman Arkham Asylum, you beat up and defeat a range of enemies but you never kill. As it is a part of Batman's code. Regardless of this fact, the game went on to be hugely successful winning a number of Game of the Year awards including a BAFTA.

3) Are we protecting our kids or are we protecting our accountability? Byron mentioned an example of a Fisher Price toy set. One toddler decided to eat a piece and chocked on it. Fisher Price then recalled the product. Any later disputes of this product is unsafe could then be passed given the fact some action was taken earlier. I think this is definitely something to think about, one could compare it to ratings given on films and games.

Censorship in Books...

This is but another method of "play" and one that I shockingly didn't even consider until finding this interesting essay online. It talks about the children's classic "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" written by Road Dahl and the controversy over the original story he wrote. What was pointed out was the fact that all the workers, the Oompa-Loompas, were black. Road Dahl had written them in as Pygmies from Africa, not the orange skin, green haired looking fellas we came to know from the movie. Interesting read, will have to see what else I can find out on this.

http://www.roalddahlfans.com/articles/char.php

Concept Two and Three

Concept Two:

An animation that is centered around the benefits of fantasy. Showing that it is a means of teaching children right from wrong in a way that they can relate to - characters.

Concept Three:

Create an interactive piece, a game of sorts that incorporates a set of rules and "PC" restrictions. Examples:

1) Characters cannot perform certain actions even though they are on the control list because they are dubbed unsafe. Example, cart-wheels are unsafe nowadays and if performed in school, children get into trouble.

2) In certain areas, NPC's (Non-Playable Characters) cannot be talked to. Shouldn't talk to strangers.

3) The area in which you may explore will be of restricted access. This is to coincide with what is happening in schools. Strong boundaries are being put in place limiting the area in which children are allowed to play. Is this really necessary? If we are putting children into a safe-box, i.e. a room with padded walls, how are they to cope when they enter the real world?

Concept One

Create an interactive animated comic. Readers can choose to read through a "PC" (politically correct) version or view/read it how it was intended. It will be a contrast of the two sides, showing that by masking these areas in the story as we are masking the truth of the real world to children, what is it that we are teaching them? Here the story cannot be told and so there is nothing gained from attempting to read it. Children need fantasy, make-believe violence to explore their feelings and to learn life lessons. Through fantasy they can do so in a controlled environment.

Keywords: PC, Sensitized (censorship?), Fantasy.

The Monster Engine

Talking to Kah the other day he also mentioned a project that revolved around children's drawings. He sent me the link to it and its called "The Monster Engine". It poses the question, what would a child's drawing look like if it were done professionally?

How it is done: (taken from the site)

"The process is simple. I project a child’s drawing with an opaque projector, faithfully tracing each line. Applying a combination of logic and instinct, I then paint the image as realistically as I can."

"My medium is mixed—primarily acrylic, airbrush, and colored pencil."

Very interesting project and well worth a look. Here's the link: http://www.themonsterengine.com/

Interesting TED Talk - Seth Godin

I'm not sure I want to go down the route of Conspicuous Consumption however not ruling it out I did do a little search and I found this interesting TED talk. In it Seth Godin talks about marketing and how we are aiming to please the wrong people, the average consumer. We need to look at the extremes, design for the remarkable. Take risks. Designing ordinary products for ordinary people is unsuccessful because their is too much of it out on the market and chance are your contribution will be ignored. As taken from the video description, "bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones". They get peoples attention.

http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html

While this may not be useful for me in regards to my project, it was definitely food for thought and if anyone else in the class sees my blog well perhaps it could relate to their projects. Enjoy!

Chat with Kah

With my topic being based around children and play I thought it only fitting that I have a chat with Kah seeming as his Masters revolved around this. We had a very good chat and he gave me a lot of great resources to have a look at in coming up with an idea for my project. These were:

* Maureen Cox - She deals with Child Psychology and drawings.

* A project called "Fear Not", trying to research this but at the moment I'm having no luck.

* Huizinga - Homo Ludens.

* Robert Cialdini - Influence (deals with social psychology)

* Pinker - "why everything that is bad is actually good for you" - not the exact title but something like it. Researching into this I found he was actually talking about Steven Johnson and his book "Everything Bad is Good For You". Have found this in the library so will have to get it out!

Killing Monsters!

While exploring the topic of Extended Consciousness I couldn't help but think back to my project last year that was based around the state of immersion. Looking back to texts I was reading then, especially Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his work on "Flow" I looked them up again on the library system and in the process I came across this book "Killing Monsters Why Children Need Fantasy, Super-Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence" by Gerard Jones. After picking it up I found it to be a very interesting read. It brings up the question, what is acceptable for our children? and while many people nowadays would right a lot of the things he mentions in his book off, deeming them too violent or inappropriate, Jones discusses these things in great detail and provides some great stories of real life people (parents, children etc.) he's talked to in order to back up his reasoning as to why they should be accepted, what the benefits are. I believe this to be a great topic for my project and it has definitely got me asking questions, perfect for my essay. In terms of children and play, What is acceptable? What is "PC" these days? Where have we come from and where are we now? Is this a step forward or a step back?

Snow Crash Response - Chap 1-12

Well this book has certainly been a surprise. I was a bit unsure at first as to whether I was going to find this book a good read, thankfully its turned out in my favor and I'm quite enjoying it. The idea of delivery people grappling onto cars to get around is pretty cool, though I can't help but wonder why they can't get around in a car like the deliverators. If accessibility on roads/pathways and through entrances etc. are a problem, why not some futuristic moped? Still Y.T's board sounds pretty sick and grappling is a new take on transportation so I'll buy it.

The Metaverse seems an interesting concept as well. It reminds me of the likes of Second Life and Habbo Hotel. Even World of Warcraft in a way, custom avatars, and the meet and greet of other people in a digital world. Though in this case its a form of socialization as opposed to a game like WOW. Interesting to note to is the time this book was written. While these concepts are in full fruition in todays games and online media, back in the early 90's, things were only just developing, especially games. 8-bit to 16-bit to the amazing digitally enhanced games we have today with such realistic graphics.