[LM_NET] GEN: games - NO WAY! (yes, that again)

[Dorothy Scanlan <dgscanlan02@YAHOO.COM>]

Perhaps there is hope after all – that there are students out there who aren’t 
interested in playing video games or reading Manga.  I would be thrilled if 
students in my school were not interested in either of those things.   I’m not 
interested in playing games and I’m not going to apologize for it.  I also think 
this is not a black and white issue, which it seems to have been made in this 
thread.
   
  Our school policy prohibits game playing, so it’s not really a problem.  I will 
let students play games after school on a Friday before a holiday – as long as they 
are not violent.  I haven’t seen a game yet that I could call a learning 
experience.  We have Math Blaster on our computers, but students will use it, not 
to learn math, but because it is a game.
   
  I do have some Manga, but will not use school funds to purchase it.  What I have 
has been donated.  I also have graphic novels, but I purchase those as a tool to 
create a bridge to reading meatier text.  I’m not sure what can be learned about 
other cultures by reading Manga.  The drawings are mediocre, the dialogue vapid.  I 
feel there’s an implication that if I don’t have Manga in my library, then students 
aren’t going to read.  What does that say about our expectations for students?  
Students will rise to whatever expectations we create for them!
   
  I am simply mystified by the trend to “get into” whatever kids are into.  Our 
parents didn’t try to talk/dress/act like us, or buy into our pop culture.  I 
wouldn’t have wanted my parents to.  I wanted them to be parents, not cool buddies. 
 Of course my focus is on the kids – it’s on helping them to grow up and become 
empathetic and compassionate members of society.   Who says we aren’t kid-friendly? 
 There’s a difference between serving children and being doormats for children.
   
  I do admire all the “cutting-edge” librarians mentioned in this thread, and I 
will take from them what works for me.  What doesn’t work for me is helping kids 
create a fantasy world on MySpace.  
   
  There’s also the implication that I’m not working hard enough if I don’t offer 
all these “cutting-edge” technologies to kids.  I’m working very hard, thank you, 
to provide a quality educational experience that I hope is rewarding and fun.  And 
I think that’s possible to do without enticing them with games or IM.  
   
  Our kids are saturated by pop culture more than ever.  I don’t feel that I need 
to bring more of the same into the academic arena.  I believe I should provide an 
alternate experience. I am not here to entertain, but to expand – take them out of 
the world they know.  And if that makes me un-hip, well I guess I’ll just have to 
deal with that.
   
  So my library is going to be empty if I don’t offer games or IM or MySpace?  I 
think that says more about the state of our culture than it says about my abilities 
as a librarian.
   
  Respectfully,
   
  Dorothy Scanlan
  Librarian
  St. Paul's School
  dscanlan@stpaulsschool.org
   

                
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