Chess, Anyone?

» feistyfemale56 - Kids still willing/eager to play board games?

Kim,

Great to see that your son, Wyatt, has an interest in a game that has been around for centuries and even nicer to see that playing the game is something you two share.

It may be the classic game of war, but it doesn't teach violence the way many of the video games do, and it doesn't allow the dead to walk again. Once a piece is lost in chess, it remains that way, except with the extreme unlikelihood of getting one's pawn successfully to the other side of the board. Some of the video games show characters walking away from demolished cars, fallen buildings, or a spray of bullets.

Video games are so often played alone; just the Game Boy and the player. Board games, as you pointed out, allow for interaction between the players. What a concept!

Board games today--jacks and jump rope tomorrow?

-- posted by feistyfemale56

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» orbitgal68 - Re: Kids still willing/eager to play board games?

Hi and thanks for your comments.

I agree with you about violence in media, however, I am not one to agree with the "media made me do it" claim. I believe and have raised my son to be pro-active and think critically about the messages in the media. He does and he is fine.

War is violent. Life is violent. One could fantasize about how one chess piece killed, maimed, and cut off a hand or head BEFORE it goes down and stays down. It's the same with violence on TV or in comic books. The IMAGES, whether on screeen or in the mind, are still of violence. It's up to parents to decide how much is too much.

As for fantasy violence, I have read TONS of literature on both sides of the issue and still believe as I always have...it's LACK OF PARENTAL SUPERVISION, poverty, family violence, and other factors that contribute to children becoming more agressive and violent in later life. In fact, a book I have written about, Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes, and Make-Believe Violence by Gerard Jones supports my stance on the issue.

The way I see it, I have seen my son's friends talk about, in gory detail, HOW their pawns "went down". They discuss how their knight will stab with his sword, or how the queen will use her bishop to poison the king. So the images of war and death are still present in the game of chess long before the pieces stay down.

You should give children and their parents, especially children my son's age, more credit. They are bright, they can think critically--I even taught a short seminar at a local afterschool club about media literacy for kids aged 10 and up--and know right from worng. You know why? Because their PARENTS, not the media, had taught them. My son has excused himself from many a friends room because he didn't care to hear the Eminem they turned on. He has stood up for himself on several more occassions when asked to sneak in to an "R" rated film.

All is not lost. Our kids are safe because we keep themsafe and we give them the tools to keep themselves safe when we aren't around.
Enjoy your day,
Kim
Gerard Jones' book can be found at:
Amazon.com

-- posted by orbitgal68

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