Slashdot Mirror
Games in High School?
Joe Griego of Bishop Union High School, CA asks: "I'm the Director of I.T. for a small school district, and we've implemented a 'Game Night' for our kids. We open the lab once or twice a month, and let the kids sign up for the lab computers (we have 34 of them), and play LAN games until the wee hours. It's a lot of fun for the kids, and I enjoy seeing them use the computers for recreation, as opposed to purely academic purposes. However, my question would be - do other high schools even do this?" Judging by the post-Columbine reactions from the government, parent's groups, school systems, and the media, if a school is doing this, it's probably on the QT. Personally, I think this is a great idea, it keeps kids off of the streets and their parents know where they are. What do you think?
"I'd like to know what sorts of games would be best for this activity? We play Age of Empires II, Starcraft/Broodwar, and MechWarrior IV. I would have liked to include first person shooters (for the gameplay), but I'm limited by parental concerns, and perceptions in the community. As a school administrator and parent, I understand these concerns in a way the kids perhaps do not.
Are there other games that would be suitable for a school sponsored event? I'd love to hear about experiences at other schools."
I'd stay away from the FPS's, they're going to wind up causing trouble with overbearing parents
/rant
All I have to say it this: Kids are going to play those FPS's whether they are in school or not. It is the hot game style out right now. It is easy to learn and hard to master. It is all the rave! Come on, everyone's doing it!
But seriously, some parents need to get their heads pulled out of their asses and realise that FPS's are not going to make your kids want to go out and kill everyone. If ANYTHING it is a release. But more often than not... it is just a little fun... a break from real life. Maybe I am 100% wrong here... but I am about 99.99% sure that I am not.
The kids that are going to snap are going to snap sooner or later anyway. A silly game isn't going to create that imbalance. And the lack of that game would at best delay him going crazy. I personally hate delays, get it over with so we can see who the kids who might add something to soceity are.
And yes, I know what some of you are thinking: "What if it is my child who gets shot?" Well, my answer to that is you need to not be selfish. SOMEONE'S kid is going to get shot by this guy, why wish that kind of pain on someone else?