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Playstation Lures Kids Into Libraries
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to an ICWales article reporting the latest consoles are being used to attract children into libraries, apparently "..to dispel their image as scary, boring places." This measure, being tried in some libraries in Wales, may "..make the youngsters recognize that libraries are places for enjoyment, leisure and information", according to a local librarian. However, Welsh politician Valdo Funning was more dismissive, saying: "I was brought up with Treasure Island and Wordsworth and all the great poets, and it gave me a love of those which I still have today at 67. Literature gives you a lifetime of pleasure. I wouldn't have that if I had been playing on a PlayStation."
Watching porn has given me a lifetime of pleasure. Literature wouldn't give you that!
Picking a Playstation is a bad idea. There's not enough AAA all-ages titles(No ESRB in Europe). But we can't forget that Europe has some Playstation feitsh equivalent to our "Nintendo" as the generic term. Nintendo hates Europe so they've never really pitched in over that area, since the price-fixing argument and everything.
Anyways, BACK TO DEMOGRAPHICS, they should really reconsider their choice, since the Cube has Animal Crossing, Pikin, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Party 4 and nearly every other good wholesome game devoid of violence, blood, cuss words(THPS), and sex appeal.(I play games with that, but there's no place for it in a library)
If I was a parent, I'd rather see my kid playing Pikmin than DOA:X.
Of course, the first thing after buying the console would be getting the FreeLoader, GB Player and 4 Wavebirds. THEN you'd get kids into the library.
Don't listen to anyone named Valdo Funning. Period.
'cos my lad does both
Do *anything* in this country and the local paper can find some fart to say what a bad idea it is.
I would warrant that this guy hasn't ever enthused his love of literature to young people and encouraged a single one of them to read a single book. I would go as far to speculate that he probably has never even had a conversation with someone under twenty that wasn't in his own family.
Plenty of people here hate kids, even if they don't couch it in those terms.
As soon as someone actually tries to do _something_
the nay sayers come out of the woodwork and tell you what a crap idea it is.
And then they wonder why their cars are on fire.
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
"I was brought up with Treasure Island and Wordsworth and all the great poets, and it gave me a love of those which I still have today at 67. Literature gives you a lifetime of pleasure. I wouldn't have that if I had been playing on a PlayStation."
This comment has been rated Overly Insightful (-5)
Founder of Mirror Moon - Tsukihime Game Trans
Yes um hi.
I'm going to be checking out this book
I was brought up with Day of a Tentacle and Sid Meier and all the great game designers, and it gave me a love of those which I still have today at 21. Games gives you a lifetime of pleasure. I wouldn't have that if I had been reading litterature"
I do enjoy both litterature and gaming. Ofcourse there a crappy games just as there is crappy litterature. But litterature like Day of a Tentacle is something you never forget.
still reading?
There is a message board for comments on the story...
I grew up with Treasure Island and Lewis Carroll and I loved them. I also grew up with console games and I loved those too. But this dickhead would have you believe that games are inferior. It's the worst form of arrogance; the idea that because he doesn't like it, it mustn't be any good.
Games are just like books, comics, movies, poetry and any form of entertainment. The great works can influence you for a lifetime.
Silence and tranqility reins across the library. The atmosphere of quiet is actually quite imposing as people whisper...
only to be interupted by a 4 player 40-button mad button bashing combo
A blog I run for the wealth
....drive library patrons from the library.
And the kind of wild uncontrolled children those games are drawing into the library are repellant, too.
Sorry for being a little negative about it all. The library is a place for books.
I had to read a lot of books in Dutch 'high school', both for Dutch and English. Most famous Dutch literature I read was written by authors who had a bad childhood and wanted the rest of Holland to know about it (there are quite a lot of those). O, how terribly were they treated by their fathers! And they were all so different from anybody else! How were they suffocated by their religion! Boring, boring boring. Luckily there are more countries in the world, where people DO know how to write a compelling story. I liked English literature a lot more than Dutch literature (although there are some good Dutch writers). After High School I never read another Dutch author again (well, I tried once - big mistake). Recently I discovered Charles Dickens. Now I'm interested in 19th century English literature. I have a lot to read! Yummy!
-- Cheers!
Literature gives you a lifetime of pleasure. I wouldn't have that if I had been playing on a PlayStation.
Yeah, but you'd have SUPER eye/hand coordination!
Seriously this guy doesn't understand that games are like any other form of entertainment, a little brash and immature still, but someday we'll talk about games like people talk about movies.
Nothing quite compares to the magic of good book though, I'll give him that. You have to use your own imagination to fill in the blanks which is much more satisfying than the quasi-active experience of gaming.
Personally I hope the kids realize that libraries are for books and information rather than entertainment but whatever it takes to get the brats in there, I'm all for it. So they can experience the wonders of internet censorship I suppose!
to dispel their image as scary, boring places
Does anyone else think this is a strange combination? I'm picturing a horde of young children, walking around with wide, scared eyes, shrieking, "I'm bored! I'm so bored! "
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
Or maybe not that great after all? The good news is that thanks to Playstation there are more kids who visit libraries. That is truely great. (but unfortunately they are playing video games instead of reading for god's sake!)
Karma: Positive (probably because of superiour intellect)
And there in lies the problem..
1. They don't like food but are quite happy for people to take books home (!).
2. They don't like noise at all.
3. They hate sunlight.
4. They have a distrust of new stuff.
5. They don't buy resources that the general user would want to use.
6. They aren't sexy.
"I was brought up with Treasure Island and Wordsworth and all the great poets, and it gave me a love of those which I still have today at 67. Literature gives you a lifetime of pleasure. I wouldn't have that if I had been playing on a PlayStation."
... doesnt mean you have to start trying to trick other people into being interesting in the same thing. if they want it, they will come ... if they stay away, rest assured they probably werent interested in the first place. oh yeah, and just FYI, gaming has given me a lifetime of pleasure, but i dont try and make bookworms come into the local EB store to get hooked on Burnout2 or something like that. to summarise ... YMMV
and you know what? good for you
A couple of years ago, my local library in Ripon, North Yorkshire, moved to new and very much larger premises, and had a Playstation installed as one of the facilities, fitted with headphones.
Unfortunately the children using it made so much noise that it was withdrawn after only a few months of service.
Our local "alternative" weekly newspaper had a huge story on how the homeless are using the libraries more and more, especially since the recent economic downturn has affected the funds available to build and maintain day shelters. Our downtown libraries in Dallas are clearly not "kid friendly" anymore. I might go down there for something, but I definitely wouldn't let my daughters go.
WTF? Why the hell is it modded down? She obviously has a point here. I for one totally agree with her.