Computer games can become an addiction, particularly for compulsive personalities, and psychologists and sociologists fiercely argue whether such young people too frequently use them as an escape from their real world. Such games must be carefully monitored, particularly by parents of young children. But we're foolish to dismiss their educational promise.
Edward Castronova of Indiana University is working with a team of students to develop a role-playing game titled "Arden: The World of William Shakespeare." Young and old students of literature "experience" the historical time of the Bard and rethink themes in his plays. They may revisit the wiles of Richard III and how he made it to the throne, studying the War of the Roses and how Shakespeare manipulated history for the sake of a good story. Young players might delve into the cultural and psychological backdrop of Macbeth, to consider the reaction of Queen Elizabeth I to a drama about the murder of a monarch.
"The potential of MMORPGs for pleasure, business, education, and experimentation is just now beginning to emerge," says Kimberly Harris Fatten of the Synthetic Worlds Initiative at Indiana University. They may have a major impact on how we think and conceptualize all kinds of ideas and relate to specific policies that affect our lives today. I have warned against making education too much fun as in the dancing numbers on "Sesame Street," because difficult math cannot be disguised as entertainment and ultimately a child must grow up to do the hard stuff with dedicated discipline. But fun can also be a motivator to learn more.
Computers are only as good as those who program them. "Junk in, junk out," as an early cyber aphorism put it. There's always the risk of over-simplification, of false or misleading information, as visitors to the riches of the Internet learn quickly. But computers can be harnessed for deep thinking. We make a big mistake if we ignore the possibilities, for better and for ill, in the games our children play.