Monday, March 07, 2005

Blood - real and fake

In the ER today my girlfriend saw a student from the high school where I teach. She was about to draw blood when the boy's father said, "You can't find the vein now. But you wave a hamburger in front of that vein and it'll come out."

Oh man. When your father is ragging on you it's gonna be a rough day. He wasn't my student though- she asked.

Anyone see the 60 Minutes report on Grand Theft Auto? I never got into the game much but I'm going to make it a point of discussion tomorrow. Of course the majority of kids will find the idea of suing a video game company ridiculous. But can a video game like that make kids more aggressive? If simulations had no value, would pilots really spend their time using them? But just aquiring the skills to "shoot" someone, doesn't mean you are going to actually use them, right?

I played Street Fighter II for a whole summer and I've never shot a fireball from my mouth or sent electricity from my skin into my opponents (or students). But Grand Theft Auto is more realistic...does that make the game makers any more culpable?
This will be the journal topic in class tomorrow. I will post a few results tomorrow.

1 comment:

joe roivas said...

Hi M.A.,I grew up in England and my experience of the education system there was one of extreme negativity.
Which always clouds any debates that I have on the subject.The Education system should not put the interests of society before those of the pupils or the teachers. We were being taught to adjust to the 'real world' which we would encounted when we left school.
For me education is about freedom, thats not what I experienced.
However I'm aware there are good teachers within the system and if I had been lucky enough to have met one my attitude may have been different.
Joe.