Politicians have always loved to use video games as a punching bag and Irish President Michael D. Higgins is no exception. In his first public event since taking office, Higgins decided to take a few swings at the gaming industry and its effect on kids.
"It is possible to form the impression that many of today’s children no longer fully appreciate the joy of taking refuge in their own imaginations, preferring to spend their time on computer games, or watching digital television or playing with pre-programmed electronic toys," Higgins said at The Ark in Dublin’s Temple Bar (via MCV).
I can't even work up the energy to get annoyed about this. Reading years' worth of stupid quotes from politicians has desensitized me, I guess. What takes the edge off Higgins' comments is the fact that he's 70 years old. You really can't be too surprised that he hasn't heard of MineCraft, Scribblenauts or any of the other video games out there that actually encourage creativity and imagination.
I've been hearing this "kids have no imagination these days" talk all my life. Are we supposed to mourn the fact that a child prefers to be a knight in a video game instead of his backyard? If you want to make the point that kids need more exercise then I'm all ears but...imagination, really? There's never a shortage of that. The rise of the gaming industry hasn't put an end to novels, paintings, or songs.
As far as dumb things people say about gaming, though, these comments from Higgins are pretty mild. He's not accusing video games of turning people into mindless killing machines, or equating them to a drug. Sorry Higgins, you only score a 2 on the Jack Thompson Meter.
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