Tuesday, October 18, 2005
A new school of parenting is arising that is bringing back boundaries, standards and discipline. A permissively raised "me" generation that was brought up to think only of itself is bringing back the rule book now that it has children of its own. Maggie Mamen, a Canadian psychologist exhorts parents to "believe in the importance of the family with its traditions and rituals".
Parents who worry that video games are teaching kids to settle conflicts with blasters and bloodshed can take heart: A new generation of video games wants to save the world through peace and democracy. A team at Carnegie Mellon University is working on an educational computer game that explores the Mideast conflict -- you win by negotiating peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This spring, the United Nations' World Food Programme released an online game in which players must figure out how to feed thousands of people on a fictitious island. This weekend, the University of Southern California is kicking off a competition to develop a game that promotes international goodwill toward the United States, a kind of Voice of America for the gamer set. And lest anyone think only professors and policy wonks are involved, a unit of MTV this week announced a contest to come up with a video game that fights genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Internet-based computer games, in which players create characters in a virtual world and interact to solve problems or win battles, are branching out from fantasy into serious social issues.
The attempt to separate church and state in the US has got to the ludicrous situation where Air Force chaplains are now being told they are not allowed to share their faith.
If you would like to read the agreements between Labour and its new government partners, they can be found at:
Labour-NZ First
Labour-United Future
Labour-Greens
Parents who worry that video games are teaching kids to settle conflicts with blasters and bloodshed can take heart: A new generation of video games wants to save the world through peace and democracy. A team at Carnegie Mellon University is working on an educational computer game that explores the Mideast conflict -- you win by negotiating peace between Israelis and Palestinians. This spring, the United Nations' World Food Programme released an online game in which players must figure out how to feed thousands of people on a fictitious island. This weekend, the University of Southern California is kicking off a competition to develop a game that promotes international goodwill toward the United States, a kind of Voice of America for the gamer set. And lest anyone think only professors and policy wonks are involved, a unit of MTV this week announced a contest to come up with a video game that fights genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Internet-based computer games, in which players create characters in a virtual world and interact to solve problems or win battles, are branching out from fantasy into serious social issues.
The attempt to separate church and state in the US has got to the ludicrous situation where Air Force chaplains are now being told they are not allowed to share their faith.
If you would like to read the agreements between Labour and its new government partners, they can be found at:
Labour-NZ First
Labour-United Future
Labour-Greens
