Video Game Wars, Grown-Up Style

Marc Prensky, author of "Don't Bother Me Mom—I'm Learning," believes that computer and video games prepare kids for 21^st century success. He challenges parents everywhere to stop listening to sensationalized press accounts about video games being harmful to kids and get on the program of recognizing the skill set that kids can acquire through gaming.

In the book he names plenty of names: Senator Joe Lieberman, David Walsh, Jack Thompson, and others like them who have very vocally encouraged regulations to limit the sales of violent video games.

While Prensky never comes right out and says that violent video games are no problem, he does say that kids are digital natives, and that they learn from video games and can balance the violence in many games with other important components. He cites examples from the military, business world, and medicine where video games teach strategy, increase dexterity, and hone abstract thinking skills. Video games, he argues, are helping—not harming—our kids.

According to his book, Prensky is not alone in believing video games are an important part of learning. He cites Raph Koster's book, "A Theory of Fun for Game Design." In it, Koster says kids don't see the violence that adults see in many of these games. It's just a form of "window dressing" while they work on achieving the games' goals. And Gerald Jones, in "Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence," says that the violence in games lets kids act out their violent impulses through media, much like they've done with books and movies throughout history.

What does Prensky say about games like Grand Theft Auto? He says there's little in the game that they haven't seen already on TV and in the movies, and that playing at being a "rulebreaker" and con artist can be fun. Besides, kids are operating in a very complex 3D simulations as they move through GTA's levels and demonstrate mastery. And finally, he reminds us that games with "M" ratings comprise a very small fraction—only 10 percent—of the entire market.

I'm going to try and stay arm's length from giving my opinion on this one, but you're clearly seeing two camps of video game experts emerge: those who see video games as a threat to the morality of society and those who believe video games are an integral part of growing up digital.

The only thing I can say with certainty after reading Prensky's book is that we need more real research and less hypothesizing about what kids learn from video games. But what about you? Do you see video games as an important part of growing up today?