Post-PAX Reflections

It's only been a few weeks and the kid is already talking about what cosplay to do next year! This was actually the first time I've attended for 2 days in a row.  I don't know about the teen, but I was sore and exhausted after all that walking.  Also, none of the grown up stuff that I usually do on weekends (laundry, grocery shopping) got done. So now that I've had some time to catch up, I will share with you my post-PAX thoughts:

OMG, but was it ever crowded!  Not just the convention floor, but the panels, the handheld lounge, and the console freeplay rooms.  I think the shortest wait we had all weekend was in the classic console room where my son joined some young men playing WarioWare Mega Party Game$.  We arrived an hour in advance for the Runaway Guys: Thrown Controllers panel and the line was already full so we were placed in an offshoot room to wait.  Fortunately we still got in and had pretty decent seats.  If you aren't familiar with these very popular youtuber's you can check out their channel here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRunawayGuys.  This is the only panel we attend each year; and it's not so much a panel as a game show for, well, gamers.

After the panel, the Runaway Guys had an impromptu autograph session.  Even that was crowded, but the kid wanted to wait and get autographs (for the 3rd time, mind you).  I found a corner in which to hide and charge my phone while the boy held court doing his Hatty Hattington routines.  Couldn't get a decent video, but I think this photo says it all:

You will note that he is surrounded by gamers of all ages, enjoying and appreciating his performance.

And that my friends, is my final takeaway from PAX East 2015.  It is quite possibly the most accepting environment I have ever experienced.  People of all ages, genders, and game preferences interacting without prejudice.  Despite being the tag-along mother, everyone I met, from teen gamer to indie developer was friendly, kind, and patient.  As a parent, I appreciate how easily and willingly my son was accepted by everyone he approached.  The group of 20-somethings playing WarioWare could have easily dismissed him, but instead passed him a controller and welcomed him to their group.  I am proud to say that my son did the same if others wanted to join a game he was playing.

Really, it is a shame that the world doesn't work this way.  Accepting everyone for exactly who they are and what they can contribute to your "game".  Everyone has something to teach and something to learn.  Who knows, maybe gaming is really the way to achieve world peace?  At least for one weekend a year, I can believe it is possible.

Revelations

Revelation . . . as I sit here dreading spending the next two days at PAX East I have come to the sudden realization that the reason I am dreading it is because I feel like a complete outsider.  My son is now almost 14 years old, an intelligent, independent young man who is completely into gaming culture.  These days he spends all his free time playing Minecraft, Battle Block Theater, Team Fortress 2 and watching videos on You Tube about these games. I am realizing that these people who make and post these videos have celebrity status among fellow gamers.  While I have heard some of the names tossed around by my son, many are unfamiliar.  So while my son gets dressed in his Hattie Hattington costume and prepares for the most exciting weekend of his year; I feel completely old and obsolete because I wouldn’t know Markiplier if I tripped over him.  I will suck it up and deal and spend this weekend feeling like an outsider because I love my kid. 

Revelation part II . . . maybe my son, and other gamers, feel like outsiders for the other 362 days of the year?  When you have such specific and intense passion for a culture, it is hard to find others who share this interest level. My son is fortunate to have a few friends who understand and share this interest with him, but I think overall, most people, most kids, do not relate to the level of gaming culture into which my son is involved.  I see him going to school, boy scouts, orchestra rehearsal, participating in the “real world”, but struggling to connect with people who understand him.  I’ve said it before, attending PAX East is like he is visiting his home planet where everyone understands him.  It never occurred to me before how alien he may feel the whole rest of the year.

IMHO, my son is not yet old enough to attend this type of event without some adult supervision.   So today, and tomorrow, I will be the alien.  I will be the dorky, non-cosplaying mom (side note – I did offer to wear a costume but the teen wanted to be a solo cosplayer) getting a tour of this strange gamer planet called PAX East.  

I come in peace!

Technology in the Classroom

As a parent to an almost 7th grader, I wonder about the use of technology in the classroom and by the public school my son attends.  This article http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/magazine/my-kids-are-obsessed-with-technology-and-its-all-my-fault.html?smid=pl-share, strongly in favor of reduced screen time for kids has got me thinking . . . My child is not so fortunate as to be provided an iPad by his school.  Try as I might, I have not been able to get my reluctant reader any more interested in books on a Kindle, Nook, or other ereader than he is in reading a standard print edition. In fact, when given the choice between downloading his required summer reading onto the iPad or getting print copies, he chose the print versions.  So apparently, even my video game addicted kid still somehow knows that he will be better able to read and concentrate if he is holding the printed book in his hands. Yet he uses the online versions of the school textbooks that are available to him when doing assignments from home?!?

I also find it interesting that when given a choice between creating a PowerPoint presentation or an old fashioned poster display for a final school project, my son chose the poster. It seems to me that despite his knowledge and adeptness with technology, he still craves the tactile input that comes from holding a book or cutting out images and arranging them artfully on the display board.  Does he know that the use of PowerPoint is dated? Should I be concerned that he is not being offered more technologically savvy options for making his final school presentation?  Or should I be grateful that he still wants to use scissors and glue?

I will say this, what I consider to be the school district's lagging behind in the use of technology, makes me feel even better about my son's gamer savvy.  He is a self educated and well practiced gamer.  This easily lends itself to the ability and ease with which he picks up other forms of technology and how to use them.  In the ever growing technologically advanced world, I believe that being a gamer will only help him as he progresses through the academic world.

What do you think about technology in the classroom?  Do schools, especially public schools, not use it to it's fullest capacity? Are are they falling behind the privileged schools that are part of "pilot programs" providing iPads and laptops to kids?  Will we see a distinct difference between kids whose parents impose limited screen time and those who let their kids follow their gaming instincts?

Video games can give your brain a boost

OK, so I've been really busy doing mom type stuff and haven't been able to dedicate time to blogging.  I'm also still processing the events of the Boston Marathon bombing; it is still very much in the news and the victims in my thoughts.

But I did hear something interesting on the radio yesterday, and found the article to go with it.  It's only one study, but does go to show that there can be positive results from video game play.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/video-games-slow-reverse-mental-decay-study-article-1.1332990

So keep on gaming . . .

Boston Strong - A Spectator's Perspective

It's my blog and I can go off topic if I want to . . .

I am a spectator.  When it comes to sports, I am not a fan, not an athlete, just a watcher, a member of the audience.  I grew up about 60 miles north of NYC, attended college at UMass Amherst during the reign of Coach Cal, and eventually married and settled in the metro west Boston area.  I have been to baseball, basketball, and hockey games.  I have sat in Yankee Stadium, the Meadowlands, the Boston Garden, Fenway Park, and "raged in the cage" at UMass. Each time it was fun, exciting, and I cheered for the home team.  However, for me it was not about the game, not about who scored or who won.  It was about the experience of being a spectator, the smell of peanuts and popcorn and hot dogs.  It was about being part of a community of people all cheering or jeering for a particular team/player. It was celebrating or commiserating together at the end of the game as we exited the arena.  

 . . . on September 11, 2001, evil people attacked NYC, my city, and I was a spectator watching on TV . . .  

About 9 years ago, my husband started running.  It took some time for me to figure out how to be a spectator at a marathon.  It is not the same as attending a sporting event at a field or stadium.  It is not a large group of people all cheering for the same team.  Instead, it is friends and family, one person or small groups, cheering on and supporting their individual athlete.  Over the years I have learned not only how to be a marathon spectator, but to love it.  Marathon spectators are a very special and dedicated breed.  We plan in advance, figuring out how to see our runner at multiple points during the race.  We walk, drive and take public transportation so we can cheer at the start, the 1/2 way point, and again at the finish line.  We carry extra water, Gatorade, energy gels, and bandages, never knowing exactly what our runner might need when we see them along the marathon route.

I have experienced a sense of camaraderie at marathons like at no other sporting event.  There is no rivalry, we don't care who wins.  No discussions about teams or coaches.  While we may be present to cheer on a specific friend, or spouse, or sibling, or parent; ultimately all race spectators are rooting for every runner to make it across the finish line.  We stand there clapping, yelling, ringing cow bells at every runner that passes as we wait for our one special runner.  We cheer for everyone, "You can do it green shorts", "Go blue sneakers, Go", "Woohoo, keep running!"

 . . . on April 15, 2013, evil people attacked Boston, my city, and again I was a spectator watching on TV . . .

I think of all the times and places I have been a marathon spectator, cheering on my husband (J's dad) in Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and our 'hometown city' of Boston!  It meant so much to my husband to run in the Boston Marathon in 2006 and 2007.  He is part of the running community, a member of a local running club; and by proxy, J & I are part of this club, this community, for we are the spectators.

And so, following the tragic attack at the Boston Marathon, I mourn the lives that were lost.  I am relieved and grateful that my husband and his immediate running community are all safe.  My sympathy goes out to all the runners who trained so hard and were unable to finish.  However it is the injured spectators for whom my heart aches.  I can not even put words to the pain and sadness I feel for my fellow spectators.  I have stood beside them, and now many of them have lost the limbs on which they stood.  

 . . . We have all become spectators, witnesses to extreme acts of violence and terror, in Oklahoma City, and Columbine, and NYC, and Blacksburg, and Newtown, and Boston . . and now every city is my city, every city is OUR city . . .

It is time for us to join together as a community of spectators.  We must do our job, we must cheer on the people who are facing the toughest marathon of their lives . . .recovery from tragic, violent injuries.  We must find ways to line the routes of their recovery with hope, prayers, faith, spirit, and energy.  Just as we do for the runners, we must cheer words of encouragement -  "You can do it!"  and "You're doing great!" and "Keep going!"  I am a spectator who can also take action and will contribute to the recovery of  all who were hurt in any way I can!

Boston is strong!  The running community is strong.  I believe that one year from now, at the 2014 Boston Marathon, there will be many, many runners and with them an influx of new spectators mixed in with the veterans.  We will stand together, dedicated individuals who refuse to let an act of terrorism scare us away from cheering along the marathon route!  We will no longer be just spectators, but participants standing together strong and proud!

Video game violence = violent kids = mass murder? I don't think so!!!!!

Over the past few days, several FB friends have shared an article by Peter Brown Hoffmeister titled "On School Shooters" (http://peterbrownhoffmeister.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/on-school-shooters-the-huffington-post-doesnt-want-you-to-read-this/), in which he hypothesizes that playing violent video games has made it easier for people to commit violent acts in real life.  He talks about how boys who play video games are not "tied in socially", "struggle in classes and with peers", and are "capable of incredible and sudden violence on screen."  In his own adolescent years, he admits to having had violent thoughts and carrying weapons.  Yet, he states the significant difference between himself and these other young men is that his mother told him "video games were evil" and that "there was something very, very wrong with pretending on a video screen."

I consider myself fortunate that the video games of interest to my son are primarily Super Mario Brothers and Kirby.  Games that are very clearly based in a fictional world with fictional characters. However, I know that many of his 12 year old peers are playing games like "Call of Duty" and "Halo."  Even Minecraft, which J does play, has a certain level of violence what with killing animals and crafting weapons and the need to defend yourself against 'creepers' (zombie like villains). Should I be worried that J is going to go out and start slaughtering farm animals? Should I be worried that the cardboard sword he made for his Halloween costume is going to someday lead to his carrying a real one?  Should I be worried that his peers who today are recreating war and video game scenarios with Nerf guns will eventually bring real ones to school?

I must respond emphatically that video games do not create violent people!!!  There is no easy answer to what leads people to commit such atrocities as Columbine or Sandy Hook, but to blame violence in video games is a cop out.   Mass shootings have a long history, way before video games or TV [http://news.discovery.com/history/mass-shootings-history-121220.htm].  Even Mr. Hoffmeister admits that although he did not agree with his mother, it was her opinion about video games that influenced him.  Therefore, it is my humble opinion that lack of parental interest and involvement (combined with a variety of other factors) is what leads these young people to feel isolated and with the inability to know the difference between the virtual world and the real one!

I have so much more to say on this subject, so many thoughts and responses that I must take the time to organize before I can blog about them coherently.  But the take away for today is a strong message to all the parents/grandparents/aunts/uncles/guardians - PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR KIDS!!!  Let them play video games, but be aware of what they are playing.  Discuss the video games, the TV shows, the you tube videos - make sure your children understand what they are seeing and hearing.  Play video games with them once in awhile.  After all, that is the goal of this blog - to encourage parents to co-exist with their gamer children.  This means even if you are not a gamer, suck it up and become part of that world every once in a while (like spending a day dressed as a blue Pikmin at a video game convention) -  for it will make all the difference!

Am I a gamer?

Over the past week, as I've pondered and compiled lists of future topics for this blog, I keep coming back to the same question -"Am I a gamer?"  I suppose the answer depends on what your definition of a 'gamer' is.  Urban Dictionary divides gamers in to 2 categories, Casual Gamers and Hardcore Gamers (see the full definitions here: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gamer).  While Dictionary.com keeps it quite simple, stating:

     gam·er  [gey-mer]

     noun

     a person who plays games, especially computer or video games.

By the most basic of definitions, yes I am a gamer. But I think I fall more in to the "casual gamer" subset. Yes, I have a membership to a site that allows me to download games.  Yes, when the newest incarnation of Diner Dash is released I will download and play it obssessively until I complete all the levels.  I play Farmville on Facebook, as well as other games that my FB peers are currently playing. At the moment, Candy Crush is all the rage among many of my FB friends. Yes, I play Angry Birds on my iPad and really want to get 3 stars on all levels to unlock that damn golden egg!!!

My Farm @ Level 142

OK, so as I'm writing this, I am coming to the conclusion that I am indeed a "gamer."  I am also realizing that my gaming habits have more than likely influenced my son's.  So not only do I have to admit to being a gamer, but I need to take reponsibility for creating a "hardcore gamer."  For that is indeed what my son is, no question about it!  But I still think of myself as the "mom of a gamer" rather than a "gamer mom."  Do I have my definitions mixed up?  Have I simply not found my particular niche of "gamer mommies"?  Or is it just a generation gap that separates the degree of gamer between me and my son? What do you think - do I have this blog all wrong?  Am I "gamer mommy" or "mommy of a gamer"?