How the Video Game Industry Can Save Our Streets

I woke up this morning to a news report of kids using kids for target practice on the southeast side of Chicago. Each time, I am sickened and the only relief I feel is when I hear that they’re in stable condition. Our streets are under siege and our children are the insurgents.

Our children have too much unstructured time. Families have limited resources to connect to meaningful activities. And what outlets do kids who are not athletes, musically inclined or aloof have?

As a youth, I spent many days hanging out at the video game arcade. I only developed proficiency at foosball but enjoyed the sights, sounds and watching others compete and bring those machines to their electronic knees. But now, all of the technology that amazed me then exists in the current generation home console units.

It is time to bring back the neighborhood arcades, version 2010.3. Storefronts and mini-malls remain vacant in these troubled areas and could be quickly modified into a technological drop-in community center. Donations from video game and computer industry corporations would provide hardware, software, consultation and technical assistance needed for start-up. Once locations have been set-up and established, the community impact would be immediate and resonant:

• Area residents hired and trained to manage sites, provide guidance in using the equipment, monitor activity in and around the facilities, etc.
• After-school, weekend and school holiday access for families,
• Multipurpose use for school-sponsored field activities, structured mentoring and tutoring areas, kiosks for product demonstrations, appearances by industry professionals and game celebrities, corporate-sponsored healthy eating café, gross motor activity sections,
• Corporate-sponsored areas with featured hardware and software, opportunities for training, certification and continuing education geared toward video game industry, and
• Support for learning styles and intellectual strengths.

Once established, these educational and entertainment centers can provide needed family and community supports. Students and parents could earn credits through scholarship, stewardship and volunteer efforts; local law enforcement personnel can include the centers as part of their patrol routes and possible off-duty work; legislators and community leaders can show evidence of working and flourishing community-corporate partnerships and educators can encourage game developers to include learning standards in game design.

These are a few benefits of the video game industry directly investing in communities for immediate results. While this will not solve all community ills, it would be a start. And I do not believe we will see news reports of shootings by children with a gun in one hand and a game controller in the other.

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You ... Injured.

Each of us is scarred in some form or fashion. Me, I kind of pick at my wounds daily to open up the old wounds and remind myself how I made it this far. Don't get me wrong, I am not miserable. In fact, far from it. I realize that things are not as they seem. It just gets hard convincing others that there is more to life than pushing things off your lap on to another's plate.

Healthy doses of fantasy keeps me sane. Reading and daydreaming help me to manage insane tasks in an insane world. And I can thank my parents for recognizing the benefits of interactive media.

As a shy child, I preferred books, video gaming and computers to social outings. Interactive media, as opposed to non-interactive media like books, movies, music and the like, gave me opportunities to go where I've never been, do what seemed impossible and create in limitless ways. I still have fond memories of the political intrigue in Spycraft and CyberJudas, time travel in Millenia: Altered Destinies, dungeon adventuring in Darkstone and the car combat of Interstate '76.

That was so long ago and the platforms, technology and sophistication of interactive media is now so impressive and affordable. And I understand some of the concern about the objectionable content that appears in a lot of interactive media products.

But, in the grand scheme of things, I would much rather for my child to be using interactive media at home, school or in the community, with friends or responsible adults, in a safe setting rather than hanging out on the sidewalk attracting lead mosquitoes. Drive-bys would be more challenging if there is no one to shoot at.

What we need are community centers, arcades and recreational venues for children and adults to play, learn and have fun sponsored by corporation dollars. If families have opportunties to use interactive media and want products for their home, they should be able to purchase them as subsidized or for a sliding scale. Anything we can do to encourage adults to spend fun and quality time with children should be encouraged, rewarded and subsidized.

Not only will killings, maimings and interrupted futures be reduced, but families will experience realities beyond their neighborhoods, doorsteps and their own noses.