"I'm not afraid to die, Mom": Parental perceptions & stories of their adolescents gaming [Extended Abstract]

Introduction Media re ports s uch as “Virt ual Worlds t hreaten ‘va lues” (BBC news, 20 07); “Vi olent you th crim e risin g, statistics show” ( The V ancouver Sun , 2007); “Hooked on games: battling a cyb er-addiction” (Tim es Colonist, 2007); “New video games sell sex i nstead of mayhem” (Times Colonist, 2006) sensationalize video games and i mply a dire state of violence, health related problems, i solation, an d a ddiction caused by vi deo gam e pl ay. Pa rents ap pear t o be situated between these frightening and guilt-ridden reports of doom and knowing their own ch ild, his/h er ab ilities an d potentials. What are parents thinking or feeling about video game content and play for t hemselves and for their adolescents? How do they interact with t heir c hildren and video games? What do parents want to know more about? What are their stories? Context In the last two decades, new technologies and media have enabled innovative and meaningful teaching and learning to flourish. Pare nts of adolescent vi deo game players have likely not experienced these same learning opportunities in school, an d i f t hey ha ve experienced inventive, technological learning outside of school, they likely do not recognize the value in the m eaningful l earning that vi deo game r esearchers (de Castell & Jen son, 2004; G ee, 2003; Shaffer, Squire, Halverson, & G ee, 2 005) a re fi nding. However, parents are o n t he forefront of t heir children’s gaming experiences with consoles found more commonly in the l iving room, family room, or chi ld’s bedroom; parents funding or buying gam es di rectly; pa rents o bserving o r listening to their adolescent gamers’ gaming experiences. Children and ad olescents ar e ra pidly becoming e xperts i n this digital, global form of c ommunication, ahead of many of their parents. There are two perspectives of this emerging relationship says Jenkins (2004a): “Myth of the Columbine and the Myth o f the Di gital Gen eration,” one persp ective triggered by fear, the other by simplistic hope. He suggests that there is a m iddle, grey area that needs negotiation and exploration. Researchers (Delpit, 1988, 1993; Freire, 1987; Gee, 2003) have raised th e po int t hat we sh ould value all forms o f knowledge an d co mmunication, ev en outside of our own cultural affiliatio ns, yet I would argu e that many parents and others in our communities, such as po liticians, policy makers, and educators will need education on how to best approach acknowledging and valuing alternative ways of k nowing si nce much o f their ow n educational experiences will have pro moted sp ecific knowledge and valued particular sk ills. Pare nts will n eed t o k now more about t he l earning hap pening in vi deo gam es and h ow to support their children as th ey become producers of cultural artifacts (G ee, 200 3; Jenk ins, 2000 ; Sq uire, 2 003, 2005; Prensky, 2001, 2006). Study This research project explores the e xperiences that parents have encountered around video games and their adolescent children. Approximately 9 parents will have participated in 3 ind ividual in terviews and a focus g roup interview in which they identify and examine their concerns about video games, their perceptions ab out th eir ad olescent’s g aming practices, and questio n th e leg itimacy o f video games in their adolescent’s life. T his research project aim s to contribute t o understandings about pa rental awareness and knowledge of vi deo gam es, t he role of pare nt/child relationships i n regards t o video gam es, and parental concepts of learn ing an d literacy when considering adolescents’ video gaming practices. Author KeywordsVideo gaming, parents, learning, adolescents, REFERENCES1. BBC News. (200 7). Virtual worlds th reaten 'v alues'.Retrieved Oct ober 25 , 20 07, from