Kids in Canada are getting a fresh perspective on the prevention of bullying behavior via a videogame. Quest for the Golden Rule is a simulation game that allows children to virtually contend with bullying behavior both safely and rationally through a variety of game modes. Basically it’s like Second Life, except it has a point and there aren’t any furries.
Developer of Quest, Steven Brown, isn’t a stranger to the videogame medium. His personal take on education-based games are that they are “surprisingly great for teaching relationship-building skills and empathy,” Brown told Toronto Sun before adding, “Isn’t it ironic that antisocial computer games can teach social skills?”
I certainly never got an opportunity to light bullies on fire or whatever you do in Quest for the Golden Rule. When I was in school, I was forced to deal with the Oregon Trail. The Oregon Trail taught me that the senseless slaughter of animals is okay if you have a son with dysentery or if you foolishly chose the banker from Boston.
I suppose educational games have come a long way since.
[Thanks ProfessorPew!]
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3:40 PM on 09.05.2008
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Personally, my school computers had this game whose name I can't remember, but it was all about being a truck driver in California. You could type the command "speed to Bakersfield," and get there faster, but sometimes you'd get pulled over and get a ticket.
Also, five bucks says people are going to take the "antisocial computer games" quote and blow it out of proportion.
Kind of a random and pointless end to a random and pointless story but this topic is about playing crappy games on school computers in our childhoods.
Of course everyone put in their age at 99 and weight at 100 and drank nothing but hard liquor so they could see the little guy driving home at the end crash into a tree after pulling some wild 360s. Sweet.
There was also a smoking one, which was basically the same game with different text. The interesting thing about it was if you quit smoking the game will begin presenting you with situations like 'after the death of a relative, a friend offers you a single cigarette.' Smoking the one cigarette would of course turn you into a pack a day smoker the next 'round', 100% of the time if I recall.