Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is this: for twoweeks, you will not talk or text message on your cell phone (exceptwhen the health and well being of a loved one is involved), useemail or instant messaging (except in reply to your boss), nor willyou shop online, play solitaire or engage in other "recreational"activities that involve your computer or the Internet (noexceptions here).
Gulp.
Imagine the difficulty of an equivalent challenge for a 10 or11-year-old. Now you may begin to appreciate the enduring willpowerand pride of the 30 Section School fifth graders who voluntarilyspent two long weeks devoid of their PlayStation and XBOX games andrepressing the urge to text or instant message their friends afterschool.
The students were participating in an experiment of sorts thatgrew out of a discussion in health class one day. While ponderingtheir emotional health, the topic came around to stress.
What made them angry or anxious? At this age, kids are dealingwith peer pressure and an increasingly acute awareness of familyproblems, says Section fifth-grade teacher Pam Jacobs.
But most of their replies to the question about anger, accordingto Section elementary counselor Debbie McRae (also the counselorfor Macedonia School), had something to do with video games.
Slamming their controllers down, becoming furious at losing agame, fighting with siblings over what to play or who gets to play.. .these are some of the stressors associated with the games theyplay, says McRae, who designed the project to have students give upgames, messaging and non-educational computer time.
News flash for the game challenged-or those who might bedoubtful that games cause stress for kids-listen to the names ofsome XBOX and PlayStation games that are rated "E" (meaning theyare suitable for everyone): "Burnout Revenge," "Crash Tag TeamRacing" "Shrek SuperSlam" "3Xtreme," and "Super Bust-a-Move."Granted, there are tamer sounding choices, but they all involvesitting in front of a television and many involve winning andlosing.
"When you really get into the game, you want to win so much thatyou get mad at it," explains fifth-grader Josh Clayton. Or, you getmad at your siblings. McRae says almost all of the fighting thatgoes on between her sons involves playing these games.
Fifth-grader Dylan Tipton's mom, Sandra Tipton, was pleased atthe prospect of a school-imposed limit on techno toys and evenrequired her 8-year-old to join Dylan in giving up the games. Infact, she said it was even harder for the 8-year-old, who oftengets upset, whines and even snaps at those around him when he'slosing at the games.
Tipton says sets restrictions on game playing and did so evenbefore the school project came about. Her children can play from60-90 minutes or so, but "if it's pretty, they have to get outsideand ride bikes."
But many parents permit unlimited game playing, according to theteachers. And that cuts deeply into the time kids spend outdoors,reading, doing homework, getting exercise or interacting withfamily.
Did someone mention bikes? The students actually had tobrainstorm about activities they could try during the times theynormally spent playing games. Biking and other physical activitieswere on the list. "One student couldn't remember the last time sherode her bike," McRae said.
"Obesity is increasing," she adds, and "sitting in front of thegames and eating" is likely contributing to the problem, especiallysince"they can play for hours."
McRae's anti-technology challenge-well, the students could usecomputers for school-is one of those rare, awe-inspiringassignments that incorporates lessons on multiple concepts: goalsetting and achievement (do they have 14 days' worth ofstick-to-it-ness, and what does it feel like to set a hard goal andmeet it?), habit busting (for many students NOT playing video gamesis somewhat akin to adults NOT having their morning coffee),resourcefulness (finding other things to do with their time), theimportance of an active lifestyle (how to move more of the bodythan just the fingers) and connecting with others ("How was yourday, Mom?").
Fifth-grader Kelly Owens said her parents thought the experimentmade her "healthier," and during the two weeks she spent a lot moretime with her parents, she got more sleep and she found time to do"normal things."
Section Principal Dr. Camille Wright said she overheard someparents talking about the fifth-grade project at a ballgame. "Theywere talking about the fact that the kids were making thatcommitment," Wright said.
Wright says research reveals that when kids spend a lot of timeplaying video games, the visual cortex of the brain is impacted."They're used to all this information being rapid," and it'screating a different kind of learner that is challenge foreducators.
"It's not easy," says Jacobs of getting kids to read textbooksor talking from the front of the classroom. "You don't have all thecomputer graphics and things exploding on the screen." And kids arelosing their creativity. "I think kids today have a lack ofimagination."
It wasn't hard for Samantha McCullogh to imagine the change thattook place in her during experiment. "I'm a new 11-year-old girl,"she wrote about the project. "I'm so free . . ."
