News
Daily Mail: ‘Games are hurting kids’
Tim Ingham Apr 23 2008, 10:39am
Comments (8)
Newspaper says more children are being injured by consoles than trees… again
We’re sorry. Repeating the same story – nay, the same sensational headline – two years in a row just to secure attention from readers is a dirty journalistic trick.
You wouldn’t catch an august, dignified national newspaper like The Daily Mail relying on this sort of unethical subterfuge to up its readership, for instance.
Just look at its article on, ‘The Xbox generation: Why children are now more likely to be hurt falling out of bed than from a tree’.
In this ‘brand new’ reportage, it, erm, sensibly bemoans the fact that fewer little oiks are injuring themselves tumbling from Great Oaks than they were back in the days when Just William was the naughtiest entertainment available.
And what, I hear you cry, is keeping the nation’s youth from smashing head first into next-door’s crazy paving? Bloody games! Perish the thought!
Indeed, as a spokesperson for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents says: "We have asked ourselves whether it's better to break a wrist falling from a tree than developing Repetitive Strain Injury from playing computer games."
So there you have it. Kids should be snapping their carpal bones from a great height. Anything else simply isn’t healthy.
From a journalistic standpoint, it's nice to see that this Mail article is in NO WAY reminiscent of the story MCV reported on this time last year, which offered a headline of: ‘PlayStation generation that will never climb a tree.'
Last year, PlayStation generation. This year, Xbox generation.
Microsoft will be pleased.
Comments
“Gosh Darn Children”
Posted by: TimSpong - Apr 23, 11:21am
I think the comment to last year's story about sums up the general coverage in the respectible (sic) meeeja.
“Climbing Trees?”
Posted by: Dan G - Apr 23, 11:38am
I was going to list reasons as to why children don't climb trees anymore, such as dangerous streets, risk of arrest for criminal damage, lack of parks, too busy revising for yet another exam for the school league tables, too overweight to get anywhere, "what's the point?" ("for fun? You think life is fun little Jonny? If it was, that candy bar would have zero tax on it"),
but then I figured the post would be far too long ;-)
“Re: Climbing Trees?”
Posted by: LordMonkey - Apr 23, 11:48am
It's not just tree-related injuries. Kids these days miss out on many dangerous activities that children from many years ago used to regularly enjoy.
For instance, look at the way compulsory education and a ban on child labour has completely stopped British children from working long hours in factories or climbing chimneys for pennies!
Bring back the good old days!
“Re: Climbing Trees?”
Posted by: Chris - Apr 23, 12:06pm
sigh, all we need is a newspaper to claim you get satanic messages if you walk backwards through level
“Re: Climbing Trees?”
Posted by: ggc - Apr 23, 1:29pm
Another piece of game-bashing by the DM...I suppose we have to assume that their own 'games' section on the website does NOT fall under the harmful games that they speak of...(would you be suprised to hear that they make money out of that particular entity? - well they do!)
And furthermore, last time I checked, young children couldn't afford a games console - perhaps the parents have something to answer for?
“Re: Climbing Trees?”
Posted by: anon - Apr 23, 1:47pm
better to fall from a bed than a tree :)
still don't see the responsibility of games here any more than TV, cell phones, bad weather, less trees in urban environments, obesity, etc...
“Funny”
Posted by: Bruceongames - Apr 25, 8:45am
The Daily Mail increasingly becomes a parody of itself.
It is getting more and more like Viz.
Surely nobody without Alzheimers believes a word they print any more?
“Re: Funny”
Posted by: JustChris - May 13, 10:43pm
They've drawn the conclusion that less tree-related injuries = less children climbing trees. But there are no statistics saying whether tree-climbing has been on the decline. For all we know, the "Xbox generation" could just be better at climbing trees.