Hear me out here.
I'm 13 years old, and I love gaming. I've been playing since I was really young, and still do it now. It's allowed me to talk to and have fun with my friends (I can't a lot of the time because of a medical condition), it's led me to make friends with people from different countries and cultures, something I would never have done if not for gaming. And, of course, gaming has opened up a huge new gate of amazing storytelling and gameplay experiences.
I also have a passion for reading and writing. I read and write all the time. I've written a book (which was published with the help of the amazing Starlight Foundation) and am in the process of writing another one. To me, there's little that's better than a big stack of good books.
Now let me tell you what I want to talk about today.
In the UK, there are loads of campaigns to get kids reading, which I support. I only have one problem with them though: There's always an emphasis on getting kids away from "The Xbox." Whenever I hear this, I scream inside.
WHY?
It really, really annoys me when the media portray gaming like it's the devil, and that we NEED to get our kids away from the stupid xboxes and Playstations.
What they don't understand is that that kids could be having fun playing with their friends. They could be getting involved in charity events thanks to gaming (trust me, it happens), kids aren't just sitting there and mindlessly clicking away, and those who are could be on their way to getting to a point where gaming is a beneficial hobby to them.
Why is it that gaming has to be something that kids are brought AWAY from? Why is it that if they're having fun gaming, they can't do it, because, you know, IT'S GAMING. I am a big gamer and a big reader. I know that a balance can exist. So when campaigns are done to get kids into reading, maybe taking the "if you start reading books you can't play games any more" part away, more kids might actually start reading.
Rant Over.
