I meet a lot of parents here in the West who of course want to show their children a good way of living. They want to teach them love and peace, they want to teach them how to solve conflicts peacefully and they want them to live in happiness and satisfaction. They often try to protect their children from the bad things that happen in this world because they don’t want them to live with the energy of violence and hate in their minds.
Sometimes however they see what their children do the whole day and they realize that the movies that their children watch on TV are full of fights and wars. They watch exactly those things that their parents want to protect them from! And even worse – in video games they even play being the one who is shooting and killing others! They watch how their own child pretends to be a murderer, how their child starts thinking and acting like a criminal in order to solve the video game. Some children even get addicted to these games!
The parents see this violence. It hurts them but they find themselves unable to help and unable to change anything. They think about how much TV they allow their children and how many video games. They don’t want to forbid it completely because they want their child to really live in this world where violent video games exist. And even if they forbid it at home, they know that their children do the same in their friends’ houses and find it even better because they are not allowed to do this at home!
Why do those people who create the video games, the game developers and producers not make something more beautiful? Why don’t they create something that is full of love and peace? Some people may now call me flying in the skies, unrealistic and thinking with pink glasses in front of the eyes. Those who know me however know me better. I am not talking about the idea of having a video-game in which you only walk through flower gardens and sing and dance with other people who all live free and in love and peace with each other – no teenager would spend more than ten minutes with that game!
No, I am talking about a real game but in a real world, where people can make experiences in reality. Stop making games in which people shoot around in foreign worlds that don’t exist! I have the thought, why don’t you make a game where a child can discover the life of a child in India, like one of the children who come to our school? You would be the child and have dialogue with the people around you. You would see how this character lives, who the people are around him, you would go with him to school and meet his friends. This character could visit the parents at work and children would learn so much about this child’s situation – a child that is of the same age!
They would experience that this child may sometimes be hungry or not have enough clothes to wear. They would get to know how difficult it is for the family to earn their living and they would see how many people can live together in one room. What happens if the monsoon comes and the water enters your house? What happens if your father gets ill and cannot go to work and earn money for today’s food? What happens if your mother already makes plans whom you should marry? There are many conflicts, many situations that are exciting, surprising or interesting for children or teenagers and which they could explore in this way! They could be the ones finding out for this child how he or she can get out of this life and find a better way, for example through education.
Children and teenagers would have fun exploring, they would learn something and they would especially find out how well they live. They have a room full of toys and a tree under which there are dozens of gifts to unpack on Christmas. Our young ones could learn not to take this as granted. They would see what their privilege is that they can live here, in this abundance. In their heart they can develop love and compassion for children in other countries. Instead of learning hatred and violence, they would learn love and compassion.
Wouldn’t that be a beautiful video game?
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This is a very nice idea!I think the children could learn a lot out of this game.
Maybe they wouldn’t think it anymore so important to wear only clothes from expensive trademarks and look deprecating to those children of parents which can`t offer their children such stuff.
Love
Armin
We are so stuck in the West by how detached we are from our bodies. We eat food with almost no nutritional value, drink bubbly sugar, we sit around all day at jobs or school, and we watch movies and video games about sex and violence. of course there are a few wires that aren’t crossing up correctly. Maybe we need massive change in order to be better, nationwide change. Maybe we all just need to die off and reboot. Or maybe, I hope this is it, Maybe we just need time to adjust to our newly developed technology. Maybe it will come to evensies in the future. I hope.
There are entire industries built around pain and far fewer (commercial at least) built around beauty.
These are some joyful and fantastic ideas Swami Ji!
Check it out. People are actually making games like this! http://www.medindia.net/news/New-Video-Game-to-Teach-Kids-Peace-and-Non-violence-36895-1.htm
“am not talking about the idea of having a video-game in which you only walk through flower gardens and sing and dance with other people who all live free and in love and peace with each other” You are genuinely hilarious.
Love this!
I think people who find themselves board with health or positivity have never really been healthy or experienced true positivity.
Money otherwise spent on game consoles and games could be put towards family vacations! Why not see the real thing!
One thing I have discovered about American media is the common appearance of gruesome violence on TV, in movies, and in video games. Somehow it is okay to watch people die in horrible violent ways, yet something as beautiful as sex is censored heavily. I’m not suggesting that full-on pornography be available to small children. But young people need to learn about healthy sex in order to understand it and the risks involved in getting diseases or getting pregnant too early. Other Westernized countries, such as in Europe, are much more likely to show sexual images or ideas on TV. I just think that showing lots of death and violence and ignoring the incredible and beautiful process that brings life on the planet is a little backwards.
This is an great idea! Unfortunately many kids lose themselves in the virtual world, instead of going out to enjoy nature and real life. But this is also about education. You have to show your child the world and it’s beauty, which doesn’t have to be connected to computers and viedo games.