THE VIRTUAL WORLD

1. Do you agree with the following statement? If yes, why? If not, why? Give your opinion.
Computer games are anti-social and violent, and their users are mindless nerds. nerd = informal, someone especially a man, who is not fashionable and who is interested in boring things nerdy = adjective, informal, boring and not fashionable

2. Now listen to this extract from a radio interview with a university lecturer. Does he have the same view of computer games as you have? What are his reasons?

Interviewer: I have here with me now Dr Mark Griffiths, senior lecturer in psychology at Nottingham Trent University. In a recent article for the journal Education and Health he says some rather surprising things about computer games… or video games, to call them by their other name. Dr Griffiths, computer games get a lot of bad publicity, but you don’t see them quite so negatively, do you?
Dr Griffiths: Indeed not. The trend in society is to label computer games as mindless and antisocial. But there is another side to the argument, because computer games actually help some people to develop relationships and improve their social skills… They make people feel better about themselves, too.
Interviewer: Yes, and you mention in your article that therapists are using computer games to help children with problems… children who are perhaps aggressive… but don’t most people think that computer games make people more aggressive? Some of these games are very violent, aren’t they?
Dr Griffiths: That’s true, but you see the aggressive content of these games doesn’t seem to have a negative effect. In fact, games like this actually allow the players to release their own aggression in a non-destructive way, so they can work positively on anyone with problems. And of course, introducing ‘shoot-em-up’ games at an early meeting allows the therapists to get through to these kids… you know, they win their confidence, their friendship even.
Interviewer: