Project Work on Valor@Montfort by Peter Wong, Raffles JC

Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Peter Wong's (PW) Script

The world's population stands at 6.7 billion today. Of which, 217 million, play video games. Video gaming has become a modern widespread form of entertainment, a pastime in the lives of most teenagers around the world today. It is reported that an average gamer spends 7 and a half hours a week in front of a screen, playing electronic games. Surprisingly, 50% of parents do not keep track of their children's usage of video games, not knowing that 89% of the 70 top-selling games are violent in nature. In fact, 17% of these games have violence centred as its primary focus in completing tasks. Before you jump to the conclusion that video games are boys' toys, in a survey done in the US, it is shown that 38% of gamers are female.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, I am Ian Chew and I'll be opening my group's presentation with its introduction. And yes! We'll be presenting on task 2 - Entertainment. We have chosen to investigate into a change that has occurred in video games - a conceptual change. This refers to a transition in the way society views the playing of video games in the past to today.

Entertainment has become and integral part of life today, especially when we lead stressful lives and we seek forms of activities which will help us escape the hustle and bustle of the world. Video gaming qualifies as a form of entertainment as it gives pleasure and leisure to players from all walks of life. Our group has planned a series of events targeting schooling teenagers as we feel that they are the ones who play video games the most regularly. What we hope to achieve from the series of events we've planned will be elaborated on later by K and H.

To expand on the idea of the conceptual change that video games have undergone, I would to first explain how our group pinpointed the shift in the perspective from which different communities of society view video games. In the month of April this year, we chanced upon an article in the Digital Life section of the Straits Times reporting that Montfort Secondary School was then opening a gaming centre within its campus. We then set out to engage Mr. Simen Lourds, Montfort's principal, in an interview at his school's gaming centre opening ceremony. We recognised the opening of a gaming centre within a school as not only an encouragement to youths to play these games, but also an act of advocating the activity. Now, why would a principal make a decision which could possibly stir up protests from parents and teachers, and even the rest of society?

Mr. Lourds' answer to this question was, "Something had to be done to stop students from getting too addicted to this, but nevertheless they must be allowed to engage in gaming." Picture this: students changing out of their school uniforms into civilian clothes, sneaking into dark, dimly-lit places, full of smoke, spending long hours in front of a desktop monitor. This was a first-hand account of the principal himself, an encounter he had at a shopping centre. He later emphasised some benefits that video games have - the development of good hand-eye coordination, alertness and spatial awareness.

In the beginning, electronic games were designed to relieve stress. However, that was not the prime purpose. Progressively, as technology advanced, new forms of video games evolved, flooding young impressionable minds with images beyond what reality has to offer - images of violence, fantasy and supernatural powers at work. This is why, in a survey our group conducted, we found that 69% of parents show discontentment towards their children playing such games. Amongst the reasons attributed to this perception are the wastage of time and electricity, the addiction to the activity, and other side-effects.

However, our group has done a fair but of research on the Internet, in books, and through a survey and an interview. We found that the stigmatization of video games is not 100% true. In fact, video games have benefits and advantages to offer. After this, my teammate H will be covering this change that video games have undergone and expound on the positive effects it has on different communities today. Following her, H and K will present the details of our event and P, who's at the table, will drum it home with the conclusion to our presentation.

Before I pass the time on to H, I would like to take you through a short skit depicting a scene from the past. Thank you! Please enjoy!