Gaming

I can see where gaming can become addictive. I can also see where young people are learning skills as they game. Even with the simplest game there is some kind of decision making and moving of pieces or words or whatever. I do have a funny anecdote from my babysitting days. I was babysitting a four year old boy who was already an expert on the computer. Most of his games were learning games so he already knew letters and numbers and even some words. He also had a workbook his parents wanted him to work on that night. I helped him as he wrote down the answers to each of the number questions on the page and when he was done I said "Good Job!" He then looked at me and said "what happens now?" I realized he was waiting for the bells and whistles to tell him he had finished. After the interactive world of gaming the written page wasn't so stimulating. Oh well, I guess that is why we, as library professionals, need to learn along with the young people and know what their expectations are.