[OLPC-Games] Violent games on the OLPC Activities page

[Antoine van Gelder]

Noah Kantrowitz wrote:
> On Jan 17, 2008, at 10:46 AM, Bryan Berry wrote:
> 
>> I feel very strongly that violent games should not be associated with
>> OLPC. Albert Cahalan points out that games like Doom can teach  
>> geometry
>> and other skills. There are ways to teach those skills w/out involving
>> violence. I work in Nepal, a country recovering from an 11-year civil
>> war. Exposure to more violence, real or virtual, is the last thing  
>> most
>> Nepali communities want.
> 
> I understand your point, however this is the case, the government in  
> Nepal should simply decide not to include the offending material on  
> their software image. OLPC is not in the business of censorship or  
> content classification, and you have no right to try and remove thing  
> from the wiki just because you dislike them. If you are worried  
> children will find distasteful things on the internet, perhaps you  
> shouldn't give them a laptop.


I second and strongly share Bryan's feelings.

As you pointed out Noah, if children want distasteful things they can
find them elsewhere on the Internet.

Also Noah - could you please try and show some empathy for the
backgrounds of the people you talk to? Do you understand that large
parts of the rest of the world have not enjoyed the same levels of
stability and safety that your country has ?

Do you understand that not every person who finds some kinds of content
emotionally hurtful wants to prevent you from exercising your own rights
to access that content to your heart's content in forums which are more
appropriate to that kind of content ?

Many of us in the other countries have been shot at, had bombs going off
next to us and been brutalized by people with  guns that were loaded
with real bullets made of lead that, should you be shot with them, would
blow your head clean off.

Permanently.

  - antoine