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

[Tim Wintle]

My personal view on this would be that the OLPC should have a list of
games that are "teaching resources", i.e. appropriate for use in the
classroom.

If a game is not a "teaching resource" appropriate for use in
classrooms, then it shouldn't be on the list. These other games can
still be on any other websites, which is the entire point of freedom of
speech on the internet.

My main reason for this is that the olpc website is the "sales letter"
for getting other countries to sign up for shipments of the olpc. We
need to avoid any negative images in the potential buyers' minds.

I agree with having to be aware of the situations in other countries.
Although I am in the UK, several of my family and my friends live in
less safe parts of the world - one of my cousins was shot in the face
with a shotgun a few years ago in Johannesburg- and we want to be part o
the solution, not part of the problem.

For the case of Doom, I do agree that there is a lot to be learnt from
studying the source code, however there are loads of doom-compatible
levels/spin-offs that are less violent, and I would suggest (if someone
feels like they have the time) that someone bundles one of these systems
together for release direct from the wiki.

btw, I would class nudity as something we should not include in the list
-I would not be happy with that in schools here, and it may put off
muslim counties in particular.

Tim Wintle

On Fri, 2008-01-18 at 11:06 +0200, Antoine van Gelder wrote:
> Jeffrey Kesselman wrote:
> > My personal suggestion to the self-appointed censors is, if you don't
> > like the content it ships with, go create some you DONT find
> > objectionable to offer as an alternative.
> 
> 
> The fundamental flaw in this line of reasoning Jeffrey... and this is a 
> flaw which any sophomore would have been able to spot in the days when 
> they still taught logic and critical reasoning skills at American 
> universities is this:
> 
> 
> -> Putting violent arcade games in an educational resource violates the 
> right to spiritual and emotional recovery for nations that are in the 
> process of recovering from war.
> 
> -> Making lists of whatever entertainment resources you wish _OFF-SITE_ 
> does not violate anyone's freedom of speech nor their right to choose 
> whatever type of drivel they wish to waste their time on.
> 
> 
> What part of this do you not understand ?
> 
> 
>   - antoine
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