Johnson and Libraries/Education

“If everything ‘bad’ is indeed good for you, what does this mean for the world of Libraries and/or Educational organizations?” We should burn all of the books and just play video games and watch movies and TV all day every day!!!

JUST KIDDING!

What I really think this all means is that we (librarians and teachers) need to stop thinking of video games, TV and movies as “bad” things. They have their benefits, just like reading books. And since younger generations LOVE video games, TV, and movies, we should try to use them to our advantage. The way Johnson described them, many video games, television shows, and movies require attention, focus, and some degree of learning. If we can capitalize on this love of learning in children, we have a new way to challenge kids in a way they’d like to be challenged. We should encourage children to play the thought-provoking, decision-making, long-term planning video games. We should encourage video game makers to continue to challenge children in more and more advanced ways. We should also support child-oriented television shows and movies that challenge children’s intellectual capacities. In the library we can show support through sales; primarily purchasing intellectually stimulating materials for the children’s department. We can also have library events that promote these intellectually stimulating games, movies, and shows. We can allow the children to watch/play as we explain to parents the different ways their children are learning. Of course nothing can replace the many benefits of being an avid reader, so we will continue to constantly promote reading, but I don’t think it hurts to stimulate and engage children in a variety of ways.