Facts: High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g., self-reported assault, robbery). (found here)
Whatever the truth is, it's a bit disturbing when every kid in my class is pretending to shoot each other with pretend guns. It gets surprisingly realistic when they start ducking behind chairs and tables, and reloading their respective weapons.
My students play a lot of video games. It actually seems as if that's their only outlet from a life of a full-time, plus over-time, student. Maybe it's because by the time they finish their homework, it's too late to go to the park, ride a bike, or go swimming. Ultimately, the computer seems to be the most convenient and popular way for my students to play.
I actually do wonder how they would react if they saw a real gun. With the amount of first person shooter video games they play, are they desensitized to how dangerous guns really are? Personally, I'd be nervous to hold even an unloaded weapon, but I wouldn't be surprised if my students took it as an extension of their playtime.
An old co-worker of mine from Australia gave me an awesome idea for ultimately wiping out "fighting games" in the classroom. He made up a thing called a "rainbow gun."
A rainbow gun works just like any other gun, except that it fires out rainbows instead of bullets.
To see if this really worked, I tried it on my students. I told then from now on, in Room 2, all guns are "kiss-guns."
What's that?
It's like a gun, but it shoots rainbows. If a rainbow hits you, it explodes into 1,000 kisses.
Ugggghhhhhh.
Then they starting shooting at me. I started grabbing at my face and body trying to wipe off kisses and, much to their embarrassment, I told them to "Stop kissing me! Please!" The other students laughed, and the ones with pretend weapons quickly realized that their entire invisible arsenal was actually loaded with rainbows.
Another way to react if students started shootings it to try to go at them with a hug.
"You want to kiss me? Thank you!!! Don't you want a hug, too??"
The fake guns and fighting games disappear. Fast. Now, students that used to fire bazookas are telling the others to "stop kissing me!! Teacher John, he keeps kissing me!" as they shield their faces.
So this is my Christmas wish for this year:
MERRY CHRISTMAS! BANG!
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