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Grand Theft Childhood: The
Surprising Truth about Violent
Video Games and What Parents
Can Do.
Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl K. Olson.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
Notes, index. 260 pp. $25.00 cloth. ISBN
9780743299510
The Ecology of Games:
Connecting Youth, Games, and
Learning.
Katie Salen, editor.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008.
Notes, glossary, index. 278 pp. $16.00
paper. ISBN 9780262693646
by Stephen Jacobs
[First Paragraph]
Video games currently occupy the hot seat
in the furor around the impact of media
Book Reviews 389
on minors. As is the case with the other
historically contested media forms—dime
novels, comic books, pop music, film, and
television—video games have the ability to
entertain and educate. Some think their
interactive nature can make them more
engaging and therefore more dangerous
than the other media forms. As with comic
books and animation, popular opinion
treats video games as entertainment for
kids, despite the fact the average age of
video game enthusiasts over the past few
years is in the midthirties. |
