SGS Feature: 'Soapbox: Promoting Common Ground'

In this Soapbox written for Gamasutra sister site Serious Games Source, which deals with games created for training, health, government, military, educational and other uses, Harvard developmental psychologist Dorothy Warner decries the miscommunication and misunderstanding that hinders constructive dialogue in discussing video game issues - whether they between academic researchers, parents, children, policy makers, and video game developers. As a solution, she makes several suggestions to engender a more objective and reasoned debate including the following suggestiong for researchers: "2. Games provide an opportunity to study social phenomena in all kinds of innovative and relevant ways. Even if, as a researcher, you abhor video games and believe that they have nothing truly positive to offer children, I guarantee that we all have something to learn from studying video games and the people who play them. This area is far-flung from my originally intended area of study (adolescents with chronic illness) – but it does provide a fascinating window into the lives of adolescents, and that's what I'm really after." You can read the full Serious Games Source feature on the subject, including more intriguing suggestions meant to foster more understanding and clear communication between the parties involved (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from external websites).