Says that the industry stiffles the creativity of kids

Nov 28, 2011 12:52 GMT  ·  By

The next in a long line of politician to talk about video games as a force which is detrimental to the development of children these days is the newly elected president of Ireland, who has addressed the issue at a meeting with supporters at the well-known landmark that is Temple Bar.

Michael D. Higgins, who is the just elected president of the Republic of Ireland, has stated, “It is possible to form the impression that many of today’s children no longer fully appreciate the joy of taking refuge in their own imaginations, preferring to spend their time on computer games, or watching digital television or playing with pre-programmed electronic toys.”

Higgins assumed the highest office in Ireland on November 11 of this year, after a hotly contested election.

He was born in 1941 and represented the Labour Party before, occupying the post of minister in charge of culture during the ‘90’s.

The problem with the statement from the new Irish president is that video games have never been proven to limit the imaginations of those who play them and every serious player can testify to how the new universes that gaming offers, from fantasy to science fiction and alternate realities, enable him to exercise his imagination in new ways.

Recently a Member of Parliament in the United Kindom launched an attack on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, saying that the game came to close to reality in its portrayal of terrorist attacks in London and pushing the BBFC to place tougher restrictions on how games like that are sold.

Barrack Obama, the current President of the United States of America, has also mentioned video games as being one of the causes for the current dip in academic performances for young kids in his country, urging parents to control gaming time in order to give their children a brighter future.