I know this will be an unpopular topic with certain members of my household (specifically, the one who sleeps in the bed with me), but it's something I have a lot to say about.
Our middle son, who is eleven, has an active imagination. He also has a lot of restlessness developed from the electronic obsession he has. When he doesn't get to use whatever electronic device he wants during the day, he has a tendency to sneak it at night and pull all-nighters, watching videos about other people playing video games.
I'm looking to channel that imagination and restlessness into something else. And I have that channel in our basement; it survived the flood intact, being far enough away from the danger zone. It's a nearly-complete collection of Dungeons & Dragons books. The classic BECMI version, that is. I haven't played in years, and haven't even looked at them, because my wife has a firm prejudice against the game. But I broached the subject with her yesterday about allowing me to play it with our son. Of course, she had an immediate visceral reaction to it, but I'm not giving up, and she's at least considering the idea. Here's why she should agree.
First, I'm tired of hiding my love for the game and pretending it has no influence on me. I write fantasy novels, for Pete's sake! Of course it influences me to this day. It would insane to think it doesn't. Just because I don't get to play it anymore doesn't mean I don't think about it. I have a very, very good memory for stuff I did when I was a kid.
But that's about me; here's why it would be good for our son.
First, imagination. He has a great, active imagination, and this game is entirely about imagination and creating something new. Sure, there are rules, but that's fine; every writer has to follow rules, even if he's pantsing it (a term that means writing on the fly without an outline or a plan). If you're creating a fantasy world, you have to make that world consistent with its own laws of nature. This game just formalizes those rules for a particular situation, but they can be altered as required (again, as long as it's consistent).
Second, reading. Every old-school gamer is a voracious reader, and they read good books by the old masters that I've talked about: Burroughs, Howard, Lovecraft, Merritt, Dunsany, C.A. Smith., etc. And that's before getting to the Tolkeins and the Eddingses. We want him to read, and we want him to imagine the stories he's reading. Reading these books will help him develop his vocabulary and spelling, key skills for any homeschooled child.
Third, problem-solving. Any old-school gamer will tell you that the best games involve figuring out how to overcome obstacles. Usually, it's in a team of multiple players, brainstorming to figure out how to get around that pit in the floor, or how to crack the code on the chest that's holding the Crown of the God-Emperor that's worth a fortune. And learning how to solve those problems in a game will develop the skills necessary to solve those problems in real life.
Fourth, morality. Yes, you can learn morality in a game about going into dark places, killing things and taking their stuff. Because in a D&D game, your character is a hero, who has to do heroic things and stop vile, nasty monsters from doing villainous things. Rescue the princess from the dragon, save the village from the marauding ogres, stop the necromancer from raising an army of the dead...these are all noble and heroic deeds, and we should want our kids to think about how doing good deeds can affect the lives of others. Sure, I don't expect him to run out of the house and go slaughter a troll living under the bridge, but he can certainly stand up to the bullies of the world on behalf of others. Would he do that? I don't know, but the odds are better that he would if he were to play a game that encourages that sort of behavior.
Finally, bonding and companionship. In a world now afflicted with Corona-chan, people are already becoming isolated; the store shelves are bare, sports are shut down, swimming pools and libraries are closing, and communities are turning into ghost towns as people huddle in their homes, afraid of human contact in a world that desperately needs more, not less of such contact. Playing a game that encourages such contact and is, in fact, built around it, will give him the opportunity to learn these skills without costing him in the real world. If he acts like a jerk in the game, there will be consequences, and eventually he'll learn that those consequences will have effects in the real world if he doesn't change his behavior.
I know, it's just a game. But D&D is a great game, because it is a game without limits. Unlike chess or Uno or Monopoly, it's open-ended. It's not limited to what you can program into a computer, either. Anything can happen, and often does. In a well-played game, magic can and does happen.
I'll talk more about this in future posts, but for now, I'll just remind you that fantasy isn't the only thing that I write: You can find examples of that here, in my Cameron Vail mysteries:
Final Exam
The Missing Magnate
No comments:
Post a Comment