Notes from the Video Store RENO, NV (KUNR) - A colleague of mine in Seattle sent me the following letter from the executive director of Share Our Strengths, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger. This is one of those things that makes me mutter, I wish I'd written that. So I'm going to share some of it with you. Pay attention, please. Keep in mind that this letter was written before the massive earthquake in China.
It's been a week of news reports that make you stop and think. Especially the numbers. One hundred thousand dead as a result of the cyclone in Myanmar. Obama winning the North Carolina primary by 14 points. The Dow Jones industrial average down another 200 points.
But there is one numbers story in particular that I have not been able to get out of my head. It is about the video game Grand Theft Auto.' . . .The New York Times reported that the graphically violent Grand Theft Auto IV sold 6 million copies in one week, for a total of $500 million in sales. Three point six million copies were sold on the first day.
. . .Our economy is teetering on recession. There will be a record number of 28 million Americans on food stamps in the next year. The price of some essential grains has more than tripled in the last 12 months [I'll interrupt here to add that this was before the Iowa floods destroyed millions of acres of soybeans], triggering food riots around the world. But nearly 4 million Americans managed to plunk down $59.95 to vicariously experience what it is like to be a criminal who is chasing and shooting and being chased and shot at.
. . .My response to the record-breaking success of Grand Theft Auto IV can be summarized in one word: envy. Video games are pretend drama. Our work at Share Our Strengths involves real survival dramas and requires even more sophisticated strategies than the most creative video game designers have imagined.
We have to communicate the drama in what we do at every opportunity. It is the drama of whether a child starts down a path of health or a blind alley of hurt, whether a family can overcome long odds and escape poverty's dead-ends, whether an intervention of assistance, education, or advocacy can result in big wins. When we get 3.6 million Americans to all reach for their wallets at the same time, we'll know we are on to something.
This is, I think, a story about priorities. You can't turn on the news these days without hearing the latest price for a barrel of oil, a gallon of gas, or a pound of rice. I've been feeling the pinch and I know my clients have, too. And everyone complains. We Americans are used to having pretty much whatever we want whenever we want it and so are our children. Which may be why so many adults tell me that their children have an astonishing sense of entitlement and never seem to appreciate what they have.
Despite all the moaning and whining about energy prices, food prices, mortgage foreclosures, though, 4 million Americans decided in one week that buying a violent video game was a top priority. If my math is correct, that's about $240 million dollars. I can't help wondering what might have been done with that money if 4 million Americans decided to donate $59.95 to their favorite charity or cause? Could we have fixed up some highways? Improved education for our children? Fed some starving families? Or perhaps delivered aid to people still living in trailers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?
And what, you may be wondering, does any of this have to do with parenting? Well, as with so many other decisions we make every day, how we spend our disposable income speaks volumes to our children about what matters most. Yes, many of those video games were purchased by young adults who do not yet have children of their own. But I know a number of parents who grouse loudly about the cost of living but jumped right in line to spend their money on a game that glorifies theft, death, and miscellaneous violence.
We have all sorts of clich s about this, by the way. Actions speak louder than words. Or do as I say, not as I do. But here's the rub: If you want to raise children of character, you must teach them by example what character means. If you want children who practice compassion and generosity, you must live your life with compassion and generosity. If you want a peaceful community and a peaceful world, you must create a peaceful family. Shoot-em-up video games are unlikely to teach peace, compassion, or generosity.
There's another clich , too. It says, Put your money where your mouth is. Sooner or later, if we want our children to inherit a better world, we have to stop being self-indulgent and begin devoting ourselves to the things that matter. You and I may not agree on exactly what those things are but that's not important. If 4 million Americans were willing to spend $59.95 to make the world a better place it would be. For KUNR, this is Cheryl Erwin.
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