Selecting Software: Avoiding Violence

Many software programs have been designed to avoid portraying violence as a solution to any problem. Nevertheless, teachers have to make sure programs, possibly offered by parents or other community members, do not inadvertently bring examples of violence as a form of conflict resolution into the early childhood classroom. This is no different from pre-screening books. Teachers should not put an unscreened program on the computer any more than they would put an unscreened book on their bookshelf.

The kind of violence portrayed in most early childhood computer games may be very mild compared to the kinds of games designed for older children. There is an important difference, however, between seeing a cartoon character flatten or dissolve to get through an obstacle and using physical force to resolve a conflict or solve a conceptual problem. Children realize early that cartoon characters can do things real people cannot do. The image of using violence as an option when frustrated by a problem, however, is reinforced by other things they see in the world around them and is thus more likely to ring true to them. Good computer games should model using one's mind to solve problems creatively.

To explore another Web site that deals with this issue, please visit:

• Children's Software Revue
  This is the site of a magazine for teachers and parents that reviews software. To get their software reviews, you have to subscribe (and pay), but this site includes some free software reviews, a free search page to find software according to title, age, publisher or topic, and links to other software review sites, some of which are free.