March 13, 2008 -
The debate over Bully: Scholarship Edition continues to rage, primarily in Canada.
There, Mary-Lou Donnelly, head of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union, pens an op-ed slamming the game in the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. Among her points: Gamers just don't get it:
Reporters, newspaper editors and game promoters have tried to downplay the game, saying that teacher organizations are overreacting... One accused teachers of not giving students enough credit to distinguish between reality and fantasy. Another said that teachers had missed the boat because the game could be used as a teaching tool against bullying...
Clearly, the creators and promoters of the game just don’t get it... A game such as Bully: The Scholarship Edition, which reduces bullying to a mere lark... contributes nothing positive to youth culture. Indeed, it contradicts everything that educators are trying to accomplish...
Well, here’s a hard fact: Bullying is never fun!
Meanwhile, game developer Clint Hocking, writing for his Click Nothing blog, has issued a challenge to the educators who are protesting Bully:
Since I haven't even played Bully - and probably neither [have the teachers who are protesting it], I wonder if we even can contribute anything? Ought we enter into debate about public access to media that we have not even engaged ourselves? That seems unethical to me...
Instead, I am going to invite [the teachers] to examine it with me, and to enter into a critical discussion of its merits and the difficulties it may or may not pose to students and to teachers... I extend an open invitation to play Bully with me, and once we have all finished we can collectively engage in an informed dialogue about the merits or failings of the game.
Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), debated Ms. Donnelly on CBC last Sunday (video here). Della Rocca writes about the Bully controversy on his Reality Panic blog:
The teachers are missing a prime opportunity to make progress... I’d argue that teachers could have leveraged Bully to both better understand the social politics of high school (by embodying a troubled teen) and open a much needed dialog with students about bullying...
While some argue that Bully could have been an even more scathing critique of school life, the challenge is that many simply do not look to games for meaningful social commentary (like The Breakfast Club, for example)...
Ultimately, we all want to stop bullying and built safe/effective schools, and there’s no doubt that games can play an important role in that effort. We’ll see what happens next…
Comments
Well, she was almost honest here.. now if she would just admit that 'stopping bullying' is NOT what educators are trying to accomplish. Donnelly is probably pro-bullying and is just pissed that the game encourages protecting omegas and fighting back, something "E"ducators (as opposed to teachers who often actually do care) tend to be against.
Does anyone else feel insulted by Donnell's remarks?
Were those downplaying bullying?
And here's a thought. Rockstar develops video games, and making video games requires one to know how to use a computer, and in the days Rockstar started computers were seen as a largely nerdy thing, ergo most video game developers could likely have been made fun of in school, ergo Rockstar made this game because they know form personal experience what it can be like in school.
Of course no one criticizing Bully can see beyond their nose to think about that
I'm not saying all teachers are useless but come on...if they are too busy pointing their god damned fingers at a video game instead of trying to stop bullying or something, then it shows where they are on the "I Notice Bullying" scale.
I think its more likely that these are the people who taught the politicians and police officials who claim that games cause violence. In other words, they are really olde teachers.
Mrs. Donnelly,
Your continuous remarks about the video game Bully are irresponsible and without merit. You should try some personal investigation before you make comments on a subject the you obviously are misinformed about. This only proves that people of your age are completely out of touch with today's society. I'm sure your loving the 15 minutes of fame this subject grants you, and your organization. Successful adults such as myself, who have been playing these for their entire lives, are sick and tired of video games being blamed for the actions of a few misguided young people. It is people like you that enable the behavior of these misguided youth. You allow them to blame these GAMES for their actions. If people like you spent as much time getting to the heart of the matter as you do trying to get on TV, we could fix the problem. Start placing the blame where it lies, with the parents. I myself am a father of two, and if either one of my kids did something wrong you can bet they, or myself, would take full responsibility for their actions. Not a video game. I miss the gold old days when somebody was actually responsible for their own actions. Have a great day and good luck on your next TV interview.
She also doesn't do recess and lunch supervision of kids as NS is the only schoolboard in Canada that has a contract clause so they don't have to.
but she loves the kids. Just loves breaks more.
"Is bullying fun? Ask those who have been victims themselves"
No it isn't, but I am not going to pin the blame on some data on a disc. In fact, I put the blame squarely on the parents and school faculty, including teachers. I don't think a single person who went after me was ever punished. I was called names, teased, mocked, and had rumors spread about me all throughout Junior High School (grades 7-9 here in N.S.)
I dreaded going to class most days because the teachers, principals, and staff wouldn't do anything about it. Those were the worst 3 years of my life and I know that I will never forget them.
It's been only 4 years since then and I have just one thing to say to you Mary-Lou Donnelly...
F**k you.
You are pinning the blame on what was possibly the only thing that kept me sane during that time just so you can push your own stupid agenda. You are looking for a scapegoat, you are afraid to take responsibility for the mess that public schools are today. You should be ashamed of yourself, if you could do your own damn job, the schools would be a lot better today.
*takes a deep breath*
I'm sorry, this article really struck a nerve. I've been a victim of bullying in N.S. schools and I don't want to see my favorite pastime take the blame for it. It's like being hit in the head with a hammer, and then being hit again as soon as you get up. If I can do anything to get her attention on the matter, I will.
where did you get her e-mail?
A-fucking-men.
There are no words.
"There 2 thing in this world that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, but I am not to sure about the universe" ~Albert Einstein
Even I tried to talk about Videogames in my school life, but because it was not relevent or meaningful to the teachers, they never really understood what I was saying in the first place.
Simply, there are people who want Videogames to be more than just fun, sadly the reality is that Videogames and best when they are fun and enjoyable, and Bully while being set in a boarding school is really all about fun because you are doing almost anything you want.
Sadly the teachers will only see the bad things and never the good things about a game like Bully, regardless of them even playing it at all.
That said, I never tried to transform & run over decepticons becuase despite him being my hero, I wasn't so fucking stupid to mistake a cartoon for real life...
Clearly. After all, the supporters of the game have never played it and you have... Oh wait.
Appearently the people who made the game also do not know jack and shit about it. At least according to her.
You have experience with real life bullying. We get that. We have experience over the GAME bully.
I don't really think she looks beyond the title.
It's called creationism.
Lo but the wicked Megatron looked upon this great creation and envied it, determined to ruin it once and for all...
The game, Bully, was much different, though. I was able to take on a character where I was protecting the geeks. I fail to see how that's promoting bullying in the way these teachers are describing.
Maybe they need to get off of their soapboxes and actually pay attention to the REAL bullying going on right under their noses.
These teacher, I would say, are failures to the school system for being so ignorant and spreading lies. They would fail a high school debate yet they are heared by everyone. Corruption. Play the gamje teachers
No matter how many times a kid tries to tell a teacher something is wrong, the teachers play the "I know better than you" game and ignore it. Well, the guy I messed up never bullied anyone again, I can swear to that.
The teachers unions here in Canada are very powerful and they actually own some corporations (like the Ontario union, which owns Maple Leaf). If they're saying something, you can be damn sure both the government AND the media are listening. Naturally, this much power is almost never a good thing.