Youth voices.
Parents, politicians and community leaders across the
country have been up in arms about video game content
that pushes the envelope. But what about the kids who
play them? Talk to members of the East County Youth
Coalition, a project of the Institute for Public Strategies.
The group consists of high schoolage youth from throughout
East County, San Diego. The goal of the group is to
empower young people to improve the environments in
which they live. More and more, that environment is
filled with video game screens depicting sex, drugs,
and violence—and these young people have something
to say about it.
Kids making a difference for other kids.
The group is currently focusing on the video game NARC,
a game that allows players to assume the role of a cop
whose mission it is to take down a drug cartel. Along
the way, you can take drugs to give you an edge—making
you run faster, be able to identify enemies, and hit
targets. Young members of the ECYAC object to the glorification
of drug use in the game and are mounting a powerful
campaign against it. Through sting operations, media
events, and presentations, the group is educating their
community and peers about the game and the real impact
of drugs on their community, as opposed to the virtual
one. |
| “ I have friends that do
drugs and I’ve seen what happens to them.
If they see what the video games are doing, maybe
they are going to go out and do it too. Because
it looks like fun.” |
|
|
- Terrel Chapple
Member, ECYAC |
| |
| |
| |
| “ The game says to me ‘
you can control this [drug use].’ And in
the game you can, because you are just pushing
buttons. But in real life you don’t have
those buttons to push.” |
|
|
- Darrell Allbritton
Community Organizer
Institute for Public
Strategies. |
|
