"Don't Bother Me Mom -- I'm Learning" : How Computer and Video Games Are Preparing Your Kids For 21st Century Success -- and How You Can Help!
is the title of my new book for parents and teachers. It will be available for purchase before Christmas, and we will have a big press launch in March 2006. Here is a description:
"Don't Bother Me, Mom -- I'm Learning” : How Computer and Video Games Are Preparing Your Kids For 21st Century Success -- and How You Can Help! by Marc Prensky (Paragon House 2006) presents the case – profoundly counter-cultural but true nevertheless – that video and computer game playing, within limits, is actually very beneficial to today's “Digital Native” kids, who are using them to prepare themselves for life in the 21st century. The reason kids are so attracted to these games, Prensky says, is that they are learning about important “future” things, from collaboration, to prudent risk taking, to strategy formulation and execution, to complex moral and ethical decisions. Prensky’s arguments are backed up by university PhD’s studying not just game violence, but games in their totality, as well as studies of gamers who have become successful corporate workers, entrepreneurs, leaders, doctors, lawyers, scientists and other professionals.
Because most adults (including the critics) can’t play the modern complex games themselves (and discount the opinions of the kids who do play them) they rely on secondhand sources of information, most of whom are sadly misinformed about both the putative harm and the true benefits of game-playing. This book is the antidote to those misinformed, bombastic sources. Full of common sense and practical information, it provides parents with a large number of techniques approaches they can use – both over time and right away – to improve both their understanding of games and their relationships with their kids.
The book has had a number of great pre-endorsements, including the following:
“If you're a parent wondering—and worrying—about the impact of video games on your child, Don't Bother Me, Mom—I'm Learning should be required reading. Marc Prensky is the most persuasive, thorough, and entertaining guide to the cognitive virtues of gaming. After you read this book, you will not only be happy to let your teenager play The Sims, you'll also be picking up the joystick yourself!”
Steven Johnson
bestselling author of Everything Bad Is Good For You and Mind Wide Open
“This delightful book provides a nuanced view of the way kids—Digital Natives, as Marc would say—live, learn, create and socialize. Incredibly eye opening, the book is the Digital Immigrant’s guide to the confounding world of video/computer games.”
John Seely Brown
Co author of The Social Life of Information and The Only Sustainable Edge, Former Chief Scientist, Xerox Corporation
"There are plenty of people lining up to attack video games. Thank goodness for Marc Prensky, who offers the other side of the story in this enlightening and comprehensive guide to the benefits of video games."
Tom Standage, Technology Editor,
The Economist
“After 25 years of making games and hearing decades of criticism, it is great to see someone finally pointing out the powerful positive role that games can and do play in society. While clearly there are real and important reasons why parents should pay attention to how their kids spend their time, games are not a frivolous waste of time. Marc Prensky sheds a clear light on the many values that gaming brings society.”
Richard Garriott, creator of the fantastically successful “Ultima” series of games. Father of a teenage girl
"Parents and educators alike are urged to take a fresh look at the computer games children are playing. Marc Prensky shows how to enrich education by using the same engagement techniques employed by the very best digital game designers."
Lawrence Lipsitz, Editor,
"Educational Technology" Magazine