One of Ben’s Christmas presents was an ‘X’ Box. For those of you not familiar with this it is similar to ‘Playstation’ but is produced by Microsoft. Essentially you play various ‘games’ linked to a TV set either against the machine or against another opponent. There are games available for children and Ben received a ‘Bugs’ racing game and has since acquired a ‘Robot Wars’ game.

For myself (yes I did intend to ‘play’ on the X Box) I purchased ‘Halo’. Before the Reverend Wood gets too excited about impending sainthood I should explain that this is essentially a war game using a variety of weapons in different settings.

Ben quickly passed through the children’s games and became more interested in playing ‘Halo’. This interest was reflected in his ability to play ‘Halo’ and I am regularly dispatched by him with overwhelming victories.

What is the problem then? Well, Ben’s Mum, Julie, is concerned regarding the degree of violence in ‘Halo’ and its suitability for a 6 year old.

My opinion is that playing the game develops strategy planning using various options and is, in its way, educational.

You may argue that so is chess and that chess is not violent.

Those of you who have watched the first Harry Potter film will have seen the chess game within that film, played with real moving figures that destroy an opposing piece with weapons. Chess is therefore also essentially destructive albeit also capable of developing strategic planning abilities.

Does the playing by young children of these violent games on a television screen instil violence in them as a more acceptable and commonplace practice?

We have gained some personal insight into a response to this question from the viewing on television of the War in Iraq.

Like most of you we have viewed the events of this war daily as they have occurred. Ben has not specifically watched these broadcasts but they have been on in his presence. Recently as we sat around the table, with the television on, they were showing people injured by the bombing and the shooting. Ben observed that in his opinion they should not have been shooting and bombing each other, where people can get killed and badly injured, but they should hang ‘targets’ in the trees and on the walls and shoot at the targets, then add up the points and decide on the ‘winner’ by who had the most points.

If only it was that simple.

To me, however, it does illustrate how Ben differentiates between the violence of a ‘game’ played on television from the violence of a real war, seen on television; the violence of the former not leading to a greater propensity for violence but in fact being seen as a means of avoiding real violence.