As if to prove that not all media in Australia is completely insane about World of Warcraft, The Age has published a great column by comedienne and writer Wendy Harmer about her experiences playing WoW... with her eight-year-old son.

Now this is what I'm talking about-- she praises the game almost unreservedly for not only teaching her son about how to interact with computers and numbers, but also for how to interact with people. In the world of WoW, where the kid is "often playing alongside much older people who have high demands on courteous behavior and fair conduct," the kid is learning how to be social and save up a "bank of goodwill" with his guild members. She even attacks the notion that playing MMORPGs is anti-real world-social-- she says his son plays with both his mother and his friends, and that the game actually encourages real-world interaction modeled on the game, just as past generations of boys modeled their playtime on the TV and radio shows they experienced.

And notice how, as opposed to most of the crazy WoW kids portrayed by the media, Harmer actually moderates her child's playing. She keeps the computer out of the bedroom, and, I'd guess, evaluates and adjusts his playing time as necessary. In short, she lets her child play the game as its meant to be played-- as a part of a normal life-- and he's better off for it. That's the picture of WoW that most players see, and yet it's a picture that's almost never shown by the media.

Now all we have to do is get that kid to abandon his Pally and play Horde...

Tags: antisocial, kids, media portrayal, MediaPortrayal, wow

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, News items