"The writing is on the wall - computer games rot the brain"
Boris Johnson: Daily Telegraph 28/12/06
Read the article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/12/28/do2801.xml
1. What is the conclusion of this argument?
“It is time to garrotte the Game Boy and paralyse the PlayStation, and it is about time, as a society, that we admitted the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males.
2. What reasons are offered to support this conclusion?
· Millions of 7-15 year olds are hooked on computer games.
· Computer games have contributed to a decline in reading standards.
· Computer games are not educational.
· Computer games are a cause of poverty.
· Computer games are a cause of young people dropping out of university.
3. What is the counter argument and how does the author respond to it? Assess the strength of the author’s response.
The counter argument is that computer games are educational. The author’s view that they are not, is supported by his having watched an 11 year old boy play a game that appeared to be about Vikings and medieval siege warfare. Having watched the game, Johnson concluded that it had no educational merit. The weakness in Johnson’s response is that he makes a generalisation based on a single example of a computer game (hasty generalisation/insufficient sample.)
4. In the third paragraph, what evidence does Johnson offer to show that the “Literacy Hour” has been a failure? Assess the strength of this evidence.
· It is possible that reading standards would have declined even more, were it not for the Literacy Hour.
· Enjoyment of reading is not the same as standard of reading.
· How young were the children surveyed? It is possible that older children acquire more enthusiasm for reading, possibly as a result of the Literacy Hour.
5. In order to test Johnson’s view that computer games cause a decline in reading standards, what would we need to know about the children who do not play computer games?
We would need to know whether the children who do not play computer games have higher reading standards than those who do.
6. Assess the strength of Johnson’s criticism of modern parenting in the fourth paragraph. How could Johnson be accused of restricting the options (false dilemma)?
There is a restriction of the options in suggesting that children cannot acquire a love of reading if parents allow them to play computer games. An alternative option would be that parents could ration their children’s use of games to ensure that they do not play excessively.
7. What must Johnson assume about the computer game described in paragraphs five and six?
Johnson must assume that this game is typical of computer games in not being educational.
8. In describing the computer game, Johnson is contemptuous of the “bogus massacres” that he observed. What does he imply by his use of the following terms:
(a) Programmed?
(b) Spoon-fed?
(c) Immediate?
(d) Undeserved praise?
(a) Johnson implies that the massacres happened almost automatically, requiring no meaningful input from the user. All computer software must be programmed but this does not mean that the computer game did not require skill. There must have been some degree of interactivity between the user and the software, otherwise it cannot be described as a “game”.
(b) Use of the term “spoon-fed” implies that the game was easy.
(c) Johnson is possibly criticising computer games for providing instant gratification that may lead to unrealistic expectations.
(d) Again, Johnson is implying that the game was easy.
9. Why might ownership of computer games be seen as an “index of wealth”? How is Johnson’s view that they are not supported by his reasoning elsewhere in the passage?
As Johnson says, computer games and game consoles are expensive items. If British households have more of them than households in other countries, it could be concluded that there is economic prosperity, with households having disposable income to spend on consumer products. Johnson counters this interpretation by pointing out that there is a distribution of ownership across socio-economic groups. Elsewhere in the passage, he has argued that playing computer games has caused a decline in reading standards, which could lead to lower income levels in later life.
10. In paragraph 8, Johnson offers further evidence of declining literacy. Assess the strength of the following evidence:
(a) “By the age of 14, there are still 40 per cent whose literacy or numeracy is not up to the expected standard...”
(b) “Even at university, there are now terrifying numbers of students who cannot express themselves in the kind of clear, logical English required for an essay, and in many important respects if you can't write, you can't think.”
Neither piece of evidence demonstrates a decline in reading standards. The evidence of 14 year olds depends on what the standard is. If a high standard has been set, it might not be surprising that 40% do not reach it. Is this a standard that we would expect all 14 year olds to reach or is it an “average” standard for a 14 year old?
The evidence of university students does not demonstrate that standards have declined, although higher percentage of young people going to university probably will lead to a decline in the literacy standards of the average university student. Johnson’s assertion that “…if you can’t write, you can’t think”, relies on a presupposition that a high standard of written communication is required for all higher education courses.
11. Identify and assess the strength of the analogy in the ninth paragraph.
The author is comparing the human brain with a computer. Just as a computer needs software to operate effectively, so a human brain needs to be “programmed”. The weakness of the analogy could be that the human brain is different from a computer in a number of important ways e.g. humans can think for themselves but a computer without software is capable of no processing whatsoever.
12. Consider the usefulness of Johnson’s advice to parents in the light of the following response:
| “Should the hammer, as it were, fall,
it is possible that these same offspring would respond by curling up on
the sofa with an improving book. But it is equally likely that they
would march in their sticky, Ritalin-needing masses on the offices of
The Daily Telegraph and wield some hammers of their own. This is a
situation best avoided.” From:
“Books aren’t teaching children to swim, Boris” |
Leith is pointing out a weakness in Johnson’s reasoning. Even if it is true that computer games are responsible for a decline in standards of literacy, it does not automatically follow that removing the games will result in children being more enthusiastic about reading.
13. Identify and assess the following analogy from the same article:
|
“Worrying computer games aren't teaching your children to read is like worrying books aren't teaching your children to swim; or complaining you can't make a tangerine out of Meccano.” From: “Books aren’t
teaching children to swim, Boris” |
Leith is arguing that, just because computer games do not improve reading standards, it does not automatically follow that they have no value, since improving reading is not the purpose of computer games. A weakness in the analogy is that, although books are not very effective in teaching people to swim, they are generally educational, whereas Johnson has argued that computer games have no educational merit.