Out of the Box

“Who let the dogs out, WHO WHO WHO WHO?!” Screeched a stout, bubbly little fellow whilst cupping his hands around his ear, barking and dancing in front of the T.V. This is Freddy and we are currently in first period gym class, his favorite time of the day. His favorite game? Just Dance with his special Wii controller customized with a blue, clear cover and a batman strap. It’s a big deal. “Come on Susan! Shake with me, we’re dogs!”

“No Freddy,” I laughed uncontrollably, “just be careful not to lose your remote!” Freddy has been my friend for three years. I met him when I was a sophomore and he a freshman. My job is to mentor him, slowly helping to develop his motor and social skills in a learning atmosphere. One might assume Freddy would learn a lot from me since I am perfectly healthy and capable. Unfortunately, I have nothing more to offer him than my company. Instead, Freddy taught me so many more valuable lessons ranging from autism to comic books and everything in between. 

We always leave fifteen minutes at the end of class for free time, when all the students in Special Education Gym can gather and play any game they desire. During every free time, Freddy quietly slips past the crowd and grabs the Wii remotes to start playing video games. As the rest of the group plays huge rounds of kickball or parachutes, Freddy stands isolated in front of the TV terribly excited to go through the list of new Wii dances or sports, so much so that he has the list of dances on Just Dance memorized. Freddy can now pop and lock, dip and slide. He loves to twirl and shake his hips from side to side, mouthing to Shakira’s song and clapping his hands to the beat. It’s borderline amazing. Just Dance has allowed Freddy to feel so comfortable using his own hands and feet when just three years ago, he couldn’t even walk a mile without tripping over his own feet. Wii sports made hand-eye-coordination so natural that the skills he acquired transferred directly to reality. He bowls without bumpers now. The first day he stopped using bumpers still resonates within me, a genuinely proud moment of my career in Special Education gym. Helen R. Pilcher writes in Nature Magazine that, “gamers  react to fast moving objects more efficiently and can track up to five objects at a time-- 30% more than non-players.” The improvements are profound and life-altering for Freddy.

However, there is such a thing as “too much of a good thing.” According to an article posted by Mark Brandenburg, “in a study done with 1,178 children in the US, almost 9 percent of child gamers are pathologically or clinically “addicted” to playing video games.” Not only did Freddy memorize the entire list of songs in order in his Just Dance game, but he also memorized the different tracks in his racing game and the different “star locations” of his Mario Party 3 game. How much time does he spend playing these games? Too much. So much that he memorizes games first, basic reading skills second. Actually, in a pool of statistics founded by Gregory Linton, the average teenage boy does spend more than 13 hours a week playing video games. Out of the approximate 270 days of school, every free time Freddy gets, Freddy insists on playing his games. In addition, even when the TV is off, he’s still cupping his hands, barking and dancing around the gymnasium screaming “who let the dogs out, who!” I remember back in middle school, I also spent an incredible 5 hours a night playing Maplestory, chomping into my sleeping time just so I can level once or twice more. 

Why do we find this much pleasure in video games? Ironically, given the complexity of the more recent games, you’d assume them to lose popularity but au contraire. Games are actually mentally and chemically more pleasing the more complex they get. We see more and more of games with infinite quests and endless story lines, such as Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs), and less of games like Super Mario where you save the princess and quickly beat the game. Humans seem to have a psychological need to succeed; therefore, an infinite number of possibilities to accomplish a high score means infinite number of hours dedicated to achieving it. It builds relationships for the socially awkward without the burdens of actually maintaining them in reality, which allows them to completely avoid the terribly uncomfortable break ups or confrontations. They may not be embodied but that suffices for someone who feels utterly alone otherwise, much rather preferring to be virtual. Another interesting discovery of video games is their effects on dopamine levels in the players’ brain. A study done by researchers at Hammersmith Hospital in 2005 found that dopamine, the mood-regulating hormone associated with feelings of pleasure, doubled while subjects were playing video games. Further investigation could potentially lead to a huge breakthrough in video game addiction and the mental affects of gaming. 

In the end, all these speculations boil down to one conclusion: Freddy. I can see it in his eyes. Freddy is the perfect representation of escapism. All these mental and physical handicaps attributed to autism don’t exist when he’s just a character in a video game. He can dance and move however he wants to, as long as the Wii controller synchronizes with the sensor. Gaming brings friends his way, virtually and in reality. Seriously, how can you resist a bubbly little boy dancing like a little puppy to the “who let the dogs out” song? Video games are a vice and a virtue. They temporarily make dreams a reality, especially for people like Freddy, allowing them to improve and grow through the skills these games develop. But that’s just the thing, these games are only temporary realities. If abused, they lead to addiction, poor time management skills, and complete dependency in an escapist world created by false relationships and meaningless achievements. 

RING! Gym time is over. “Did you see that Susan?! I got bonus points for a dancing streak. I was on FIRE!” Freddy shouts.

“Good for you buddy, you did amazing. I’m glad you had fun,” I reply, tucking away his batman controller and leading him out the double doors, back into the real world.

Keep Our Elpis

Stop. Take a second to exam the workspace around you. There’s the laptop and the cellphone, always within arm’s reach. An alarm is always set to wake you up in the morning and music is always playing to provide company in an empty room.

Click. It’s Twitter time. Surprisingly, it’s so easy to encompass your exact emotion, situation, or thought in just merely 140 characters. Or is it? Facebook time. With all the freedom to write as much as you want or to upload as many pictures as you want, you choose to be succinct and aloof instead. A cool, easy-going portrayal of yourself formulated by purposefully unanswered bibliographical sections, model-esque profile pictures, and witty statuses defines your aura. Or does it? Flip to Instagram. Slightly blur the edges, attach a sequoia filter, then post your photo. BAM, artiste. By your photography skills and tasteful choice in scenery, the creative side of you is reflected, attracting flocks of followers who will admire and acknowledge you. Or will they?

Minimize. Homework is still a priority, even if it is diluted into the multiples of tabs already distracting you. Google is your Bible, Wikipedia your best friend. Typing isn’t a problem, multitasking is a joke. In the search box you type in your assignment: Greek mythology Pandora's Box. Literally in a blink of an eye, knowledge floods in, enriching you with the story of Zeus, Pandora, Epimetheus, and Prometheus. 

Done. Living in such a fast-paced society makes utilizing the internet a necessity. Connection is without a doubt key in surviving the digital culture we live in today. Whether it’s media, education, or entertainment that you want, it’s nicely organized and compacted into one smart phone or one laptop that epitomizes accessibility. Incredible, the media culture as we know it seems simple and transparent, but does technology need to physically explode for us to notice its crippling effect?

Think. Aren’t the adjectives simple and complex two sides of the same coin? For example, texting serves as the fastest and simplest mean of communication but in order to do so, our digital culture has had to adapt to another vernacular of “text-talk” while simultaneously experiencing an all-time low in face-to-face and voice-to-voice communication. In fact, the Conference for Information Systems Applied Research conducted an experiment with 168 participants in four different generation groups to test this theory. They found that 27% actually admitted to using texting as a means of purposefully avoiding face-to-face communication while 40% admitted to avoiding voice-to-voice communication. Furthermore, they found that the younger the age group was, the less interactive the participants were. Texting, and other quick, simple digital means, oozed out of personal lives to school, the workplace, and home. What does this mean for the English language? For family? Community? Simple, right?

Continue. Simple and complex are not our only antonyms. Transparency and murkiness plague our society. On one hand, our digital culture really has made life transparent, so terribly, unfortunately transparent. The original intent of linking together friends and family on social networking sites has been buried under the abuses that these interactive faces cultivated. Not in a million years would I have expected cyber bullying to be such a life threatening disease. Aggressive behavior dominates Facebook pages and takes advantage of public pictures and information available to truly destroy certain individuals. As verified by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 37% of teens reported being bullied at school while 52% have reported being bullied online. Despite the decreased amount of suicides overall, a general increase in suicide or suicidal attempts has been recognized especially in a younger group of 10 to 19 year olds. Also, statistics demonstrate a tender line obscuring the distinction between the victim and offender as reports indicate 23.1% reports of offending and 18.3% reports of victimization. The more information available, the more dangerous our society becomes. On the other hand, murkiness plays on a more personal level. Using a computer monitor or phone screen as a social mask to hide insecurities is a basic habit now. Do you really know who you are talking to?

Breathe. The temptation of taking on essentially any persona is a power impossible to resist when sitting in front of the world wide web’s library of photos, ideas, and potential idols. Personally, I’d much rather be a trendy, sexy, bleach blonde model than the average female college student nicknamed Studious Sangeun. Not only is the use of a false persona demeaning to individuality but the entire concept of originality and genuine depiction clouds over too. After all, it’s human nature to define ourselves, to identify with descriptions attributed to our nationality, ethnicity, and personality. Let’s take this a step further. If we’re hiding our own identities behind a computer screen, wouldn’t everyone else? In fact, in the past year (2011) identity fraud increased by 13% and more than 11.6 million American adults became subject to identity theft. The emphasis on a virtual life is exceedingly concerning and the idea of simple social networking becomes mangled as even revealing your high school can make you a target of identity thieves, or worse, stalkers. The possibilities are endless. Nothing is private or original anymore, not even ourselves.

Reflect. It seems as though the internet is the 21^st century’s Pandora’s Box. The endless capabilities for knowledge, power, and creativity itches at the human consciousness and provokes our attention, emphasizing our deepest desires for acknowledgment or acceptance. With all great powers, control is a necessity. Yes, our Pandora’s Box is a limitless cyber world that restructured our culture. We opened it, unleashing some horrible nightmares, treacherous consequences, and dangerous opportunities into the world but we still have our Spirit of Hope, Elpis, at the very bottom. Don’t forget the humans are at the sending and receiving ends of any virtual connection, don’t forget we exist in flesh, heart, and thought. Maybe then, our hope will continue to thrive as we better ourselves to use this newfound digital culture for good rather than bad. 

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