Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Of TV, Radio, and Games that Kids Play

I'm possibly the least informed person on this planet especially when it comes to what's hot on TV and on the radio. I can count to less than ten the number of times I've watched TV since I've had my cable disconnected in June last year. The truth is, the only reason I was so gung-ho about paying for the monthly subscription for years was purely because of House, Heroes, and Bones.

But not even my love of Dr. House could make me pay for a monthly fee that more often than not provided lousy (customer) service. I sure miss watching TV and I've often wondered what happened to those shows I've been following. My TV stayed silent and unused for more than six months. This is probably why when I tried to open it last week, it didn't even do anything but stay quiet. Now I'm thinking, it's probably busted for good. I didn't realize that it would get broken when I don't use it for a long time.

With no TV and no radio in my room, I'm practically clueless on who are the celebrities of this generation. I therefore find it fascinating to listen to people who seen to know everything about the lives of public figures.

Fortunately for me I have a long ride to work everyday and I seem to have the knack of flagging FX's whose drivers like listening to this station where Christsuper and Nicole Iyala host a regular show. It's because of this instances that I discovered that I actually enjoy listening to these two.

This morning, Nicole Iyala was talking about how it's nice if kids would play more with others like they used to do when she was a kid. Now, I don't know if Nicole and I are from the same generation but I share her views on this one. Before kids play more with their friends (not the virtual kind that kids now seem to be more accustomed to playing with). Games like bahay-bahayan, tumbang preso, piko, luksong-tinik or luksong-baka, habulan, taguan, etc. were the popular choices at that time.

Today kids have more options and the more popular ones seem to be those played on the Internet. This only means less time for them to play outside and "socialize" with other kids.While this may not be a bad thing (since things evolve and change after all and it's futile wishing for the old ways to stick), it does have its dangers.

What I find really alarming and sad about this whole thing is the unnecessary but sometimes unavoidable exposure to information or things that are not appropriate for their age. Perhaps one of the most recent news that shocked me was about the "Rapeplay" video game that Amazon pulled off from their virtual shelves.

"Rapeplay" is supposedly (since I haven't actually seen one) "a computer game that lets players simulate raping girls". I think the report illustrates the danger of inadvertent exposure to inappropriate content. Warnings and notices aside, there's always a chance that some people would opt to use available material on the Internet that might end up viewed or downloaded by kids.

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