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From: bobh@pedsgd.UUCP (Bob Halloran)
Newsgroups: net.games.frp,net.kids
Subject: D & D : Today Show 9/26
Message-ID: <282@pedsgd.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Sep-85 16:43:22 EDT
Article-I.D.: pedsgd.282
Posted: Thu Sep 26 16:43:22 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Sep-85 07:29:24 EDT
Distribution: net
Organization: Perkin-Elmer, Tinton Falls, NJ
Lines: 49
Xref: watmath net.games.frp:1924 net.kids:2098

Because of a late start today, I got to see the Today show this morning.
They did a short item on 'the problem of D & D'; they spoke to two or
three players, then spoke with a psychologist (the same Dr. Redecki (sp?)
as appeared on the recent '60 Minutes' story), and the director of
the Gifted/Talented Children's Program in San Francisco.  The psych
brought up the '48 proven cases' of D & D involvement in teenage suicides
or murders; when asked by the interviewer about the instances where
police departments have later disclaimed said involvement, he brushed
it off saying it was due to threats of legal action by TSR Company.
The woman from the G/T program then went after him, asking, as I would,
where the parents of these victims were, what kind of home life did
they have?  She agreed that any game taken to excess could cause
trouble, but that her experience with her own children and those in
the program was that it was completely managable IF THE PARENTS PROVIDE
SOME SUPERVISION.

She brought up a parallel case of the classic teenage hacker spending
hours and hours in his room pounding on a terminal, where the parents 
were recommended to simply get the computer out of the boy's 
room and into the family room, where there would be a better
chance for distraction and involvement in other activities.  She also
said that at a recent parents' gathering the consensus was that
handguns around the home was a far greater concern than any involve-
ment with FRP gaming.

The psychologist came back and said that he felt there should be
warning labels on such games; this immediately set off the interviewer
on the issue of censorship.  He then suggested that Congressional
hearings should be held on the issue; the woman from the G/T program
jumped on that, saying basically "Oh good, let's find out what the
home life of these kids was like, let's find out where their parents
were during all this time, let's find out why these parents were so
opposed to their children's gaming."  Overall, I think the anti-gaming
psychologist came out very badly in the exchange.

Sorry about the length, but I felt that it made an interesting counterpoint
to the recent 60 Minutes piece, where D & D definitely seemed to come
out as something bad.

						Bob Halloran
						Sr MTS, Perkin-Elmer DSG
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