Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was born in 1926. She grew up during World War II. So it’s perhaps understandable that, given the fact her own kids grew up without them, she’s a little wary about the effects of playing video games at a young age.
Author Joanne Harris, who was presented with an MBE at Buckingham Palace yesterday, said that upon speaking with the Queen “She asked me what I thought about ebooks and computer games and said that she feared that children were playing with those more than they were reading books.”
“So I told her that we start them on ebooks and computer games and TV and then try to get them on to books later.”
Smart and diplomactic. Well played. And I’m not just saying that because it’s the path I’m taking with my own kids. OK, maybe it is.
Queen tells Harris of book concerns [Express]
Comments
7 responses to “The Queen Thinks Kids Play Too Many Video Games”
Forget ebooks they are horrible. Nothing is better then the feel and smell of a brand new book, or the smell of a really old book.
Nothing? Drugs come to mind. Sex a close second.
Wouldn’t recommend either of those with kids though.
I assume her majesty knows that ebooks are exactly the same as normal books just on a different device. Personally if my kids love a good story I don’t care how they read it
Would that include the stories of movies and games as well? I’m on the fence about this, I love a great interactive drama in a game, but it almost seems blasphemous to compare it to literature
I don’t think it’s really fair to compare an art form that dates back thousands of years to video games but it’s also my opinion that no one form of art is superior to another. I kind of think that’s actually the point of something creative to be a form of expression that isn’t constrained to those sorts of trappings. Video games combine much more complex modes of storytelling that must be directed by you. It’s visual, it’s sonic, it’s interactive and it’s (sometimes) literate. If games took more from the creative storytelling in literature, i think it’d be better for everyone.
Well excuuuuuse me your majesty
She actually makes a good point. There is nothing anti gaming in what she said. It is sad that kids might miss out on so many amazing books because they are playing too many games.
Since when do I care what the friggin’ queen thinks. Stupid dried up old bat can go and get stuffed (and that’s putting it nicely).
Well, I’m afraid her Majesty gets paid far too much, while doing far too little. What does she have to say about that? She is way too out of touch with reality…While she sits around counting her money, I’ll sit around playing games.