Educational Math-Based FPS Ignites Protest

Parents don't know what they want let alone what their kids' wants.

Without DimensionM:
"I love recess mom, I got to hit timmy with a stick!"
"That's nice dear."

With DimensionM:
"I love school, mom, I know prime numbers now, and I got to shoot a goop gun in the computer!"
"THOSE MONSTERS! HOW DARE THEY CORRUPT MY CHILD!?"

This is sad. Poor children. Keep them on lock-down now and they will rebel in the future.

We all know that the DoD is just programming sleeper agents for future use in the US' battles with the un-free world... Project Christmas...

God forbid these parents actually practice discipline in their homes and monitor their game playing or habits. The school actually does something the students like and these parents want to all over it. Hell instead of modernizing education lets keep it old school and bring back the paddle!

If I had a FPS to learn math in middle school I believe whole heartedly I would've scored higher on test and also it would reinforce what I learned.

I had an 3rd person, umm, eater(?) when I was in school. NUMBER MUNCHER FOREVER!!!

Man that used to get competitive: Who competed for computer time, who competed for score etc...

I have fond memory of those 8-colored Texas Instruments cartridge-based computers... Good times...

Man, if its getting kids this enthusiastic about learning.Im all for it.I see no harm in it as long as they Keep PE in school and the importance of a healthy body.

Wish they would have had this in my days in elementary/jr.high.

I agree with the parents, math related violence is really tearing our society apart!

Love the old fogies who love to blame video games for all of life's problems.

Bless your frail hearts.

So the school district targets an aspect of these kids lives that they consider fun and entertaining and exploiting it for educational purposes to create a fun and educational game, the school district has managed to tick off parents? This school finally has figured out how to hype up kids up for middle school and learning (not easy, I believe) only to be shot down by a small group of ignorant parents. Disgusting.

What the hell is wrong with these parents? The kids are not killing based on the story (OH NO! NOT THE GOOP SHOOTER THAT ONLY RUNS OFF BASIC MATH OPERATIONS! IT'LL RUIN MY HAIR AND HELP YOU LEARN! THE HORROR!). The kid even said he had no idea what prime numbers were before he played the game. Go take your wasted effort and apply it for stuff that really matters, like suicide or teen pregnancy.

Just another case of one (or a few, there was no mention of how many parents) person ruining all the fun (and education) for everybody else. I guarantee that these parents have wondered/said: "You don't know X? What the hell is wrong with our educational system?"

As long as the game is truly educational then how is this harmful?

Math is the enemy, we must shoot it in the face like we would a nazi, or a dinosaur, or a nazi-dinosaur.

But way back in the day when it was first introduced to the west, Algebra itself was regarded as useless abstract number games, until scholars learned how to properly apply it to the real world.

Violent video games are only a problem if parents can't teach their children the difference between reality and play. I for one support learning through video games. FPS require full attention so mixing scholastic learning with it should mean higher retention rate faster.

When I read that the DOD was backing it, I was imagining kids being taught math by computing firing solutions for projectiles. LOL

Not a bad idea too, since it involves, physics and trigonometry. Maybe a potential training tool for high school or maybe early college students. Kinda like what billiards is to engineers.

These parents just want attention. I wish the media would stop giving it to them.

Oh my god..are you fu**ing serious!? These parents should be grateful, their kids would probably be off playing GTA4 or GOW otherwise, atleast with this game they're learning valuable math skills. The teaching "games" i used in school were terrible, they made me want to skip class. I'd have payed more attention if they were more robust like this program seems to be.

Dungeons and Dragons is still the best tool to supplement math and english for elementary and middle schoolers.

Sorry one more comment. Games and school bring me back to memories, in high school I played drug wars all during math, if parents only knew what was on their own kids calculators.

I think there's a much more important question that needs to be asked here. Why aren't today's youth being given the opportunity to have themselves and several of their inappropriately named friends hunt bears, ford rivers, and die of dysentery along the Oregon Trail? That's the real tragedy here.

There are lots of children in the world who see computers only on TV why not gave it to them.

A little overprotective? Mom's should know better lol.

Yeah, they should keep them off this horrible math game and it's goo gun.

It's much safer for these kids to chainsaw up enemies on Gears of War in the hypocrisy of their own home.

how about a game like that with university level math...i could use some motivation.

i remember playing carmen sandiego and the appalacian trail

When i was in grade school, we had a math game called "number bomber" an old DOS game, where you flew a jet and bombed targets, but in order to gain ammo / refuel / get missiles and bombs, you had to answer a series of math questions within a matter of seconds. bullets were simple addition problems, while big missiles and bombs were double digit multiplication and division. We would have an entire team of students cracking the various math problems so we can faceroll with our uber bomber and its numerous weapons.

I think the parents should understand more about the content to objectively judge the game. Moreover, they should play a more active role in overseeing their children playing this game, not letting them become addictive. I believe this is a tool to do good for the children in learning math, not violence.

I suppose these same parents think that Super Mario Bros. is overly violent as well.

1. Doesn't anyone remember Math Blaster and other games?? Those were great educational programs! If this game isn't showing blood and gore, and the kids are actually learning math, what's the harm in using it in school?

2. I really have to play this game. As a hardcore gamer, there have only been a few times that I've come across a game that's made me want to say anything like, "If I could have a choice to play this night and day, all summer, I would play it every day." And this game is about MATH!!? WTF?! I need to check this out!

3. I live in Albuquerque, and yes, there are A LOT of idiotic parents here. I think these idiotic notions that surface every once-in-a-while are due effects from all the radiation in our state of New Mexico. After all, the first atomic bomb was tested here, and they're still dumping nuclear waste from all around the country deep in the caverns. I wonder if all the radioactive waste will make our state glow green if viewed from outer space.... ;P

heck, my elementary school used video games all the time! Oregon Trail, Kid Pix, MathBlasters, typing games...they were everywhere! That's probably the basis of why I am studying to become an engineer, because I was exposed to technology at an early age. An FPS is not going to kill a child's minds...did you know chess is based on war strategies? You don't see parents thinking their child is going to create an army and take over the world by playing chess, do you? But thinking that playing an FPS will cause your kid to be violent or go out and shoot people is just as ridiculous.

seriously, I wonder if these parents even think their kids are developing problems, or whther they are just reacting out of fear and misunderstanding.

A child which is exposed to caring caring and loving parents, who take an interest in their lives, and spend time with them playing games, going for walks and doing stuff that enables and teaches them to create relationships and develop empathy should never need to fear the effect of eposure to violent games, tv programmes or films. Do we again need to raise the example of Tom and Jerry?

Yes if a kid solely played violent video games in their free and other time its bound to have a detrimental affect on their lives, but as part of a balanced and healthy life there is no reason it should have a negative effect. Similarly if violent games were the sole method of teaching then yes it would be an issue... but as a part of an overall education system, again there is no reason for it to be anything other than an effective teaching method.

Emotion is tied to education, if your education is dry and tedious. It's things liek this that really make me fear the UK government's current education proposals to put more power over schools in parents hands.