Marlene Perrotte is an Albuquerque resident on a mission. A mission to stamp out those evil, child-corrupting videogames. However, the target of Perrotte’s misguided rage is not Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty or even Super Mario. It’s an educational game designed to teach Maths to kids. Yes, she’s actually angry about this.
Perrotte, who bears a stunning resemblance to Jack Thompson, is furious over the use of a first-person-shooter (a mild and non-violent one) that has been created to make Maths more fun for children and help them solve problems in a unique and resonant way. Demonstrating her own ignorant fear of technology, the mother claims that this game is “feeding the addiction of children” rather than providing an innovative approach to teaching.
This woman’s story is quite pathetic, but it’s a fantastic example of just how out of touch and frightened some parents can be of new ideas and shifting technology. It’s clear that Perrotte knows nothing about the game — she just heard “videogame” and got on her high horse, because in her black-and-white world, evil’s evil and good is good, and videogames are EVIL. It’s truly sad and miserable that so many people think in this “it’s bad because it’s bad” way, and are unable to handle the concept of an educational videogame.
God damn, does she look like Jack though. With maybe a dash of Leslie Nielsen for good measure.
Jack Thompson returns, now called Marlene, fears for education [GamesRadar]
