Moral Panic
- Keri Knutson
- Oct 23, 2020
- 4 min read
February 2020
Moral Panic. This is my favorite new phrase. Moral Panic. It's so accurate and catchy and applies to SO many things over the course of literally thousands of years. It's fascinating.
So what is a Moral Panic?
This a phenomenon in which society blames something for its ills. This is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on for years- decades, centuries, millennia. Let me give you some examples:
1990s- The Simpsons were blamed for declining family morale and increased divorce rates.
1980s- Dungeons & Dragons was blamed for making kids delinquents.
1950s- It was the fault of rock music & comic books that kids were misbehaving.
1920s- Parents lamented that going to the moving picture show was causing their kids to be disrespectful and violent.
Interesting, huh? Don't believe me yet?
There are reports of ancient Romans complaining about the youth. They claimed that "today's youth" had no respect for their elders. Does that sound familiar?
Right now, video games are the current moral panic. Kids are misbehaving and being disrespectful, and society thinks it's worse than it's ever been before. People are looking for a cause. Video games are new; it must be the video games! Kids are spending too much time looking at screens and not enough time in the "real world." It's causing all of our problems. If we limit or eliminate video games, we can fix all the misbehavior and social issues. Right...???
Fear of Technology.
People are always afraid of the newest thing. We worry about how it's going to change our lives. Technology is not new. Technology -as we think of it today- refers to computers, tables, phones, and video games, among other digital forms. However, that is not an all-encompassing definition or view of technology. The official definition of technology doesn’t mention digital media at all. Webster's Dictionary defines technology as “the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area or a capability given by the practical application of knowledge. Technology simply refers to applying scientific knowledge for practical purposes or societal gains. Early forms of technology include the discovery of fire, the invention of the wheel, and the creation of writing. Throughout history, all new technology has spurred trepidation among members of society.
In his microhistory of the invention of paper, Mark Kurlansky coined the term “technological fallacy.” He argues that technology does not change society, rather “society develops technology to address the changes that are taking place within it.” Kurlansky speaks to the fear of new technology replacing the old, saying that it rarely ever happens. He gives examples: movies did not replace theatre, television did not replace radio, heaters did not replace fireplaces, and lightbulbs did not replace candles. Rather than new technologies replacing the old one as predicted, the new technologies only increased choices.
Let's go back in time even farther...
In about 370BC, Plato wrote down Socrates's fear of the written word. Yes, you read that right: Socrates was afraid of people learning to write. He was afraid that if people trust the written word, they would not remember the knowledge themselves. He feared that using writing would make man forgetful and they would “cease to exercise memory.” Socrates- one of the worlds' greatest thinkers- DID NOT THINK PEOPLE SHOULD LEARN TO WRITE. Say what?!?! Bottom line: he was afraid because it was new and would change society's way of life. He thought it would make us dumber!!
We are afraid. Despite evidence to tell us otherwise, that video games are not corrupting our children, we are still afraid. There's way more research to support video game play than I ever imagined! It has taken me by surprise, and I have had to look at everything from a researcher's perspective, not letting my own bias get in the way. (Confirmation bias is a subject for another day.) I came across this article today, and I could have written it myself. I highly recommend you read it!
One book I read that was eye-opening was Pete Etchells's Lost in a Good Game. He said if you didn't grow up playing video games, watching your children play can seem isolating. Those of us who played video games sporadically as children or not at all are unsure about our children playing video games. It seems scary. It seems unnatural. We remember our childhood as being spent outdoors, climbing trees, running around the neighborhood, and playing physical games. If you ask anyone their best childhood memory, chances are very good they will give you a memory of being outside. That does not mean that they spent most of their childhood outside, however. It shows the connection humans have with nature. Yes, nature and being outside is good for us. Most of us did not spend nearly as much time outside as we think we did. Just because your child's entertainment looks different from yours doesn't mean it's any less valid, meaningful, or amazing. One of the biggest pitfalls parents of every generation fall into is wanting their children to experience the things they enjoyed as kids. The problem is, our kids may not WANT to experience those things, or they may not LIKE those things. To be honest, as a parent, that stings. I want to enjoy activities with my kids that I like, and they don't always want to do those activities. WE didn't want to have the kind of childhood our parents did, so why would our kids want ours?
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