Question

Part B To build and maintain civil society, young citizens must be taught the skills involved in activities related to civic engagement. Civil society organizations also provide training activities and other ways of welcoming young people, new citizens, or simply new members into this sphere of activity. Other mechanisms exist for ongoing civics training, including video games. Watch this brief discussion of how video games and the online world hold the ability to provide safe places for people of all ages to build skills for civil society and perhaps even apply them to their real-world concerns. Write one to two paragraphs that reflect on the arguments made in the video about building skills for civil society and civic engagement. You may include an example where you have participated in such an event through a video gaming experience.
video link
https://youtu.be/ZtSy78xTf5M

Answer 1

Answer:  The main point of the video is that video games such as "Citizen Science" may be more effective than schools or civil society organizations at teaching civic engagement. As currently structured, adults make and teach "the rules" but the games allow the participants to determine the rules and modify them as they collaborate in teams. Doing this in the game leads to building skills and developing strategies that may be applicable in real-life situations. Players also engage with others of different ages, various skills and abilities and can help oneanother develop and improve.

An important point that Kurt Squire makes is that the games are engaging, and in order to get better in the game, the players have to learn about the conditions and figure out how to overcome challenges. He mentions a "quest" where players learn what caused the lakes around Madison become endangered. He believes that this may lead players learn more and become engaged in the cause to clean up the real lakes. He makes another important point about how participants may also extend their involvement through the use of social media to promote causes that the mainstream media might ignore.

My only reservation is that despite knowing how to solve the challenges in the game, players may not find the time or energy to become civically involved. I like the idea of a game that teaches, but someone has to be especially motivated to find opportunities to become invilved in situations in their communities.

Explanation:

I tend to get carried away. And sorry, I can't say anything about video gaming experience. I have been a candidate for city council; Pete Buttegieg and I have had some conversations. (Brief, but he knew my name when we met at city hall).

I hope this helps. Sorry I couldn't get it done sooner.