Children’s Gaming in Cyber Yard

Abstract

The second media age or the postmodern virtuality introduces significant changes to all dimensions of childhood. The application, as well as the use of new technologies, has significantly altered a child’s core activity during this period- the playing, introducing it into surreal spaces without much needed natural supplementation. A virtual world, together with computer and video games, represent the most common social environment and form of children’s entertainment nowadays. The text precisely analyzes the positive and negative consequences of children’s play created in a cyber yard and questions the ethics of techno-progression, that is, an already inbred fictitious social space intended for growing up, which, as such, increasingly dehumanizes basic childhood postulates. In terms of the content, the paper also offers certain theoretical guidelines stemming from the collective experience of previous generations who remember the play as a source of spontaneity, carelessness, joy, and amusement, rather than an innate and/or trend-driven activity mediated by digital technology.

Keywords

• gaming
• cyberspace
• virtual world
• childhood
• computer games
• video games