The 2nd session of the programme pack I created can be seen below. The programme pack was designed to portray the theme of moral issues through the medium of videogames.
I arrived pretty early again to set things up for this session. Sadly, only one young person turned up. This was particularly disheartening due to the effort and time I had put into preparing the session, and improving it from the previous month. The other youth leaders and I decided to defer the session until the next month, and though that the reason for the lack of young people was due to it being the half term holidays. I however took this as an opportunity to get to know the young person that attended, spending the time eating pancakes and playing on minecraft.
The following month I again arrived early to set things up, and waited in hopeful anticipation for the young people to turn up; only 2 arrived. We decided to proceed with the session, and the two young people in attendance interacted well with the game and the message it was portraying. A little further into the evening, two boys arrived who I had encouraged from my own church to attend. They instantly connected with the game, whereas in the previous session, the girls didn't interact with the game.
Following on from the 1st session, I acted upon the feedback from the young people. I added an alternative to the videogame, being 'The Game of Life', which reflects the same theme as the chosen videogame. I also prepared some physical games to play before the session began.
I learnt a number of things through running this session.
I arrived pretty early again to set things up for this session. Sadly, only one young person turned up. This was particularly disheartening due to the effort and time I had put into preparing the session, and improving it from the previous month. The other youth leaders and I decided to defer the session until the next month, and though that the reason for the lack of young people was due to it being the half term holidays. I however took this as an opportunity to get to know the young person that attended, spending the time eating pancakes and playing on minecraft.
The following month I again arrived early to set things up, and waited in hopeful anticipation for the young people to turn up; only 2 arrived. We decided to proceed with the session, and the two young people in attendance interacted well with the game and the message it was portraying. A little further into the evening, two boys arrived who I had encouraged from my own church to attend. They instantly connected with the game, whereas in the previous session, the girls didn't interact with the game.
Following on from the 1st session, I acted upon the feedback from the young people. I added an alternative to the videogame, being 'The Game of Life', which reflects the same theme as the chosen videogame. I also prepared some physical games to play before the session began.
I learnt a number of things through running this session.
- The evident stereotype of boys playing videogames was enforced through the gender interaction with the videogame used in the session.
- Board-games can be powerful tools for teaching just as much as videogames, as each has key interactive aspects.
- With fewer people it is easier to encourage engagement with the game. Everyone is being constantly engaged, whether through playing the game, or conversation with myself or the other youth leaders.
- People who play videogames can easily watch others playing games, and enjoy the entertainment value; joking about when they fail, and cheering in encouragement when they succeed. This is not the same for people who do not play videogames; these people need to be engaged with the game, or they become disinterested.
I later discovered that the young people had decided not to attend the youth group sessions, knowing that the teachings would be themed around videogames. I became aware of their apprehension towards video-games from the first session, and clearly explained that I would act on their feedback. Learning this made me feel disappointed yet again. I decided to encourage them to attend, letting them know I had acted upon their feedback.
