Playing is not a game: videogames, passatempo o potenziale pericolo?

Per questo motivo, a proposito di supervisione adeguata, non può dirsi superfluo raccomandare ai genitori di assumere, tra gli altri, anche l’importante compito educativo ed affettivo nel far sì che i videogiochi non divengano sostitutivi di attività e metodi fondamentali per lo sviluppo cognitivo e la prosocialità (apprendimento scolastico, lettura, esercizio fisico, giochi tradizionali con i pari, etc..). È compito dei genitori stabilire le modalità attraverso le quali i figli possano usufruire di questo specifico intrattenimento, stabilendo regole precise in età giovanile con l’auspicio che esse vengano seguite anche in giovane età adulta, quando si acquisisce un maggiore senso critico. Tali regole, si specifica, non necessariamente richiedono un atteggiamento repressivo: si hanno sicuramente risultati più proficui con uno stile più collaborativo, del tipo «se finisci presto i tuoi compiti, dopo verrò a giocare con te».

Un altro aspetto che merita di essere menzionato è la necessità che i genitori siano messi al corrente dei sistemi di classificazione che indicano il pubblico a cui ciascun titolo, in base ai suoi contenuti, è adatto. Questo indice, denominato Pan European Game Information (PEGI)[8], che per la verità è ben visibile sulle confezioni dei videogiochi, è spesso misconosciuto o ignorato, mentre potrebbe essere un valido supporto nell’orientare gli adulti e coloro che generalmente acquistano i giochi per i più giovani, al fine di scegliere i titoli adatti per i bambini e gli adolescenti.

Ad ogni modo, scopo della ricerca è diffondere sempre quanto scoperto: anche laddove siano stati riscontrati labili risultati negativi, ognuno di esso ha la potenzialità di contribuire alla tutela della salute e della sicurezza pubblica.

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Rapporti

• ISTAT, Bambini e new media: personal computer, internet e videogiochi, 2001
• AESVI-IARD, Cultura del Videogioco: mondo giovanile e mondo adulto a confronto, 2006
• Centro Studi Minori e Media, Minori in Videogioco, 2007
• ISTAT, La vita quotidiana di bambini e ragazzi, 2008