What Digital Games Miss—Socialization
Today, I approach the closet I have been dreading, for there, perched on the shelves are the games my family has played for years. These aren’t digital games, though we have not been opposed to some of those when alone. But these are games I can actually touch and hold in my arms. I can hear the laughter and shrieks when someone won, or lost.
These games brought us together during holidays, as homework breaks, on weekends, during boredom, and even illness. These games hold a bit of our treasured past.
We are getting ready to move across country, from Tennessee to Virginia, and armed with Marie Kondo’s The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, I have been sorting and letting go of belongings to downsize and make the move less costly. I’ve easily gotten rid of old clothes. It was harder to let go of books, but I did that too.
Now I have come to the games. I put it off until last.
As a teacher, games were vital to my classroom organization. I might not get brownie points from the anti-reward folks, but games helped me survive as a teacher.
On Fridays, if my students had done their work and not broken my three rules, respect yourself, respect others, and complete assigned work, games were on the menu.
My students were diagnosed with learning disabilities, but no matter what learning What Digital Games Miss—Socialization: