ゲームセンター
私が住んでいる近くにイオンモールがあり、三階のフードコートの隣には大きな（小学校のプールぐらい）ゲームセンターセンターがある。魚釣りや、モグラ叩きや、景品吊りや、スピードレースや、スロットマシーンや、パチンコや、太鼓叩きや、手をぐるぐる回して叩くゲーム（何と呼ぶのか）や、ヴィデオゲームや、ありとあらゆるゲームがある。
平日の午後四時を過ぎると小中学生も大人に混り、ゲームに熱狂する。土日は殺人的に子供が群がり、一日中大盛況で、ゲームの音も三階フロアーにガンガン鳴り響く。
わたしはほとんど毎日イオンのフードコートでコーヒーを飲むが、ゲームセンターの隣を歩くたびに、嘆かわしく思う。
児童のストレス発散にはいいだろう。しかし、ゲームに夢中になり、頭が単細胞にならないか。ゲーム代もかかるだろう。子供には、もっと知的で社会的な時間の過ごし方があるはずだ。ゲームの点数や景品の獲得や友達との競争に躍起になっている。
恐らく、日本中のイオンモールにゲームセンターがあると思うが、イオンの社長は日本の将来を背負って立つ少年少女の発育を何と心得ているのだろう。ゲーム漬の頭では想像力や社会性や知的発達は期待できない。日本の将来は暗いのではないか。
ゲームに没頭させるより、ゲームセンターを子供文化センターに替えてはどうか。ゲームを止めて、科学実験教室、物づくり教室、語学教室、読み書き算盤教室、運動教室、自然（天体、海洋）観察教室、芸術鑑賞教室、歴史教室、絵画教室、音楽教室、コンサートホール、名画鑑賞教室、名作朗読教室等を開いてはどうか。もちろん大人向け文化教室の開講も望みたい。
イオンの社長に訴えたい。
There
is an Aeon mall in my neighborhood. On the third floor of the mall is an amusement arcade or so-called 'game center' in Japan) as large
as an elementary school swimming pool. It is located just next to the food
court where I often drop in at and sip coffee. The game center is full of
various machines: fishing, whack-a-mole, catching attractive goods with crab-craw like tool, car races,
slot machines, pachinko pinballs, playing drums, video games, and following and hitting the rotating lights (I can’t describe the game). There are many other
games.
After
four o’clock on weekdays, children are absorbed in the games. On Saturdays and
Sundays, the game center is jam packed with children all day long. The games
make unbearably noisy sounds that invade the food court where I
sip coffee. Actually, I avoid sitting at a table near the game center.
The
games may help the children to relieve stress, but I am afraid they will be
game-centered, simple-minded when they grow up. They are absorbed in only winning
the games, getting the attractive goods, or defeating their friends in the games. They
(actually their) parents have to pay game fees. They can't stop quitting the games.
They should spend their free time more significantly. What on earth does
the president of the Aeon mall company think about the children’s mental
development. They are going to shoulder the future of Japan. How can the game-mad
children develop their social and intellectual mind? Simple-minded children
will lack the power of imagination. Japan’s future is dark, isn’t it?
I
have a suggestion: how about introducing a children’s cultural center instead
of the game cente in the mall? Stop games and open interesting classes for children. Some of them are: classes
for science experiments, art-crafts, foreign language learning, reading and
writing and arithmetic, sports, nature observation (marine and space), art appreciation,
history (Japan and the world), painting, music, reading famous story aloud and
so forth. Building a concert hall and a theater for classical movies are also good
ideas. Classes for adults are as important as those for children, too.
I
strongly hope that the president of Aeon Mall Co. Ltd. will pay attention to my
suggestion.
No comments:
Post a Comment