Can games help prevent teen dating violence?

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This might be one of the few cases where Betteridge’s Law doesn’t apply

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It might be really valuable, but it doesn’t sound like a very fun game.

Winning video game 2013 : “What Kind of Monster is Your Boyfriend?”

You search for pictures and data of your boyfriend on the Internet, and you find out…

(a) he is a member of the Moonlighting Fan Club
(b) a picture of hime takein in the XIX Century!
(c) he goes ever year to the Zombie Walk without a costume
(d) he has a history of legal or discipline troubles

WTF?

WARNING! It is possible that you are in an abusive relationship.

Teen Dating Violence is not a game.
The danger is real. Death is real.
Think of all the people that love you. Be safe.
You mention:

He may have history of legal or discipline problems.

Create a safely plan

Talk to someone that you can trust.
Plan IN ADVANCE to have a safe place to go.
Keep money and your cellphone or calling card with you all times.
Memorize important phone numbers in case your phone is taken.
Establish a code word or sign so family, friends an co-workers know when to call for help.

That’s because Betteridge got it wrong. The answer to any question headline isn’t “No,” it’s “Maybe! Who the hell knows?”

That’s all good advice for everyone, regardless of the results of the stupid quiz. I’m not sure it’s productive to make girls potentially freak out about their boyfriends on the basis of “he’s gotten detention a few times,” nor to make them sanguine because “he hasn’t ever gotten into trouble.”

We believe that the answer is “yes” but want more research to help prove it. Last year a study in the UK showed that a video game can increase awareness of teen dating violence and can also change attitudes about the acceptability of negative relationship behavior.

We are planning a study using our games for later this year.

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Absolutely right - there are few absolute “deal breakers” and they are the most obvious: physical abuse or sexual abuse.

When it comes to emotional abuse it’s much more difficult to tell somebody what is / or isn’t abusive. Our goal is to provide “warning signs” which are intended to be used as guidance (and then to call the national helpline if clarification or help is needed).

One of the reasons that video games are especially good for this topic is that the issue is very nuanced. We believe that static resources (e.g. books or movies) are not nearly as good at helping understand a complex issue like this as video games are (and I think most gamers would agree!).

The “What kind of monster is your boyfriend?” is looking at the popularity of movies like Twilight which has boyfriends as vampires / werewolves / whatever and is not to be taken as seriously as many of our other games. A fun short mystery game to try is “Finding Jane” (http://jenniferann.org/games#2011). It’s browser-based and free.

If there’s enough interest I will make the games on Amazon, BlackBerry, and iTunes free this week :smiley:

Yes, some of the games are definitely prevent teen dating violence.

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