Proposal #53: CISV Second Life.
I propose that CISV stop hosting Villages, Interchanges, Summercamps, Youth meetings and Seminar Camps. Instead we create an interactive internet-based computergame to build global friendship.
Rationale
CISV is outdated, it is old, and hasn't been developing much. Our Village program is pretty much the same as it was back in the 50's. In the meanwhile the world around us has gone through a huge development. Tools such as internet, computers, cell phones, laptops, webcams etc. has been produced, and CISV doesn't benefit from it. If you used the money we spend on our "normal" programs such as Villages, Interchanges, Summercaps, Seminar Camps and Youth Meetings, on developing a computergame we would be able to reach much more people. This also lets people who can't afford travel discover and experience CISV. Not only would we reach a lot more people, but we would also safe the enviroment for all the CO2 we use by flying from one place to another. We often speak about how to spread CISV, and this can be done trough a computer game and good marketing.
Respectfully submitted, Tore (DEN)
8 Comments:
Hey, great idea! But before we can do this, we have to make sure that every act of war and violence is also relocated into the internet. As long as those are real, direct, immediate experiences, CISV has to stay a real, direct, immediate experience, too.
I LOVE and thank internet for providing me with plenty and diverse information, it is fast an easy to communicate with friends I have met from all over the world and it is an essential tool for CISV as it gives us the space for showing ideas and discussing topics such as CISV Devils, JBpedia, JB Community, Armlist among others. However, I strongly believed it unables people to meet and know people. It is not the same to get to know someone via e-mail or msn than personally. This last one gives people the chance to really get to know each other, experience situtations with people way different than one and interaction is much more deep. We can work together via e-mail, skype or whatever internet provides but we will never get in real contact with the groups, very important for a better development of the group. What camps provide is the space to really LIVE with poeple all around the globe, understan them, share ideas and understand them. Moreover, CISV believes in the effectivness of educating persons when children.Camps include children of 11 years old sometimes and, personally, I wouln't like my son to make virtual freindships. I do not think it's healthy at all.
Nevertheless, I totally agree with the fact that people who aren't able to affor a camp cannot go. Well, I'm part of JB Buenos Aires and one of are aims is to provide those kids and everyone the space to experience what a camp is about. The space to interact, maybe not with people from other cultures but with kids of their same place and held minicamps with certain topics, as summer camps do, for example.
Thank you Tore for the great proposal that, although I do not totally agree, it helps me and others to challenge the status wou and look at the same organisation from another point of view. I like these proposals, they let me relfective.
Thanks for your comments!
I am not talking about e-mails, msn, skype, or anyother instant messenger. I am thinking of a virtual ame like World of Warcraft, which is a complex univers with houses, animals, people, shops and so on. Millions of people around the world are creating virtual friendships in this games, and a lot of people are spending many hours a day playing, fighting, buying, building and so on. I believe that if we could create a game like this, a univers, were people can travel and do all the sort of things they do in real life, and if there actions in this game had a consequence to the virtual univers, I am sure that we could teach a lot of kids many of the things we are trying to teach them in camps. And we would reach a larger number of participants. And if we make the game aim for the same group of people that CISV does already, (primary 11-18, which is the majory of our camps age group) I don't see why we can't still "start with the children".
Most people who are playing games as World of Warcraft, or second life, which is this kind of univers, they really get into it and they do create friends. We also know how people are dating through the internet. Lots of people find partners on the internet etc.
In CISV we don't even use the possiblities the new technology has given us, which I believe is a huge mistake. Probably one of the main reasons our organisation is as unknown as it is. (My point of view).
Cande, may I ask why you think virtual friendships aren't healthy?
-Tore
I think that there may be a few other parts of this proposal that no one has addressed yet. Internet and computer access is not yet universal, let alone computer skills and knowledge. Only a small percentage of the population in our world has regular, convenient access to computer systems and internet. Much time and resources would be spent on purchasing computers (we cannot expect CISVers to ll have computers in their homes) as well as training people on software- I have no idea how virtual realities are created or how to interact in that way. Also, we need to think about language and our ability to communicate in programs. A lot of the communication that takes place between participants at camps, especially the village program, is through non-verbal communication that has to be beyond spoken/written language. Is this a possibility when we use the internet?
In terms of internet relationships, I too have some concerns. In CISV we have a lot of policies in place for Risk Management- training, interview processes, police checks, etc. that help keep the risk of sexual predation/harassment/quality of programming to try to ensure that CISV meets its organizational goals with every program. With the use of the internet, how would we control that in the same way? Would there still be leaders?
In the end it's a good idea to challenge the way we do things and to adopt new ways of communicating within CISV using new technologies but to also maintain "building global friendships" the safest way possible.
I believe virtual meetings most of the time are mis-used, or used in place of something more REAL. People use time playing in those games when they could gain it by meeting people of flesh and their cultures (I am not criticizing these kind of games because I randomly play them with my brother and it's not boring at all - which does not mean that I prefer them more than hanging out with friends). Maybe those games are excellent to represent what real life is but that is my issue. They are representing life and not letting players to experience true-life. Maybe 'healthy' was not the perfect word to describe it but just trying to explain myself. I simply would prefer to see people playing and interacting personally rather than by a computer. We are social beings, and spending time together is always going to be very, very important. What develops and evolves relationships the most is face to face contact - but other forms of communication have been in the past, and will continue to be, very powerful as well. I think that technology can help support relationships in very interesting ways but for that to happen face to face meetings would have to occur previously.
I would not totally disagree with your proposal – on the contrary, I found it easy and interesting as another way of building global friendship; nevertheless, I think camps should not be stopped as they are the first and most achievable way to reach our goals.
That is what I believe. There are people who worship those games and those that do not. Those who can (or cannot) play casually and those who consider it successful. I respect all comments and love to see a variety of thoughts.
Tore, the other day my brother showed me a site which may be interesting. It has nothing to do with CISV and whether we agree or not with creating interactive internet-based computer games to build global friendship. It is related with virtual words and sounds kind of attractive. Check out this link and see for yourself: http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/05/trailer-for-document-1.html
This comment has been removed by the author.
It is interesting to see that everyone has assumed that a virtual game that would be created to meet the goals of our program would have to mimic a village/camp setting. Perhaps this would not be the case at all...
Let's look at Summer Camp as an example. The goals of the summer camp program (as definaed by CISV International) are:
(1)Developing Intercultural Awareness
(2) Developing Leadership Skills
(3) Developing Self-Awareness
(4) Developing Cooperative Skills
What if the game didn't look like a camp at all? There is no interacting with anyone, instead it was a bunch of other fun things you did that developed the exact same skills that our programs are aiming to achieve? The interact-with-people-in-a-camp method surely can't be the only way to develop leadership skills and self-awarness.
Some say that an online game wouldn't reach our goals as well as our programs do, but how do we know? (i mean, it's very possible that they wouldn't... but we don't know right? thats the point.)
There's a growing movement of "edutainment" in North America particularly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edutainment
(which is debatable if it's good or not) but it's interesting none the less!
Food for thought.
I have to say that internet/computer acces problem, I don't see as a problem. I mean, it is not different from the problems we are facing already. I mean the costs for participating in a camp is the same, (maybe more) as a computer and internet acces costs.
About Risk Management, then it is just about having a good system that works. No different from the way it already is. We can't know for sure that the leaders and people we sent out are truly 100% loyal. We just choose to trust them. And as I see it we don't really have a choice.
There are problems with they way we are doing things already, and some of them will be fixed in doing it in another way, but it will also create some new problems. No doubt about it. Even though what I think is interessting to discuss is what Kelly rises. Because that is exactly my point. THere are many ways to reach our goals, we are just stuck in one way, which I believe is preventing us from developing and growing. We really need to do things in a new and more adjusted way. We have been looking for kids and leaders the same way for the last 50 years. If you ask people how they got into CISV, most of them will say through a friend or family. We need to update our ways of working.
And just to make one thing clear, I have never tried a game like this. Just know that many many people like them.
Post a Comment
<< Home