View Full Version : My students are afraid of the controllers
Believe it or not my students are afraid of the controllers. I had recently told them that if they learned their multiplications I would allow them to play DDR in the class during lunch. They all got into it, but when I traded DDR for SSB many of them were afraid to even touch the controller. What's up with that shit?
Six Switch
11-15-2005, 10:53 PM
what grade do you teach?
njiska
11-15-2005, 10:54 PM
what grade do you teach?
Yeah that would help explain a lot.
Third grade
7-9 year old kids.
Six Switch
11-15-2005, 10:59 PM
thats weird.i helped out teaching a first grade class last year and about half the kids would talk to me about video games,ranging from playing the new turtles game to beating halo 2 with their dad.
are your kids...retarted?
boatofcar
11-15-2005, 11:01 PM
Yeah, my third graders play Ape Escape and games like that. A few of them claim to have played GTA, but I think they lie :)
Xexyz
11-15-2005, 11:12 PM
This is some unusuall happenings. When I was in 3rd grade, I had a whole year of mastering an NES controller under my belt already. I'm sure some of these kids have seen a video game console & it's controllers before. Crazy shit man.
njiska
11-15-2005, 11:13 PM
Very wierd.
goatdan
11-15-2005, 11:19 PM
Answer: the kids are shy and don't want to accidentally damage anything or look bad. With games like DDR, you basically can't look bad because even if you're just jumping around, you look like you're trying and you can joke around that 'I was just jumping!' if / when you fail.
On a game like SSB, you don't know how the other kids will respond if you aren't very good.
I remember being in situations like that myself as a kid. I didn't get a NES until probably 1990, so when I would go to my friend's houses and they were playing games, I would often tell them I would rather watch then play myself. Because, if I played, I sucked SO much worse then them.
Now, I could show them all ;) Or probably not still
LOL
kevin_psx
11-16-2005, 08:56 AM
They all got into DDR, but when I traded DDR for SSB many of them were afraid to even touch the controller. What's up with that shit?
They're afraid to break the Cube controller 'cause it's strange to them.
Assure them that you have plenty of spares - hold up a box full of Cube controllers - and don't worry about breaking it.
fishsandwich
11-16-2005, 09:44 AM
are your kids...retarted?
The word is RETARDED. It's not a kind word to use, but at least spell it correctly!
LOL
Xexyz
11-16-2005, 09:58 AM
Actually, goatdan's explanation makes perfect sense to me. It would explain why some of my childhood friends would watch me play a video game rather than them play it themselves.
Quackaddict
11-16-2005, 10:18 AM
Bah....it's the parents fault...
I bet their parents jedi mind-trick their kids into "respecting the teacher....Listen to the teacher....Feeeel the teacher." No wait. Omit that last one.
Seriously, though. It's probably nothing to do with the controller. It's probably the fact that you aren't their 7 y/o friend who chunks the controller at them. It's the experience with their parents and the other teachers in the last three years who've gotten bend out of shape about little Johnny breaking something of theirs, etc, that's led up to their reaction when handed something new.
Who knows...my guess is that it's more than just a foreign object in their hand....it's about them not knowing your reaction henceforth.
Aussie2B
11-16-2005, 10:29 AM
Heh, it's not just kids that are afraid of looking bad; I am too sometimes. :P I just can't play a fighting game with my boyfriend and his buddies watching because they're frickin' masters while I really suck. I just find it embarrassing. Similarly, I may pass on playing a game I'm unfamiliar with in front of an audience because I want to get the hang of it first on my own.
Flack
11-16-2005, 11:03 AM
3rd graders who haven't played videogames before? Where do you teach school, the moon? My kid has no problem with most Xbox games, and he's 3. Last night he played Chicken Little for an hour and got further than I have. Tell your kids I'm bringing my Xbox and my kid to school for show and tell, and tell them to bring lunch money -- it's $5 a game, and daddy's leavin' with enough cash for a 360.
kevin_psx
11-16-2005, 11:44 AM
Heh, it's not just kids that are afraid of looking bad; I am too sometimes. :P I just can't play a fighting game with my boyfriend and his buddies watching because they're frickin' masters while I really suck. I just find it embarrassing.
Remember when I was in gamespot playing Soul Calibur 2 and some teeny bopper suddenly jumps in. (I was annoyed. Here I am just one level from the boss and he ruins my game. Where's the manners?)
Back to point - I said "Uh oh.... I never played this game before and not that good with these video game thingies. You'll probably beat me in 5 seconds." Like you I was afraid of embarrassment.
TEEN - "Yeah I'll probably win" and laughs evilly.
I Won. \^_^/
At least he was a good loser - congratulating me for my good moves. The Soul Edge training paid off. The old man's still got it. LOL
Truffle
11-16-2005, 12:55 PM
Heh, it's not just kids that are afraid of looking bad; I am too sometimes. :P I just can't play a fighting game with my boyfriend and his buddies watching because they're frickin' masters while I really suck. I just find it embarrassing. Similarly, I may pass on playing a game I'm unfamiliar with in front of an audience because I want to get the hang of it first on my own.
Thats me exactly! I can play with my bf , but if his friends show up, Im afraid of looking bad. If its a game I totally rock at Im okay, but I cant try new games out in front of people, it takes the fun out of it for me.
I dont really like testing games on the store displays either.
I only seem to screw up when someone walks up and starts watching :roll:
Oh, we are talking about the Gamecube controller. That explains a bit. It and the N64 controller are some scary shit.
But seriously... are these kids amish?
Spinal
11-16-2005, 03:16 PM
Oh, we are talking about the Gamecube controller. That explains a bit. It and the N64 controller are some scary shit.
But seriously... are these kids amish?
Either that or they've had a very deprived childhood! /shakes head/ Poor kids, can't appreciate the finer things in life ;)
But seriously, I agree with them being shy of "looking bad" in front of their friends. I would recommend you play once or twice to show them how much you suck. (no offence, just "pretend" you suck, you MUST suck to make them feel better about themselves!)
Michele
I really don't think it's the sucking issue, since they really suck at DDR. Maybe they are just afraid of the control itself. They know I don't get mad if they break something of mine (they've done it many times and I just shrug it off, unless they're messing around and something gets broken). They are not afraid of smartboards though.
Sothy
11-16-2005, 11:02 PM
maybe because the students are figments of your imagination
Six Switch
11-16-2005, 11:21 PM
are your kids...retarted?
The word is RETARDED. It's not a kind word to use, but at least spell it correctly!
LOL
sometimes people spell things wrong for a reason.
this may or may not have been one of those times.
fishsandwich
11-17-2005, 10:31 AM
are your kids...retarted?
The word is RETARDED. It's not a kind word to use, but at least spell it correctly!
LOL
sometimes people spell things wrong for a reason.
this may or may not have been one of those times.
I thought about that possibility, then dismissed it. He may just be retarded.
christhegamer
11-26-2005, 11:52 AM
They all got into DDR, but when I traded DDR for SSB many of them were afraid to even touch the controller. What's up with that shit?
They're afraid to break the Cube controller 'cause it's strange to them.
Assure them that you have plenty of spares - hold up a box full of Cube controllers - and don't worry about breaking it.
Hate to break it to you, but Super Smash Bros. is a N64 game. You were probably thinking about Super Smash Bros. Melee :P
as for the class, I was pretty freaked-out by video games when I was younger; I got an N64 when I was 6, and it was down-right confusing to me! O_O
Kamino
11-26-2005, 11:54 AM
Yeah, my third graders play Ape Escape and games like that. A few of them claim to have played GTA, but I think they lie :)
quiz them.
Hell, I'll write a GTA quiz for ya. Which one do they claim they played? LOL
Damn kids these days.. when I was in 3rd grade...i was playing gradius, life force, punch out and contra....
Daria
11-26-2005, 01:18 PM
Heh, it's not just kids that are afraid of looking bad; I am too sometimes. :P I just can't play a fighting game with my boyfriend and his buddies watching because they're frickin' masters while I really suck. I just find it embarrassing.
Remember when I was in gamespot playing Soul Calibur 2 and some teeny bopper suddenly jumps in. (I was annoyed. Here I am just one level from the boss and he ruins my game. Where's the manners?)
Back to point - I said "Uh oh.... I never played this game before and not that good with these video game thingies. You'll probably beat me in 5 seconds." Like you I was afraid of embarrassment.
TEEN - "Yeah I'll probably win" and laughs evilly.
I Won. \^_^/
At least he was a good loser - congratulating me for my good moves. The Soul Edge training paid off. The old man's still got it. LOL
Heh I have a similar story to that. They had Soul Calibur 2 set up in the demo machine at Gamestop. I was playing when my friend came over with her soon to be boyfriend. So they ask if I'm any good and I replied "I'm ok" she challenges me to a match and then proceeds to tell the guy how great she is at the game. Well it turns out she really sucks and I end up going easy on her so she can save face, but because I'm a somewhat of a bitch I turn around when my health is low and hand her back her ass. This went on for a few rounds until she was done. It was cruel but I was amused.
Similarly to Aussie's story, I was playing the game with my boyfriend at home in front of his friends. We had one stick that we'd take turns using. Which was a compromise Paul wasn't completely happy with. So I whooped his ass with the stick, taking cheap shots, not letting him get an attack him. Then I wasn't such a good sport about it, still being kinda peeved he didn't want to share the stick and have an obvious advantage over me. He got so pissed (and embaressed) he spiked his wavebird on the floor, it bounced up and over my head, then smacked the ceiling and broke.
We've never played the game together since.