| |
|
|
Ethical Dilemmas: Where are all the Buffaloes?
Hunting | Environmental Ethics | Overcoming These Dilemmas
|
Time and time again, most reviewers and students name hunting as their favorite aspect of playing The Oregon Trail. What is arguably the game's most "primitive" feature has ironically become one of the most popular, as students are equipped to "kill" animals with a simple click of their mouse. "In real life, I was a vegetarian," notes one reviewer, "but when I played [the game] I loved the thrill of the kill" (1). The Here, the disconect between the game and "real life" seems obvious--for most students, it seems like the game promotes an idea of hunting purely as "sport" rather than for sustenance. |
(Image courtesy of classicagming.com. Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved.) |
 |
Environmental Ethics
Philip Bouchard, designer for the original Oregon Trail, addresses the issue of environmental ethics more directly:
|
| (Image courtesy of classicagming.com. Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved.) |
"Unfortunately, in real life it was all too easy to kill a buffalo with a rifle. In later decades hunters would kill vast numbers of buffaloes and only take the tongues. So I wanted kids to feel a sense of shame for killing too much and then wasting the kill. That was one of the reasons for allowing the player to carry back no more than 200 pounds of meat. I wanted the kids to develop a sence of conservation when playing the game - to say "We should not shoot more meat than we can carry" (2).
|
 |
Whether or not the game imparted a sense of conservation is arguable. A reviewer notes, "I killed the heck out of those animals and never felt the slightest guilt about it...my purpose was just to spend all my money on bullets and go hunting."(3). Indeed, the game often seems to treat the land and the animals living upon it as a resource rather than as a habitat for living beings. Though the game's creators clearly had a sense of the ethical dilemmas that students might encounter when playing the game, The Oregon Trail does not seem to go far enough in remedying them. Perhaps these dilemmas point to a larger issue: gomputer games, in and of themselves, might not be the optimal medium through which to convey ideas of stewardship and care for the environment.
Overcoming These Dilemmas
The fact that environmental and moral dilemmas might be present in the game does not necissarily deny The Oregon Trail of educational value. Instead, educators should approach the game with knowledge of the issues that might be raised in playing it. For example, accompanying The Oregon Trail with supplemental teaching on the effects of Manifest Destiny on animals and the physical environment might be helpful in counteracting issues of hunting in the game. Ultimately, ethical dilemmas in The Oregon Trail and other computer games serve to remind us that technological advances are not a replacement for nuanced teaching, but they can be used as a helpful educational supplement. |
| |
|
"I liked being the banker without experiences but with the most money, or being the carpenter who was the low-level guy but could do everything. I particularly enjoyed the hunting aspect of it. "
Digo, senior
|
|
|
