FEMA in poor taste: Tsunami for Kids Game

[CreekDog]

"A tsunami has just hit FEMA Beach and has rearranged a few things. Please put the 9 objects back where they belong to see the cyber-prize!"

http://www.fema.gov/kids/games/tsunami/

[Squatch]

1. That's been there for a while...not really in bad taste

it's educational.

[CreekDog]

5. possibly educational

But Tsunamis are incredibly destructive...they don't just move beer bottles and surfboards around.

[Squatch]

6. In a child's eyes, yes they do.

Or, do you think young kids should be getting the 500-level course on geophysics?

[CreekDog]

8. No, of course not...but when they taught us quake preparedness

we never were told, "hey kids, getting under your desk is fun!"

The educational piece is good, but there are better ways to do it without making it a college level physics course. I think a better game would show a bunch of warning signs (earthquakes, water going really far away from shore, etc.) and show the kids these are signs of danger.

Many people are killed when they wander out past the shoreline after the water has receded because it is such an oddity.

[Squatch]

9. Where's the fun in that?

"I think a better game would show a bunch of warning signs (earthquakes, water going really far away from shore, etc.) and show the kids these are signs of danger."

Personally, I think that if Elmo isn't in the game someplace, kids are going to instantly tune out.

[CreekDog]

10. You underestimate kids

Children understand serious things and want to know what to do when there is danger.

We learned earthquake preparedness without it being loads of fun.

The key is not fun so much as when such and such happens, what you should do and have those things be clear. Kids get these messages all the time, they learn them and they do it without having a prize attached to it.

I recall the drop and roll stuff for fire as well as those Dick Van Dyke public service ads where he would get on the ground and crawl to be safely below the smoke. He was friendly and demonstrative, but it was not a game.

Also, a game about Tsunamis should be useful as well as educational. It should provide one message about what Tsunamis do, but also a message of what to do in response to one.

[Squatch]

11. I hear ya.

I found the game pretty sophomoric, tell you the truth, but it may have been posted here out of context. Is this game a segue from some online lesson?

[CreekDog]

12. it's just listed under 'games'

At the park service, we always tried to combine educational messages for kids with practical things they could do in response to some environmental situation.

[CreekDog]

13. I found the irony of floating soda bottles in a game...

compared to bodies floating in Asia to be too strong to avoid mention.

[Squatch]

14. Makes sense.

[mcscajun]

19. There's a multi-part lesson on Tsunamis on the site.

The game is a sidebar, but can be reached without going through the lesson.

[katinmn]

2. minimizing the loss of 22,000 lives. awful n/t

[Spinzonner]

3. And don't forget to wave goodbye, kids

[Deja Q]

4. Not only is it in bad taste, but that's the freakin' point?!

For one thing, anyone over 5 will find it tedious. Anyone under will have difficulty trying to use the bloody mouse; these flash games are difficult to control.

And there was no cyber-prize. Not even cyber-porn. :-(

AND WHAT THE FRACK DID THAT SITE HAVE TO DO WITH HOMERLAND SECURITY ANYWAY? :grr:

Waste of money. :grr:

[Squatch]

7. FEMA isn't all homeland security

[sniffa]

15. here's the prize

http://www.fema.gov/kids/games/tsunami/prz_tsu.htm

[Squatch]

16. Mesmerizing

[CreekDog]

17. A dancing frog?

But it only dances for you, like in the cartoon.

[Squatch]

18. I'm at work, coffee hasn't kicked in, a lot of things are

mesmerizing at this point.