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Time to throw out the Playstation, says Boris
STANLEY Johnson – father of controversial Islington resident Boris – defended his son this week after he was accused of being a “killjoy” for suggesting that parents pull the plug on computer games.
Mr Johnson senior who lives in Primrose Hill said Boris, the Conservative’s shadow spokesman on higher education, was absolutely right when he wrote in his daily Telegraph column yesterday (Thursday) that the addictive games were responsible for underachievement in schools.
Mr Johnson senior added that his son’s views were probably the result of the family’s fairly austere but happy life on their farm in Exmoor.
He added: “Not only did we not have computers we often didn’t have electricity when Boris was growing up. The only device we had was a battered black and white TV, which showed snowflakes.
“The children spent their days working on the farm, cleaning, and playing educational family games like Scrabble and Cluedo.
“We did a lot of reading, of course, and occasionally there were games like Murder in the Dark. On a farm you tend to go to bed early anyway.
“My daughter Rachael, Boris’s sister, resolutely refuses to let her children watch TV. But I’ve got Sky TV now so if there’s a World Cup final Rachael will bring her children over to watch on our TV.”
Boris suggested hypocrisy among parents, who expect teachers to encourage reading at school, but turn a blind eye to hours and hours of hypnotic machines at home.
“Millions of seven to 15-year-olds are hooked, especially boys, and it is time someone had the guts to stand up, cross the room and just say no to Nintendo,” he wrote.
“It is time to garrotte the Game Boy and paralyse the Playstation, and it is about time, as a society, that we admitted the catastrophic effect these blasted gizmos are having on the literacy and the prospects of young males.”
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