Minecraft might be banned in Turkey, as it has been deemed violent due to the fact that players are rewarded for killing enemies. Minecraft came under fire after citizens realised that a major part of the game is killing enemies; and as such in their minds it promotes violence due to the potential for "loot" from killing enemies.
Turkey's Family and Social Policies Minister launched an investigation into Mojang's title and as of today the investigation has concluded that Minecraft encourages violence and should therefore be banned in the country. The report says:
"Although the game can be seen as encouraging creativity in children by letting them build houses farmlands and bridges, mobs [hostile creatures] must be killed in order to protect these structures. In short, the game is based on violence."
- Minecraft Report
The report also states that children might confuse the real world with the game world and then begin to think that killing animals is okay and doesn't actually harm them. A court is expected to take place soon and then the courts will decide whether to ban the game on a country-wide scale. If the game does get banned; Turkey will be the first country in the world to have banned Minecraft.
I cannot believe how silly these investigators are being, Minecraft is based on creativity. It has been used in schools to give children a better grasp on geometry and to bring out the creativity in them through a game. A lot of education systems are looking towards games and seeing how they can adapt techniques used in games into their own education systems. As people who enjoy a game have no problem learning the mechanics of the game because the learning process is enjoyable in itself.
If Minecraft gets banned, this will only be a step-back in the direction that education is going. Education will eventually be a game in itself; with great learning results as an intended side-effect.
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