Leo asked for a poem about Minecraft. I might come back to this and try and write an actual poem about Minecraft if I understand it better later. In the meantime I’ve written a poem about the sorts of things grown ups say about things kids enjoy.
It’s really true that when novels were first invented (the word novel means “new” because we didn’t have novels until a few hundred years ago when we invented printing machines so they were literally called “the new thing”) people FREAKED OUT about kids sitting around reading made up stories instead of playing out and doing school work!
“The kids are all doing it
It’s such a waste of their time
When they could out of doors, playing,
It’s really a crime.
They ought to be doing their homework,
And yet once again
They are building fantastical worlds
And it causes me pain.
Now modern technology’s great,
But it’s going too far.
This disturbing invention:
Is this really who our kids are?
Disappearing inside an existence
Which isn’t quite real?
I am old and I don’t understand
How do you think I feel?
I blame Gutenberg, him and his printing press
That’s what began it !
Now the kids have got stories to read!
It spells doom for our planet!
If you tell me that it’s educational
Then you’re a fool
How ridiculous!
Nobody studies a novel at school!”
This is genuinely how some people
Would talk in the past:
When the novel was new
No-one really believed it would last
So although I do not really get it,
It wouldn’t shock me
If your grandkids one day study
Minecraft for GCSE
Because being creative
And building amazing new worlds
Is the way you encourage
Your mind to expand and unfurl
And yes, grownups complain about Minecraft
That’s just what we do
When we don’t understand something
Simply because it is new.
Tom Juniper Poetry 