The World is Sinking, Group Yourselves into Three!

There is something about parlor games that makes me raise my eyebrows. Aside from the fact that I don’t know why the hell they’re called parlor games, I highly question the values that they teach children - certainly, these values doesn’t include sportsmanship, camaraderie, and other related euphemisms as they would seem to propagate.

Let us take for example, the game of “The Boat is Sinking” where children group themselves into a specified number of people and in the process, form alliances and choose the one to be excluded. Then the poor child who was left out, shall haply accept his defeat while winners rejoice their victory. Here resurface the theme of betrayal and unhealthy competitiveness at an early age. Just imagine if they happen to be in a real situation where the easiest way to be safe is to sacrifice someone, I don’t think they would think twice doing it. As for the title, I can’t say that it’s the most child friendly, all the gore and trauma of a sinking boat it would cause – definitely not for children. 

Another is “Trip to Jerusalem”, where one competes to secure a chair for himself after revolving around a group of chair in a circle. Talk about imparting selfishness to the next generation. No wonder we have a growing census of position-starved politicians, swindlers, and frauds as confirmed by the news programs. This should stop.

Now who could forget the children’s party staple, the “Bring Me” game where children are asked to “bring” to the host a specified item and the first one to do so snatches the prize. While the immediate effects are fun and adrenaline pumping, the lasting effects could be devastating, some of which include imparting to the kids the idea about wanting to have something out of reach and teaching them that having “everything” is ideal. In addition to that, this makes the parents pack in anticipation the usual items asked during birthday parties – say, 5 peso bills, a family portrait, and the most frequent, a strand white hair (Poor lolo and lolas) – which is not really mentally healthy.

This post is an outrage to the parlor games and their detrimental effects to society. If the humankind would lay ignorant my warning, I would just bless the world and watch it destroy itself. 

Heed my call, STOP PLAYING THEM.