Somalia video games boom dents al-Shabaab recruitment

The Guardian. ^

[marthemaria]

Games consoles are all the rage in Mogadishu, keeping boys away from school but also away from the militants

Inside a hot, cramped room in the Somali capital, 10 sweating children sat on wooden desks, not unlike those found in schools. These boys, though, were not in class. They were staring at a small TV and tightly gripping video game controllers.

A year after al-Shabaab lost control of Mogadishu, video games are now all the rage. Under the militant group recreational pleasures such as films and Nintendo were banned.

Today, Somali boys are bingeing on PlayStation and other games consoles, a development seen has having both positive and negative aspects.

Some parents say the games are helping to keep the young off the street, which in turn lowers the chances they might be recruited by al-Shabaab. But many teenage boys admit to skipping school to practice their gaming skills.

"I spend half of my day here. The video games are fascinating," said Abdirizak Muse, a 16-year-old who dropped out of his Mogadishu school in early 2011 after al-Shabaab militants dug trenches around it.

Among the positive changes since African Union (AU) and Somali troops drove the militants out of Mogadishu are new restaurants, a vibrant beach front, the reopening of the national theatre and a video game shop.

Mohamed Deq Abdullahi, a father of two teenage boys, watched his sons play a football video game in a sweltering shop on a recent sunny day. He sees their new hobby as a beneficial development.

"This is his day-long activity because I don't want him get bored and go to war," Abdullahi said. "The busier they stay the more tired they get and the more they ignore violence."

[marthemaria]

Who would have thought ; )

[Twotone]

We should be creating games that have al Queda as the enemy, so the kids learn that they are the bad guys. One can use this kind of thing for psychological warfare.

[Surrounded_too]

throw them some basketballs, volley balls, soccer balls. and game nets - no cricket and no baseball equipment. Give em boxes of mashed potatoes and other fattening food to slow them down. Macaroni and cheese. We ought to bomb the muzzies with free cigarettes. there is more than one way to skin a muzzie.