How do you teach Indonesian children that terrorism is bad, when some of them are learning to read using textbooks filled with extremist messages like “no mercy to those who insult our religion”?
The Indonesian Police have decided one of the best ways to educate young people about the dangers of terrorism is with a mobile game in which you get to kill Afif (one of the terrorists who died during the deadly ISIS-linked attack in Thamrin, Central Jakarta, earlier this month). Over and over again. With a slingshot.
On Wednesday, the police launched this new mobile game, titled “Tumpas Teroris” (“Destroy Terrorists”). The game’s developer, Adjie Pratama, described it as an arcade game that also delivers a moral message to users and that it was aimed at children ages three and up.
“Users will be invited to destroy unruly terrorists using a slingshot and stones. Any terrorist who are hit by the slingshot, the game user will get points. But be careful, the terrorists will also shoot you,” Adjie said as quoted by Republika.
“Tumpang Teroris” is already available to download for free from the Google Play store so we gave it a go. The game’s seven levels all consist of various scenes from Jakarta, including the Hotel Indonesia Roundabout and Monas. In each scene, a crudely Photoshopped image of Afif pointing his gun at the player appears over and over again. Players must click Afif’s image multiple times to “kill” him with their slingshots, after which his image is turned 90 degrees clockwise and gets covered in “blood” that looks like it was added using MS Paint.
Each level also features educational slogans such as “Let’s keep Indonesia safe from threats” and “Terrorism is not jihad. Terrorism does not recognize any religion” as well as the famous hashtag #KamiTidakTakut.
We have to say, we’re not sure that a game like this is the best way to teach children about terrorism. For one thing, it creates the unrealistic expectation that if a terrorist is shooting at you with a gun, you can fight back by shooting at them with a slingshot and stones. That’s just impractical.
Also, it encourages kids to respond to violence with violence, creating a never-ending cycle of violence etc etc.
Reader Interactions