Summary and Response: SPENT

http://mashable.com/2011/02/08/spent-homeless-game/

"Can you make it through the month?"

In the article entitled "New Website Guides You Through the Homeless Experience" by Zachary Sniderman, he reveals, a new online game called Spent with simple point and click and multiple choice questions features is being used to ask the very question stated above. This is a game where you put yourself in the shoes of a homeless person and attempt to survive one month while no finances or employment. Sniderman reveals that like many online games these days, it is integrated into Facebook. Some choices you make in the game will ask you to "ignore the claim, pay it or ask a friend". Spent is a game being used to spread social awareness and educate youth on homelessness and hopefully help them avoid it.

"SPENT definitely subscribes to the “tough-love” mentality, trying to give you a realistic impression of what it’s like to deal with homelessness and poverty. With its snipes, the game also gives a good impression of what it’s like to be leered at."-Zachary Sniderman

Response:

I believe that Spent can help educate the youth about homelessness and hopefully keep them from becoming it. The creator's of  Spent realize that in today's world, the strongest way to connect with the youth is by using technology to do so. However if the topic being presented is not presented in a very serious way, teens may just take the entire message and receive it as a joke. This being said, Spent is still a very innovative spin on bland facts and statements homelessness is usually represented to educate. I connected very well to this article because I have spent time in the Lower Eastside of Vancouver, documenting the lives of homeless people themselves.