‘Win the White House’ Video Game Helps Shape Next Generation Of Shrewd Politicians

It might seem like some silly story in a movie, but a video game called “Win The White House” has been making noise recently, most notably because it’s a game where players take the role of politicians running for president. The game was not made by some unknown development company either, since it is part of an online program called iCivics; the brainchild of a former U.S. Supreme Court member.

The former Supreme Court Justice behind the iCivics program is Sandra Day O’Connor, 86. Justice O’Connor has had a distinguished career throughout her many years of service both in politics and in law. Her latest efforts with iCivics has borne fruit in the form of the video game “Win The White House,” which a recent article by The New York Times says has over 250,000 in monthly players.     

The game is aimed at students across the country, typically middle-schoolers who are more apt to play an interactive game of this sort. In conjunction with the current presidential elections, the new edition of the game allows players to take on the role of the candidates and participate in the typical activities related to such occasions.

The game is meant to teach children and teenagers how to engage in verbal debate in a civil manner against those who have opposing ideas. The topics range from gun control to immigration, thus training kids how to take point of views that are divergent from their own.

According to Justice O’Connor, she had never been much of a video game player.

“I was one of the uneducated adults,” she said in the article. “We have to have a system that allows young people to approach problem solving from many different viewpoints.”

Justice O’Connor retired from the Supreme Court in 2006 and started iCivics in 2009.