Quote pulled for critical context - The schools want everyone involved in an extracurricular activity. This solves tons of issues - bad home life, gangs, loneliness/depression, etc.
> Finding a niche for all students to participate in an extracurricular activity is one of the DISD’s key goals. Trustees made extracurricular participation a major priority in 2017, setting a districtwide goal of 78% participation by the 2021-22 school year.
Not at all. It's just more excuse to babysit teens. Bad home life will only be fixed by raising living standards, by reducing number of hours parents need to work, providing vacation time, etc. But that would require redistributing wealth instead of raising property taxes a couple percent.
I really like this idea. I bonded with friends over video games in highschool. I would have probably benefited if a coach were involved - informing and teaching me and my friends about teamwork, strategy, and training skill/tactics.
The competition and comradery of playing against other teams in the area seems to me like it would make for higher stakes (involving pride and an in-person level of gamesmanship). I'd argue these are important skills in living a social life.
I also think that including some level of physical exercise, even if just as an ante to participate under the school's charter of the sport, would make students more healthy. I don't know if any research or statistcs exist correlating cardiovascular health to markers associated with better video game performance. But it would not surprise me if a lap or two around a track before a practice or competitoin would sharpen minds, reflexes, nerves, etc. If nothing else, it would reduce apprehension to adminstrators sactioning kids playing video games.
When I was in the Marine Corps, I developed a "gaming workout routine" to keep in shape and still have time to play video games where I didn't even have to leave the desk, and it worked wonders. I have always thought it would be awesome to somehow make it a more popular thing. For a while I have thought VR might be the killer app that makes it a reality.
For those interested, it was mostly just bodyweight exercises, eg between counter-strike rounds do crunches at desk, pushups, dips, etc. When I finally buy a house I have this idea that I want to design my computer desk to also be a workout desk... pullup bar and everything.
Team games---LoL, DotA, Overwatch---have been twisted and distorted by their respective companies to try to fit the wishes of their playerbase, who generally play these games solo. Thus team games steadily become less and less team-oriented, or more team-oriented, at the cost of ham-handed algorithmic authoritarianism (e.g. role queues).
But if stuff like this takes off, maybe companies will be more true to their vision and less pliable.
At least in the case of Overwatch, role queue feels more like an attempt to assure a minimum level of viability for each team and less like an authoritarian approach to controlling how the game is played.
I don't see a problem with this if there is demand. If anything, this is schools catching up with reality. Kids share their gaming experience with one another. It is a social thing, and they've been using Twitch and Youtube to create alternative media choices for some time. Kids even stage up Roblox and Minecraft videos to tell stories and present shows.
Still, I do think it's sad that the bro culture has completely erased every other kind of competitive video games. Most of our top competitive games (particularly those made in the US and Europe) replicate some of the worst aspects of human society. Lethal conflict, industrialized warfare, conflict over scarcity, imperialism simulators, and a view of science as a tech tree with resource unlockables. It's a fairly toxic view of the world and it taints a lot of kid's viewpoint of the world.
And yet, violence in the US started declining right around the same time more realistically violent video games started becoming a thing, like Mortal Kombat. It then continued declining even as we got Doom, and Quake, and Call of Duty.
> it taints a lot of kid's viewpoint of the world.
Is there any actual evidence of this? Because so far based on your comments elsewhere, it sounds like you just have on some rose-tinted glasses about retro games, and harbor some personal antipathy to modern popular competitive PC games.
Violence is entertaining on some level. Even cutesy games like Mario have him stomping on mushrooms and turtles and avoiding deadly obstacles. I've also heard it said that all good stories involve conflict. It's a part of human psychology for better or worse. It's why we watch sports. It's why we play video games. It's why dogs play fight. It's deeply embedded in our chemistry.
The mention of Minecraft makes me think that it could be used for artistic competition purposes (not explicitly framed that way, to go easy on the nerves of the kids who are 'bad at art'). Have teams compete to make the most interesting or coolest map, and have teachers sneak in tips on perspective (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr0USak_IB4) or on historical architecture styles (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPxcldEDHts).
No idea what "bro culture" has to do with what you're listing. All of those game types existed 25+ years ago. One of the first big competitive video games, with large prizes (Carmack's Ferrari), was Quake, which came out in 1996.
Video games provide an escape hatch to reality. You may have a personality that is attracted to violent mechs and gunslingers, or you may like the whimsy of being a warrior in a MMORPG. This doesn’t mean that you want to bring that into your real life... it’s important to remember that.
I hold the opposite view to yours on this subject. By allowing an escape hatch, video games are allowing kids to live out their wild fantasies in the digital world. And doing this socially makes it a more socially acceptable activity and a way to bond with other kids who are attracted to similar things.
This is a really interesting phenomenon we noticed as started doing some research into esports: There's a ton of interest in organized game teams as perhaps an alternative to traditional sports for students with different proclivities.
This is just one example, but I suppose what I'm trying to say is that this will likely become the norm not the exception.
“Interscholastic sports spread rapidly from the 1930s through the 1950s, at a time when the medical and physical education communities were opposed to competitive sports for elementary and junior high, and occasionally high school, students.” — https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2443/Sports-Scho...
considering that this is organized, I would think you'd get the best of both.
Where kids will learn about rsi and how to mitigate, also how to keep their body in peak condition, etc. Much better than just gaming at home without guidance.
I get the sentiment, but I don't think video game competition isn't deeply physical in nature. Sure, experience and kinetic intelligence matter a lot in video games, but as any fighting game player can tell you: some folks just have fast reflexes and can train their bodies to react to even your best setup. Games build in cooldowns, frame locks and combos to help smooth out these ability curves but there is a lot of raw physical ability in pro gaming.
But I have to ask, isn't the pointless, manufactured competition actually the worst part of all this?
Games could recreate any universe we can imagine. Worlds without scarcity, worlds without conflict, worlds deeply simulating fantastical aspects of an alternative universe where any experience is possible. Weirdly, all those games end up with people pointing guns at one another.
Even a lot of AR games try to recreate all the "fun" of urban warfare by manufacturing. It's pretty depressing, if you ask me.
This should not be something cash-strapped schools are spending $450,000 on. This is just public-private transfer into the coffers of Blizzard, Nintendo et al.
At just ~$7,000 per campus for an after school program that likely requires staffing, some equipment, software, etc. I don't see it as a ridiculous thing for them to justify. It provides a community like any other sports program would, at a significantly lower cost, and to a completely different audience, who wasn't participating in the other extracurricular offerings.
This is meant to be a way to keep kids out of trouble, not teach them physics. The goal is to keep them in a controlled and safe setting until their parents are home and able to pick them up, rather than unsupervised for hours at a time.
Kids don't want to play Tux Racer, they want to play Fortnite. There isn't any free software games out there that are going to attract the attention of these kids the way the AAA titles like Fortnite, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends do, and that means that without having access to those titles, the kids aren't going to join the club, and aren't going to be in that controlled and safe setting.
[+] [-] soared|6 years ago|reply
> Finding a niche for all students to participate in an extracurricular activity is one of the DISD’s key goals. Trustees made extracurricular participation a major priority in 2017, setting a districtwide goal of 78% participation by the 2021-22 school year.
[+] [-] lotsofpulp|6 years ago|reply
Not at all. It's just more excuse to babysit teens. Bad home life will only be fixed by raising living standards, by reducing number of hours parents need to work, providing vacation time, etc. But that would require redistributing wealth instead of raising property taxes a couple percent.
[+] [-] helloSirMan|6 years ago|reply
The competition and comradery of playing against other teams in the area seems to me like it would make for higher stakes (involving pride and an in-person level of gamesmanship). I'd argue these are important skills in living a social life.
I also think that including some level of physical exercise, even if just as an ante to participate under the school's charter of the sport, would make students more healthy. I don't know if any research or statistcs exist correlating cardiovascular health to markers associated with better video game performance. But it would not surprise me if a lap or two around a track before a practice or competitoin would sharpen minds, reflexes, nerves, etc. If nothing else, it would reduce apprehension to adminstrators sactioning kids playing video games.
[+] [-] arminiusreturns|6 years ago|reply
For those interested, it was mostly just bodyweight exercises, eg between counter-strike rounds do crunches at desk, pushups, dips, etc. When I finally buy a house I have this idea that I want to design my computer desk to also be a workout desk... pullup bar and everything.
[+] [-] invalidOrTaken|6 years ago|reply
Team games---LoL, DotA, Overwatch---have been twisted and distorted by their respective companies to try to fit the wishes of their playerbase, who generally play these games solo. Thus team games steadily become less and less team-oriented, or more team-oriented, at the cost of ham-handed algorithmic authoritarianism (e.g. role queues).
But if stuff like this takes off, maybe companies will be more true to their vision and less pliable.
[+] [-] JRKrause|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] UserIsUnused|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] KirinDave|6 years ago|reply
Still, I do think it's sad that the bro culture has completely erased every other kind of competitive video games. Most of our top competitive games (particularly those made in the US and Europe) replicate some of the worst aspects of human society. Lethal conflict, industrialized warfare, conflict over scarcity, imperialism simulators, and a view of science as a tech tree with resource unlockables. It's a fairly toxic view of the world and it taints a lot of kid's viewpoint of the world.
[+] [-] TulliusCicero|6 years ago|reply
> it taints a lot of kid's viewpoint of the world.
Is there any actual evidence of this? Because so far based on your comments elsewhere, it sounds like you just have on some rose-tinted glasses about retro games, and harbor some personal antipathy to modern popular competitive PC games.
[+] [-] chrisco255|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] crooked-v|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] me_me_me|6 years ago|reply
I dunno if it true in every case, current 2 times Dota champions literally built their team upon friendship and support for each other.
So its not all doom and gloom yet. But I can see this type of behaviour fade away as more money and celebrity start pouring in.
[+] [-] strictnein|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pm90|6 years ago|reply
I hold the opposite view to yours on this subject. By allowing an escape hatch, video games are allowing kids to live out their wild fantasies in the digital world. And doing this socially makes it a more socially acceptable activity and a way to bond with other kids who are attracted to similar things.
[+] [-] wgerard|6 years ago|reply
This is just one example, but I suppose what I'm trying to say is that this will likely become the norm not the exception.
[+] [-] duxup|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] shawndumas|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] huherto|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mensetmanusman|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kkwak|6 years ago|reply
Where kids will learn about rsi and how to mitigate, also how to keep their body in peak condition, etc. Much better than just gaming at home without guidance.
[+] [-] dmix|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tpmx|6 years ago|reply
I still think that could have been an exciting idea.
[+] [-] point78|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] markus_zhang|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baby|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chess93|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mensetmanusman|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] KirinDave|6 years ago|reply
But I have to ask, isn't the pointless, manufactured competition actually the worst part of all this?
Games could recreate any universe we can imagine. Worlds without scarcity, worlds without conflict, worlds deeply simulating fantastical aspects of an alternative universe where any experience is possible. Weirdly, all those games end up with people pointing guns at one another.
Even a lot of AR games try to recreate all the "fun" of urban warfare by manufacturing. It's pretty depressing, if you ask me.
[+] [-] bilbo0s|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] codesushi42|6 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] sneak|6 years ago|reply
If it has merit, it has merit with free software.
[+] [-] arioid|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cthalupa|6 years ago|reply
Kids don't want to play Tux Racer, they want to play Fortnite. There isn't any free software games out there that are going to attract the attention of these kids the way the AAA titles like Fortnite, World of Warcraft, and League of Legends do, and that means that without having access to those titles, the kids aren't going to join the club, and aren't going to be in that controlled and safe setting.
[+] [-] soared|6 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lern_too_spel|6 years ago|reply