Remember how you desperately wanted to play video games instead of going to gym class? For me, that was most Pokemon games (I regret nothing), but for future kids of tomorrow, video games during gym classes might not just be a fantasy; it could be reality.
Later this August, Norway’s Garnes High School will begin offering gaming classes as an alternative to traditional gym class.
But don’t think these kids will only be sitting in chairs and staring at the screen. Alongside learning strategy and how to work together as a team, the students will perform exercises to increase reaction time, sharpen reflexes and build endurance for long games and long tournaments. That sounds better than running the track and lifting dumbbells.
The classes will start at one high school next year for 30 students in the equivalent of their junior year, and if it’s successful, the school will expand the program to all students.
http://gty.im/493040448
E-sports are huge business around the world, and the impact in America is evident as well, as Turner Sports signed a deal recently to show e-sports on TBS. Twitter went bananas last April when a Heroes of the Storm competition was shown on ESPN2, and more and more media companies are hopping on the e-sports bandwagon.
For now, though, Norway is taking it to another level. No wonder it was just rated as the happiest country in the world.
Still, somehow this story feels incomplete unless we get the opinion of one last person…
[Business Insider/Variety/SB Nation/Tech Insider]
