Norway: High school students can take eSports instead of gym class
Man, I could have used this development while I was in high school. Now granted, the reason I hated gym in high school was because all I did was play video games. Crush Dew. Eat Wendy’s every day. But man. Being fat and having to huff around the field like a despicable, rolling meat-market would have been jettisoned so quickly for an hour of Quake III: Arena for credit if I had been given the chance.
ESports are slowly, but surely gaining mainstream acceptance. The United States recognizes eSports players as legitimate athletes, ESPN has big plans to dominate eSports coverage, and now they’ve passed the ultimate test of legitimacy — playing competitive computer games as a substitute for high school gym class. Or at least you can if you live in Norway.
A public high school in Bergen will soon be offering eSports as an elective class in August. The class can be used as an alternative to traditional sports like soccer, basketball and reindeer herding (or whatever they’re into in Norway). However, you won’t be able to come in, plunk yourself down and play games. The five-hours-per-week class will include 90 minutes of “physical training” designed for the specific games being played. (So, uh, lots of finger stretches and vocal cord training for shouting insults?) Also, you’ll be graded on your performance in the games, so you’d better bring some leet skillz if you want to keep that GPA up. The school hasn’t decided which games they’ll be covering just yet, though League of Legends, DOTA 2, Counter-Strikeand Starcraft II are on the shortlist.
This may all sound just a tad absurd, but hey, high school is supposed to be about preparing you for the future. Today’s kids are much more likely to end up making a living from eSports than playing badminton or dodgeball. I was born in the wrong time, dammit.