Should ESports Become A High School Sport In Michigan?
I remember as a kid how much my mom use to tell me I would rot my brain out playing video games, now competitive gaming has become a legitimate high school sport in eight states. According to Channel 7, it began with Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in the fall of 2018. Then a few months later, the National Federation of State High School Associations said Alabama, Mississippi and Texas Charter schools have joined the mix. Now I feel that being raised in the video game generation (Nintendo, Sega, N64, XBox, PS2), video games did actually help my problem solving and focus issues I had as a kid.
I also see the downside to this because too many games can make you grumpy and lead to wanting to do nothing but play them. On the pro side, there are new careers, endorsement opportunities, advertising and other benefits to the legitimization of this new "sport." Do I think this should become an actual high school sport in Michigan? No. But it's already become a thing in Vicksburg and Kalamazoo high schools. Mainly because I think of all the industries you can go to school for right now, outside of playing video games. How cutthroat they all are. At least at the end of the day you have a good chance at moving and finding work after relocation. But if you dedicate your life to video games, and you just end up not being good enough, then you're back at square one with no skills but being a good local gamer. I say don't get caught up in it, but do what you love at the end of the day. If you stink, it'll be on you.