Poll: Should games be taught at schools?

[Firetaffer]

That "Are video games art?" thread got me thinking, games have a lot of quality's that people could learn from. I am surprised why they aren't taught at school yet, I mean movies are, and so are books. It might be because games are a new medium?

Games have many things people could learn from, it is basically an interactive movie, where you get to make the decisions. In schools (high-schools, I am pretty sure games are studied in game design schools aren't they?) you study movies, you learn about the lighting, the sound, how camera angles and camera shots create tension/enjoyment in a scene, how great dialogue can improve a scene. Well believe it or not games have all of this, except it must all work at different perspectives, for example the lighting must work no matter what angle you are standing.

It could be fun for the students! I mean playing games at school? Yay it's a dream come true! This could cause a problem though as students could get um.. overly distracted. We could basically be learning about what makes scary games scary and what makes Half-life Half-life. Really I just don't understand why we haven't embraced this new medium yet.

So my question for the escapist is:

Should games be taught at schools?

EDIT: I might have worded it a bit wrong, I am talking about LEARNING the processes going into MAKING the game. Sorry if you misunderstood.

 

[Feste the Jester]

Personally I say no, unless you have an arts class like game design. Games don't have a long enough history to be accepted as a class and for anyone to teach

 

[infinity_turtles]

The computer class at one of the highschools I went to actually did that. A lot of people signed up and most switched out, since the teacher took the studying of games bit very seriously. If you wanted to mess around and have fun, you did it when you were coding.

 

[Thaius]

Absolutely. Video games are the next step in storytelling, interactive art. They have as much value as books or movies, and should absolutely be taught in schools.

Beyond that, imagine the difference that would be made in 13-year olds if they grew up being taught in school about video games as an artistic medium; what they mean, what they are, and how to appreciate them. It would make the gaming world a better place, and it would allow humanity to explore artistic progress much easier.

 

[Miumaru]

Well, some could, but obviously it would not be the games you have in your personal game collection.
Do you mean for already taught classes?
And I never learned anything about movies in school.

 

[Swarley]

Some schools and I would venture most universities offer classes such as film study so I don't see why not.

 

[Ldude893]

We got Game Developer classes at my High School, so yeah.

 

[DMonkey]

Nope. Kids are dumb enough as it is. No need to throw another log onto that already blazing bonfire.

 

[masher]

I said "yes", but my morals and/or common sense told me "no", but I guess it all boils down to what type of game. Gears of War or Halo obviously would be avoided, unless one is specifically looking for blood and rust, while maybe Okami would fare OK. My whole logic here is that it's used for referencing, so is that really "teaching gaming"? Maybe not... I guess Video Games could be used as a method of teaching, but I don't think one could, or would bother, "teach gaming".

 

[Ninonybox_v1legacy]

no, because if they did they would pick a shitty E rated game....unless it was mario and the actually good E games.

 

[MazzaTheFirst]

I remember in our computer courses at school we had 'Game Maker' and some other form of gaming program. But the idea for the course was not to make and play games, it was to learn about coding, the thought process in coding and how to overcome problems in coding. So gaming as a course? No. Programming and coding about games? Hell yes!

 

[chozo_hybrid]

It depends what you mean by games. Do you mean making, playing?

If it's playing, then no. As that can be done on your own and is for fun.

 

[arcticphoenix95]

Nope. Kids are dumb enough as it is. No need to throw another log onto that already blazing bonfire.

agreed

 

[TerribleAssassin]

If it's making, well then yes.

If it's about the setting and atmosphere then well maybe

If playing, then go home and do it.

 

[blankedboy]

As an art form, yes.
As teaching them OMG U DIDN'T SHOOT U GOTTA AIM BETTER, no.
As making games, they already do, at least at my school.

 

[iLikeHippos]

Well, that depends...

I have to admit, I learned my English through The Simpsons and Warcraft III. Not from some bullshit class.
I get A's (MVG here though) in English without pulling off extra effort.
I also learned how to think in a tactical manner, as I do pretty much every day.

Other than that, I don't think it's something you should introduce as a class time in whole.
More like a recommended hobby.

 

[iFail69]

I think game design should be a subject taught at schools, but games themselves shouldn't be studied

 

[Ymbirtt]

Hm. I don't think that good game design should be taught for the same reason that they don't explicitly teach you how to draw; some people just can't make things work the way they want them to, and however hard they try the things they draw will just not work. The actual process of programming for games should be taught, in the same way that they teach you how to program for businesses, with all the dry database management crap that comes with it. The playing of games shouldn't be a subject, though I do think that more schools should start offering clubs where people can go and play games over the LAN that they will doubtless already have.

I'd also like more schools to actually recognise it as a sport, and start holding inter-school tournaments in the same way that they hold inter-school football, rugby, basketball, hockey, and god knows what else tournaments. I don't quite see why colleges haven't taken this idea to heart yet.