Marching to a Different Tune
by Tracy Staton
No, 16-year-old Blake isn’t resting up for school tomorrow. He’s hard at work -- playing Guitar Hero.
CLASS SCHEDULE
Noon Breakfast
12:15 p.m. Online class
3:15 p.m. Gaming practice
3 a.m. Bedtime
As necessary or desired Personal appearances, media interviews, autograph signings, gaming tournaments, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation demonstrations/fund-raisers, lunch with friends in the cafeteria at former school
Daily Gaming practice as friends, neighborhood children, and other random visitors watch with mouths agape
Blake’s daily existence sounds like a teenage nirvana. Sleep late, spend a few hours on schoolwork, and then play video games until bedtime, often before adoring crowds. What’s not to like?
It’s so appealing, it’s trouble -- at least for Blake’s mom and dad. They have to fend off his friends’ parents, who suddenly look like party-pooping buzz killers because they won’t let their progeny devote the bulk of their time to computer gaming. Blake’s parents have to debunk the myth that has grown up around them, that they let their middle child drop out of school so he could try his hand at professional gaming. They also have to defend themselves against nasty e-mails, phone calls, and live hecklers. And then there are the flabbergasted relatives who refuse to believe Blake isn’t going back to a bricks-and-mortar high school.
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