Guitar Hero teen drops out of school to play
Categories: Teens & tweens, Fun & activities, Education, Toys & games
Blake Peebles likes to play Guitar Hero, the video game that lets players pretend to be rock stars with a small plastic guitar. In fact, he likes to play it so much that the sixteen-year-old has dropped out of school to be able to play the game more. His hope is that he can turn his affinity for the game into a career and, so far, it looks like he might have a chance.His parents agreed to his plans but only if he were to be tutored at home. They would rather he stayed in school, but Blake managed to wear down their resistance. "We couldn't take the complaining anymore," says his mom. "He always told me that he thought school was a waste of time." So far, Blake has won about a thousand dollars worth of prizes.
I suppose as long as the kid is learning what he would learn in school, it doesn't really matter what he does with the rest of his time, but it sure seems to me like putting all his eggs in one basket -- and a basket that has yet to show it has any real financial potential. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't let my kids quit school to play video games, no matter how good they are.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pookie 8-18-2008 @ 3:41PM
My husband plays guitar and he says that Guitar Hero is nothing like playing a real guitar. So what are these people expecting this kid to do? Become a professional Guitar Hero player?
What other things have his parents given in to because he whined too much? Good grief...I see another kid growing up to live on welfare...and us paying the bill because he quit school to play a video game...
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pamela 8-18-2008 @ 4:42PM
pookie, i could'nt agreed more. nicely put!! enough said!!
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Mihir 8-18-2008 @ 9:20PM
ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!
yeah...good luck with that kiddo! parents...be parents. don't give in to every whim.
"'We couldn't take the complaining anymore,' says his mom"
wow. just wait till he starts asking for money to support his Heroin Hero habit.
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jsturgeon77 8-19-2008 @ 1:50AM
guitar hero bugs me so much.. i've been playing REAL guitar for a while, and getting really good at that game looks so stupid next to actually having a talent.
i'm all for having a passion, but come on. if you're gonna drop out of school to pursue it, it should be a good passion. not a video game
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hall monitor 8-19-2008 @ 9:53AM
This is a great reason to drop out of high school. I see the schools are doing a good job of stressing education, and not letting video games become too distracting.
Hall Monitor
http://detentionslip.org
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Tennyson Williams 8-19-2008 @ 3:42PM
I really don't like guitar hero as I play guitar and maintain a guitar instructional site, but I think he's got the right idea. A lot of real guitarists dropped out of school to pertain to their passion, and a lot of them are monstrously famous now. He's already showing results. I strongly believe that a person who follows their heart as opposed to what society says, goes far.
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Rodney Brown 8-23-2008 @ 1:18AM
I'm surprised to hear a fellow musician say those words.
I have no problem with guitar hero as a entertainment/waste of time (since the only relation to music it has is the controller model and sound track) but winning competitions wont pay the bills. and Tennyson forgot to mention the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS who tried and tried and gave their life to their instrument and still struck rock bottom. in all honesty let the kid follow his heart not his addiction
monster 8-21-2008 @ 8:13PM
We can see something positive in this boy's choices: he clearly has ambition. This is different than just dropping out of school to play videogames. He is dropping out of school to be a self-starter, to earn his own money, and learn that fine-tuning your own skills can be lucrative. There are more opportunities to learn productive life lessons than while taking a standardized test. Plus, he's happy. Sounds a lot like this article:
http://www.mothertalkers.com/storyonly/2008/8/16/75320/9374
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Mike 8-22-2008 @ 3:00PM
The child is still being tutored at home. This could be a very lucritive deal for him...or it could not. But many professions, especially those in the arts, can be hit or miss. I myself have chosen to be a film maker/actor and my parents have thrown their full support behind me, knowing full well that I may just be wasting my time. However I have passion, and I believe that with the way our world is changing I can pursue my dream now, and if it doesn't pan out then i can still go back to school and try again. It pains me to here all sorts of narrow minded parents filling children's heads with lies that their dreams can't be achieved. It's because of you that I weep for my generation, because so many will be so unhappy in a field that they hate.
Karen 8-22-2008 @ 4:14PM
Oh, please -- these parents aren't tutoring their kid. They're giving up. But if they want their loser son living with them until they die, they're making the right choice. I support unusual ambitions, but who is going to pay this idiot to play Guitar Hero? Plenty of people who go to school and have jobs also play the game very well, so he is likely not first in line for any future leagues that might arise. I guess he can always go back to school when he realizes that, but what a frickin dumbass. (Also, why not just send him to get his GED as a condition of dropping out?)
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