Sowing the Seeds of Peace in the Public-Schools via Esports Gaming with Gamers For Peace

Abstract

Organized online computer gaming, now referred to as Esports, is rapidly gaining popularity in public schools across the nation. Though touted for its many useful benefits to special student populations hitherto excluded from more conventional athletic team sports, Esports also includes games of war and violence that are of great concern to parents, teachers, and administrators who are rightfully concerned about their impact on our culture, students’ academic performance, attendance, and social behavior. Moreover, with the violence in games, comes the incursion of the US military into the public-school classroom space taking maximum advantage of this wave of interest in what are called “first-person-shooter” (FPS) games to recruit young players into the military. This paper explores the kinds of strategies educators need to adopt to maintain a culture of peace in the school and classroom and minimize the use, promotion, or exploitation of violence by the military.