Have you ever tried sneaking in some game time by playing on your laptop or handheld during class time? Of course, none of us have ever done this but it is legally possible to play video games in school if you happen to attend South Middle School in Morgantown, West Virginia. The very enlightened school officials there have determined that at least one game, Dance Dance Revolution, is beneficial for its student body.
Bill Hines, a physical education teacher at South Middle, says that DDR is a great way for the kids to get their exercise. He said, "I’ll tell you one thing: they don’t run in here like that for basketball."
Kids are getting fat in the US school system and officials are constantly trying to fight the "battle of the bulge" by coming up with new ways to combat the calories. Linda M. Carson, a professor at West Virginia in the Phys Ed School and mastermind behind the DDR school program, said, "I was in a mall walking by the arcade and I saw these kids playing D.D.R., and I was just stunned. There were all these kids dancing and sweating and actually standing in line and paying money to be physically active. And they were drinking water, not soda. It was a physical educator’s dream."
So, can Wii Sports be far behind?
[via New York Times]
