E-sports major is not a fix for kids addicted to video games

A young female player competes in an e-sports event in Taicang, Jiangsu province. E-sports are set for much bigger growth in China. [Photo by Ji Haixin / China Daily]

ELECTRONIC competitive sports and management is listed among 13 new majors for vocational colleges in China, and will be launched from 2017 under the category of sports and education, according to the Ministry of Education. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Friday:

Once a hateful enemy of many Chinese parents who considered electronic games a major distraction for their kids, e-sports are now something that their kids can study at college as a major. No doubt some will worry kids might choose this major just so they can feed their gaming addiction, while some might question its usefulness to a future career. However, the truth is, e-sports were officially recognized by the State General Administration of Sports as a sporting event as early as 2003. That said, listing e-sports as a major in vocational colleges should be in line with the increasing need for relevant talents, not recruiting or accommodating video game addicts.

Vocational education is demand-oriented, meaning that it is expected to recruit talents with certain skills that are needed. The e-sports industry has been growing dramatically in recent years with bigger rewards and various student competitions. That also explains why some colleges have introduced golf, equestrian, even wine majors in the past few years.

The root cause of many students' addiction to electronic games lies in the lack of proper guidance. Many parents see the internet as a scourge and forbid their children from using it. This, in turn, prompts kids to play hide-and-seek and spend more time playing online games elsewhere.

In reality, if they are given other options for post-class entertainment and parental guidance, teenagers can avoid becoming video game addicts. And colleges should also be given more freedom to launch new majors like e-sport, rather than simply following administrative orders.