While children around the world spend most of their days in regular schools, cram schools, or personal tutor sessions, one company is removing books from the equation and replacing them with video game controllers.
Gemutore, a recently founded tutoring company based out of Japan, doesn't exactly care if their students become professional gamers or not. Its goal and mission as a company is something much deeper than that. The real goal of Gemutore is to sharpen students' minds and communication skills, through utilizing video games.
Though some may scoff or poke fun at video games and wonder how they could possibly have any benefit to children, Gemutore thinks otherwise. Through one-hour lessons taught in a team format that consists of one instructor and 2-3 students, Gemutore presents its services as a form of 'naraigoto,' a child development term used in Japanese culture to describe educational, skill acquisition-based activities.
Although some consider Gemutore's target market to be kids with dreams of becoming professional gamers, the tutoring company cites research showing that playing video games can actually help develop a child's mental proficiency in information processing, critical thinking, and decision-making. In fact, Gemutore considers video games to be no different than popular board game Shogi, a Japanese equivalent to chess.
With the steady increase in e-sports popularity around the world, many companies are looking to break into the industry in similar ways. However, Kazuki Obata, founder of Gemutore, wants his company to be a positive and supportive influence for children without the emotional pressure that is typically included in regular classroom settings. He even goes so far as to credit online video games with his own self-confidence and social connections over the years. In fact, Gemutore doesn't even boast that the company's instructors have extensive experience as participants and global e-sports tournaments, something which would prove to be beneficial for an e-sports company looking to increase their net worth.
Similar to how youth sports teams hold practices in Japan, Gemutore sessions are primarily held in the morning, via video or voice chat, with the intention of mentally stimulating the students before they continue with the rest of their day. The sessions are also only held on Saturdays or Sundays so as to not interfere with regular school schedules and activities. Gemutore also establishes social structure with their students to keep them from falling into patterns of staying up all night to play video games and sleeping all day, something which the company says has also been linked to emotional distress at a young age.
While the odds of children carrying over video game skills to their adult or professional lives or careers may be relatively slim, it appears as though Gemutore is more focused on honing in on children's abilities to concentrate and dedicate themselves to something at an early age and that is something that will undoubtedly have lasting benefits.
Source: SoraNews24