Should Minecraft be a Mandatory Class in School

Resolved: "Should Minecraft be a Mandatory Class. " Perhaps I should begin by positioning myself as an avid Minecraft player. I enjoy the game immensely. That said, I oppose the resolution for three main reasons. 1. Minecraft is Not a Class. There are many aspects to Minecraft. Some of them include: fighting mobs, building structures, engineering Redstone machines, and so forth. While I concede that Minecraft can be an educational tool, I argue that Minecraft cannot be considered a class because it lack a singular subject. What is a scholastic (school) class? Well, usually, it a informative environment where a teacher instructs his or her students. But a class is more than that. The teacher cannot teach his or her students anything that comes to mind, for that would be haphazard and educational. Imagine if a teacher talked about engineering for a minute, then switched to sexual behavior, and then again to something else. Wouldn't a student leave confused and unsure of what he/she has just "learned"? Thus, class must revolve around a singular topic, ex. music theory, algebra, culinary skills, etc. Without a confined focus, the class will generally fail because it will be unproductive and inefficient. 2. Minecraft Should Not be Mandatory in School. To say that many people like Minecraft would be an understatement. Since its founding, Minecraft has sold millions of copies on multiple platforms. Thus, millions of people either have enjoyed or are enjoying Minecraft. But what happens will a fun, relaxing pastime for leisure is transformed into a monotonous, tedious chore? Mandatory Minecraft! Instead of looking forward to playing it after school, student are forced to play it in an unenjoyable, stressful environment. Moreover, student are limited on what they can do in the classroom. No longer can they do what the game was intended for: exploration. Students must work on architecture, engineering, and other serious things; this is counterproductive because it ruins the creativity and fun of the game. Another consideration is what if some students hate Minecraft? What if others struggle to learn from video games or from electronics in general? The resolution if flawed because it must assume that all students will benefit from mandatory Minecraft even when that is factually impossible. Let students learn and play freely and separately! 3. Minecraft Does Not Need to Be Mandatory. In many schools already, Minecraft is used as an educational supplement. It has been helpful for those with special needs , for instance, who learn better from video game interaction. Furthermore there is a product available that provides an educational version of Minecraft for schools at a reduced cost: . http://minecraftedu.com... The point is that force is not necessary. Minecraft is already available and successful as a voluntary supplement. Making Minecraft mandatory would only reverse the game's praiseworthy progress. Despite Pro's good intentions, Minecraft would truly be better off as it currently is in schools. These are my three points of positive matter. Now, here comes my favorite part: refutation. 1. "Minecraft should be a mandatory class in school. " As aforementioned, what if some student hate Minecraft? It can hardly be expected that they would learn from the experience. Instead, I think it is more logical to say that they would complain and protest. This is a bad idea. 2. "Minecraft teaches city planning and creativity . . . . The possibilities are limitless. " I agree with you. That's why Minecraft is a valuable tool in and out of the classroom. But making it mandatory corrupts the purpose of the game: exploration. Schools would restrict what student could do on Minecraft and, thus, would render it homework. Let players explore for themselves! 3. "That is why Minecraft should be a mandatory class in school" This is a non sequitur fallacy. It does not follow that something should be forced simply because it is beneficial. For example, what if I said that broccoli is healthy and, therefore, everyone must eat it or else! What would happen? Well, for starters, everyone expect the broccoli farmers would hate broccoli! In the same way, Minecraft should not be mandatory because it has good things about it. If anything, Minecraft should be reserved for the free, unencumbered enjoyment for all gamers alike. With those refutations, I do conclude. I look forward to Round 2.