Parents let 16 year old drop out to play Guitar Hero full time...

I don't like passing judgment on how other parents raise their kids, but it really is a very long shot that this kid could actually make a living playing Guitar Hero. Also, at his age, it is possible that he could grow tired of it, lose interest and give it up. I'm not so sure that this warrants dropping out of school. In the long run, an education is the best way to a better life and even with a tutor, there is no guarantee that he will get his high school diploma. For his sake, I hope it all works out, but I hope his parents didn't make the mistake of allowing him to drop out of school for the wrong reasons.

I hated high school, and when I turned 16 my Dad told me that every day I go to school is a day I choose to go to school (i.e., he would no longer force me). At sixteen, you are allowed to drop out. I continued because I wanted to go to college, but thats it, I had no other use for it. This kid is sixteen! Maybe he wanted to drop out, and this is the parents' compromise? Maybe I'm being naive, maybe all this is terrible parenting and pushing a kid into a fruitless career, but at least its not what those awful stage moms do to their six year old girls in beauty pagents. This is a totally silly situation, but to each his own!

I just heard about this too. This is just ridiculous! How could parents let their 16 year old child drop out of school for a video game? I mean, I want my children to go to college, but this kid doesn't even have a high school diploma! I hope these parents are ready to support their son for probably the rest of his life. This is not setting a good example for him or a strong work ethic or stressing the importance of a good education! I would not let my kids do such a thing. Tutor or not it is insane! Here is a link to the story: http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/101746 Have a great day and happy myLotting!!!

WoW!lol Thats pretty coool. know alot of you might not think so. BUT he is still getting his education and infact! doing alot better in his school work now then he was in a regular school. But since his parent let him do this it could possibly open alot of doors for him. Ive never played guitar hero so i am not sure but isnt it like using a regular guitar to play the notes in diffrent songs?. if he plays well enough in these tournaments. he may be noticed! for his awesomeness at the guitar:) who knows. hes able to do what he loves and he is getting that education. and since hes doing better in this tutoring then in regular school who knows he may just get a better education by his parents making this decision then he would have had they of said no and kept him in a regular school.

Perhaps crazy, perhaps not. The article said he was struggling in school - with school work and with social issues. Home schooling with a tutor will help the academic part. And if he does qualify for tournments, that will help with some social skills - at least with other gamers. How different is this than letting him go to work in fast food? At least he'll be doing something he enjoys. And with private educational instruction, he might actually begin to enjoy learning and find his passion and go on to college. What we tend to forget is that every one of us are different. Kids learn in different ways, but public schools try to make our kids and grandkids into cookie-cutter copies of each other. It often doesn't work. I commend these parents for looking out for their son.

I think that is really crazy that his parents allowed him to drop out of school to play guitar hero full time. I would at least make him finish school first and graduate, then if that was still his dream then, he can go for it. I just wouldn't do that even if he did had a tutor.

Well, it sounds as though these parents support his decision to travel to the tournaments and they must see some kind of potential of him doing well in these. I think that it is fine that they took him out of school and are going to hire a tutor. Child actors,etc. do it all the time and no one sees a problem with it.Why should this be different? This is a "sport" of sorts.

Man, that does sound wierd, but maybe with the tutor then the parents can say, if you are not getting good grades you can't play. There are places that pay out big time for winning in tournaments. I say good luck to him and his family. Some kids learn better with one on one teaching.

Well, I think that's insane, but at least he is still studying. Not sure where this is, but in some states, including NJ (at least when I was in school), a kid can legally drop out of school at 16. So at least he is still learning. Not sure I would support any child of mine choosing to do that though.

I admire the parents who does that. Supporting what their son really like, they even make adjustments to have a personal tutor so he won't be neglecting his academics. Kudos to his parents!

Oh my my, Blake's parents sure did screw his future. Guitar hero is a great game, but it can lose it's popularity very quickly. Lets hope his parents are prepared at least to support this guy for a loooong time.

I can understand letting you kid play the game but letting him drop out of school thats crazy talk i mean come i don't even know how to respond to this discussion this is the craziest one that i have seen so far i don't know what the boys parents were thinking about when they let him do that.

its good if he likes something and enjoys playing it, but your education must coem first before anything. your educatio is the key to life, which decides what type of job you get. he has a tutor, which is better then nothing, but he must consider his choices. say he goes to a guitar hero tournment, and he just cant win. he isnt making the money he planned on. without the education he would have had, where will he get money from? he will end up with HUGE problems, and possible go bankrupt.

What kind of parents would let their child drop out of school to play guitar hero???!!! What if the kid is terrible at it and the parents don't want to tell him and he just continues through life playing a fake guitar and in maybe 3yrs nobody plays guitar hero anymore and there are no more tourney's to enter what would he do??

Someone please call coincidence control. My son was watching an old episode of South Park where Kyle and Stan were really into playing Guitar Hero. The both broke 100,000 points and this agent pops up out of no where to sign them both up to a contract to play Guitar Hero. What the cliche about life and art? DCMerkle

my kind of parents. lol! well, they did get a tutor for the kid and he is doing better now than when he was at school. i think this is somethign guitar hero made up for added publicity. just my thoughts. blake, i'm going to be cheering for you in the guitar hero tournaments man. and if our paths will cross in the contest, i'll gladly hang up my guitar and let you win on the account that your parents gave in to your wish of playing guitar hero fulltime. hard to see three hearts broken all at the same time. lol! cheers!!!

Hmm...really supportive parents I'd say, but it's wrong I think. "What do you do for a living?" Answer: "play Guitar Hero." That's not even a job...unless you're one of the game developers or something. It's quite all right that they still think of his education by having a tutor but there are certain things that can only be learned at school just like socializing with peers. If I were a parent, I wouldn't want my child to be confined at home and not having contact with the outside of the world. And of course, college education is very invaluable.

is that really cray ??

At least he got a tutor for his schooling, and if you can make money off of winning tournaments then I guess more power to him. It is the parents choice to let him drop out but at least they are keeping up with his education.Guitar Hero is rather hard to play once you start getting up into the medium and then expert levels, I could never win it.

As much as I love Guitar Hero, I would never drop out of school to play it. Its a cool game, but it gets boring after a while and this kid must be really talented and skilled to convince his parents to let him drop out of school.