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DDR Coming To West Virginia Schools 184

Posted by Zonk from the mom-can-i-transfer? dept.
Next Generation is reporting that Konami is bringing Dance Dance Revolution to 765 state public schools in West Virginia. The move is intended to counteract the growing youth obesity problem facing the United States. From the article: "'Bringing the health benefits and enjoyment that DDR provides to school children is a great way to combat childhood obesity that is caused by the sedentary lifestyle of today's kids,' said Konami's Clara Gilbert, director of business partnerships. 'DDR has been a proven success in schools and this program with the State of West Virginia demonstrates the positive effects that can come from making DDR a part of one's daily routine. This first-of-its-kind partnership will help us continue to demonstrate the benefits of DDR to consumers around the country.'" On one hand, that's awesome. On the other, if I was still in middle school, I think DDRing in front of middle school girls would be a sure way to cause permanent psychic scarring. Update: 01/25 21:34 GMT by Z : HTML is hard. Fixed link.
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DDR Coming To West Virginia Schools More

DDR Coming To West Virginia Schools

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  • Link (Score:5, Informative)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@noSpAM.gmail.com> on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:00PM (#14559812) Journal
    The story [sfgate.com] if you want it.

  • Will the obese play? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by fishybell ( 516991 ) <.moc.liamtoh. .ta. .llebyhsif.> on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:01PM (#14559827) Homepage Journal
    What's stopping the "cool" kids (who are already active) from preventing the obese kids (mostly uncool due to aforementioned obesity) from playing?

    I say instead give a standalone DDR like machine to every obese kid. That way they can sweat to the oldies (or techno or whatever) in the comfort of their own home.

    • I play DDR sometimes at the local Peter Piper Pizza. I've seen some overweight kids going to town there. They were pretty good, too.

      I don't think it'll be a problem. Yeah, you move your body, but it's all about reacting quickly to stuff on the screen. I mean, basically, it's a videogame.

    • Re:Will the obese play? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mendaliv ( 898932 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:49PM (#14560452)
      I'm a college student weighing in at over 300lbs., and I also play DDR. I own my own pad and play on occasion, though not nearly as much as I used to.

      Honestly, if you gave each kid his own cheapo pad and SM... or even a PS2 and a pad, he won't play it. Before I started playing, I thought that DDR was some stupid game that losers with no life play (like I was one to talk).

      It took some peer pressure to start, and I sucked badly. It takes some time to get the coordination before it's more a matter of speed. Obese kids are going to get bored or frustrated by that point, especially in high school. I can't imagine the ridicule that'd be directed at the "dancing bear" in gym class.

      So what I'm getting at here is that these kids need a supportive environment to start playing in, much more than anything. DDR is most certainly not fun if you're new to it and uncoordinated.
    • What's stopping the "cool" kids (who are already active) from preventing the obese kids (mostly uncool due to aforementioned obesity) from playing?

      In other words, will the obese be ASHAMED of playing? i.e. if you have to go DDR, it's because YOU'RE FAT! (Insert nelson quote here)

      I think that what we'd need is to get more physical education classes and give those kids a healthy balanced diet.

      Hey yeah, why not having a "nutriology 101" course at the first semester? :) That'd dispel all those best-seller theor
      • It's definitely much less humiliating than being the last guy running around the track, because everyone's partaking in a pretty humiliating activity. This is coming from a multitude of experience. In fact, after four years of sitting on my fat ass, I'm taking a college PE class, and it's pretty damaging to the ego, even in an environment were people are pretty supportive.

        That said, I don't know if it's a great idea. In gym class you should be getting people exposed to team sports and outside on the field
    • Well, it was when Robert Byrd was Senate Majority (and Appropriations) Leader, but not any more. You've inadvertantly pointed out the primary problem with this program, though; it'll cost a lot of money to maintain unless you only provide very few machines, which in turn will cause crowding concerns. The state may be willing to spend that money, however, considering how massive (haha, I made a funny) the obesity problem is here.

      Rob

  • for christ sake (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ryanelm ( 787453 ) * on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:03PM (#14559856) Journal
    whatever happened to exercising without a $500 machine, it might make America's youth less of technology addicts (current company excluded, of course).
    • Do you ever listen to music while exercising? DDR is just that, taken to a whole new level. This is coming from a former couch potato who now competes in Heavy level DDR tournaments. I have enough stamina to play for hours at a stretch, sweat streaming down my body. The best part? I completely lose track of time when playing. It removes the work from exercise, and makes it fun. What's so wrong with that?

    • whatever happened to exercising without a $500 machine, it might make America's youth less of technology addicts (current company excluded, of course).

      I'll bite. I hated it.

      The reasons are varied. I had no stamina, so of course I would tend to get picked last. Running was (and still is) a disaster whenever I try; I don't think I ever ran a mile under 10:30. Of course, early in my education, times were directly linked to grades -- they wisened up about 6th grade, or 12 years ago for me. Physical educati

      • Plus, it is generally one size fits all. And, most of the time that means running. Which I was never very good at either, though not quite 10:30 bad. But, I had no problem with water sports. So, I got graded on how fast I can run, while heading to 1.5 hour swim practices every afternoon in high school.

        Actually, I have a little trouble with DDR now due to two things:

        1) Being out of shape and over weight.
        2) Too many years in water sports developing the wrong muscles for high impact actvity.

        Or, as I like to
      • Physical ability should be linked to PE grades. Do you think that those evil Nazi jocks should get an A in Algebra II just because they tried their best to solve a quadratic equation despite failing miserably? Just as they had a (presumably) natural aptitude to athletics that allowed them to do well in PE, we had a natural aptitude to various academic subjects (math, science, or whatever) that allowed us to do well in those classes. So why should only one group reap the rewards of its genetics? I hope i
    • Xbox = $150
      Game and pad bundle = $65 [gamestop.com] (or cheaper, if you shop around or don't get the brand new version)

      Even if you buy extra games and pads...I just don't see how that adds up to $500. Or even close to it.

      The arcade machine is well over the $500 mark, and I don't see most schools bothering to invest in the metal pads that would be much better for heavier usage.
  • On the other, if I was still in middle school, I think DDRing in front of middle school girls would be a sure way to cause permanent psychic scarring.

    They would visciously abuse you with the power of their MINDS. I've always suspected females were capable of this.

    Seriously, though, I think you're looking for the word "mental" there.

  • It is a surprising amount of fun... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Powder_Keg_Monkey ( 681792 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:04PM (#14559879)
    My brother bought two pads and DDR Extreme something something over Christmas, and we tried it out over the holidays. It is surprisingly addictive, and gets you sweating in no time. I hate going to the gym and shoving weights around, or spending a half hour pedalling to nowhere. For me, there is no reward in that. But with DDR, I don't notice at all that I have been jumping around for half an hour, and the game aspect in my particular version pushes me to get to the next level in complexity.
    • Alright...now venturing into widely the offtopic AC realm to comment on your sig.

      What about Bill Clinton?

    • "I hate going to the gym and shoving weights around, or spending a half hour pedalling to nowhere."

      So instead you play Simon with your feet?
      • Exactly! At speeds sometimes exceeding 300-bpm using muscles that support your entire body, driven by addictive music. Seriously, some of the harder songs I've played require 5 or 6 steps per second to pass them. You really have to have major stamina to play this game for more than a few minutes, and that's the whole point.
        • I'm sure it's a good workout. Just like weight lifting and riding a stationary bike are good workouts. I was just making the point that DDR can be just as ho-hum as the other two. It just depends on your perspective. Personally, I think DDR is ok, but I'd rather get aerobic exercise riding a stationary bike. Then again, I can read on a stationary bike. I hear that some people can't due to motion sickness reasons.
          • Wait... motion sickness on a stationary bike?

            I probably couldn't read on a stationary bike, as after playing an intense set of DDR for any period of time covers my entire body in a layer of sweat. Try turning a few pages with hands constantly dripping... not very pretty. ;)
            • Q: "Wait... motion sickness on a stationary bike?"
              A: I don't understand it too well as I don't get motion sickness as far as I've ever noticed. From what I understand, it's because your head is moving back and forth a bit while you are pedaling. Apparently some people who are susceptible to motion sickness cannot handle that while reading.

              Q: "Try turning a few pages with hands constantly dripping... not very pretty. ;)"
              A: "Wristbands" (They're also good for keeping sweat off your hands while lifting.)
    • I hate going to the gym and shoving weights around, or spending a half hour pedalling to nowhere. For me, there is no reward in that.

      But spending half an hour jumping to nowhere is ok?

  • The original article (Score:2, Informative)

    by bignickel ( 931486 )
    Here's the original article [next-gen.biz]. I wonder if Massachusetts will take up the case, but insist that Stepmania [stepmania.com] be used instead...

  • Great.... (Score:5, Funny)

    by MBraynard ( 653724 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:07PM (#14559914) Journal
    I suppose this will lead to DDR being a sport in WV like Soccer and wrestling - not quiet on the level of Football, track and basketball, but up there.

    Will you be able to 'letter' in DDR? Will there be state championships?

    Or will this be more like just a machine in the middle of cafeteria that no one will touch for fear of peers' redicule. I would have tried it back in the day because I had pretty much maxxed out the peer redicule I could get.

    OR will it be like racketball played against a gyms collapsed bleechers for two weeks during the required PE class?

    Of course, if the machine is not on free play and/or not well maintained.... I actually expect both. I'd be surprised if K didn't expect kids to dump their change into the machines like they do with the soda/snack machines next to them.

    • I suppose this will lead to DDR being a sport in WV like Soccer and wrestling...


      More in the, um, realm of figure skating, synchronized swimming, and that gymnastics thing with all the twirly flags on sticks.
    • You mean, kinda like this? [10kcommotion.com]
  • On the other, if I was still in middle school, I think DDRing in front of middle school girls would be a sure way to cause permanent [psychologically] scarring.Scarring for whom? Perhaps both?

    All kidding aside, I don't think it matters what middle-school-aged boys do in front of girls. They'll be embarrassed in any case. This is just a good way to burn a little energy and be entertained at the same time.

  • Back in the day.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@noSpAM.gmail.com> on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:08PM (#14559928) Journal
    There was this game we used to play what was it called?

    Oh, right, kickball.

    How much did it cost to play this?

    The cost of a ball or nothing if you had a butcher shop willing to give you an pig's stomach.

    Thank god West Virginia has been blessed with DDR. Were it not for this half a grand machine, they might go down in history as morbidly obese like their forefathers.

    What? Their forefathers weren't morbidly obese? You mean, it may be possible to have fun and excersize without some company cashing in off of you? Blasphemy!
    • I think their forefathers avoided morbid obesity more through working really, really hard all the livelong day, mining coal and farming rock and like that. Kickball was probably how they caught up on their sleep.
      • I think their forefathers avoided morbid obesity more through working really, really hard all the livelong day, mining coal and farming rock and like that.
        Child labor it is then! We'll solve both obesity and a lack of a sugar fed workforce in one fell swoop.

        Just mix those gradeschoolers in with the convicts on the chain gang ...
    • Kickball only works until about middle school. After that the kids are so strong that most of them are kicking homeruns(I wasn't one of them). Kickball, baseball, and softball are not very engaging sports, especialy when they are only played for about 40 minutes. Half the kids are sitting on the bench waiting to kick, and the other half are in the outfield waiting for the ball to come to them. With class sizes the way they were when I was in high school, there was even more waiting. Not much excercise going
    • The point here is to get kids to do aerobic exercise. Sitting on a bench waiting for your turn at the plate just doesn't get your heart pumping.
    • My regular workout includes DDR. It's fun and, on heavy mode at least, it is a rather good cardiovascular workout. It's also low-impact, and I don't have to go outside in the snow in order to play it. Just to make it more interesting, I often throw in pushups or crunchers between songs.

  • Too Lazy (Score:2, Informative)

    by CastrTroy ( 595695 )
    If the kids are too lazy to play real sports (soccer, football, baseball, general active play rather than watching tv) then what makes these people think that the kids won't be too lazy to play DDR? Also, you can be really thin, but if you're eating junk food all the time, then you're still going to be unhealthy. They are fighting the problem in the wrong way. They should be getting kids to do more real activities, rather than relying on expensive equipment to make them healthy.
    • I agree with your sentiment wholeheartedly, but I know that if I had an overweight child that either wanted to lose weight or had been told by a doctor that they should, I would try everything to help them.

      If that means exercising together, great. If it means buying a DDR game and a dance pad, that's great, too.

      I'd rather have a healthy child that got that way with a video game than an unhappy and unhealthy child.
    • News Flash, but DDR is a real sport, even if not recognized as one. Anything that regularly runs tournaments, and has participants playing so long and hard that they're glistening with sweat is more than a mere videogame. Most people who play also cite how addictive it is. I was too lazy to play "Real Sports" myself, yet I'm one of the better players in the DDR community, and that really takes years of practice.

      Any activity is better than sitting on your ass, so why not encourage it?
    • If the kids are too lazy to play real sports (soccer, football, baseball, general active play rather than watching tv) then what makes these people think that the kids won't be too lazy to play DDR?

      There are lots of reasons a person might not want or be able to play the team sports you listed, but still enjoy DDR. Most real sports require opponents and teammates, and they aren't always available. You can force this issue in a school, by making people play together, but that's not terrible fun if the peopl
    • Hmm... Soccer, football, baseball... I love how you listed all team sports... I'd have been hard pressed to find more than four people to play with growing up. That's some really simple soccer and football (I should know we did try both). Even at school it was hard to do unless forced. Even then little was ever done...

      & dear god a girl would ever have to play a sport in PE... They may break a nail or stub a toe...

      As it stands I see DDR being a better option since it requires fewer people and a girl may
      • I don't know about you, buy I never had a problem playing any of those sports with just two people, sometimes just by myself. When I was bored, I would often kick a soccer ball against a fence, or practice kicking or throwing a football, or throwing a baseball, or hitting baseballs by pitching them to myself. All these activities can be enjoyed alone or with one other person. The other person just does the running after the ball for you. Or the other person can act as the defender. There is no reason wh
        • Soccer is probably teh worst example. It's the sport I had the least exposure to as a kid (probably one of the few reasons I don't mind it nearly as much as others). Football, personally, was my dad's sport and I hated it... That's probably why I cna't imagine 'playing' it by myself, though we did try a couple times to do 4 person 'games' of it in my neighborhood. We found they were pretty uninteresting, especially when I can drag both the opposing players down the 'field'. I also can't hit a baseball to sa
    • It's not really laziness, it's boredom. Like it or not, DDR is a very valid way to get lots and lots of people exercising that otherwise wouldn't.

      And the equipment for two people to play simultaneously can be a PS1/PS2 ($20-$60 used, probably), a copy of one of the DDR games ($20), two dance pads (about $20 each on the cheap end). I daresay this is less than I spent on any of my team sports in terms of cleats, sneakers, uniforms, a baseball bat, a tennis racquet, sign-ups for a league... even weights, a bi
      • You don't have to join a league to play a sport. I don't know where people get this idea.
        • S'true, but in a lot of neighborhoods it's tough to find people to get together and play without some sort of league. Plunking down money makes them actually show up.

          Anyway, the main point was supposed to be that a working copy of DDR that can be used by two people simultaneously is about on par with what most people pay to play organized sports or work out. You're not shelling out extreme amounts of money for technogear any more than with a lot of other physical activities, and you don't see too many peop

  • DDR? 2/3 wrong letters (Score:4, Insightful)

    by dada21 ( 163177 ) * <adam.dada@gmail.com> on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:11PM (#14559977) Homepage Journal
    The proper role of education is RRR - Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. The idea that a school (a public one no less) should be enforcing diet or exercise or moral structure or anything other than a basic education is crazy.

    How about we stop funding these nutjobs who want to be parents to our children, no educators?

    • Re:DDR? 2/3 wrong letters (Score:4, Informative)

      by CaptainPinko ( 753849 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:22PM (#14560128)

      Well this is health education and I think if it can make a difference in people's lives its worth it. Frankly, I'm using it to get back into shape and am beginning to see results and lose weight.

      Also, if we take the 3Rs strictly that precludes the teaching of algebra (algebra being beyond the scope of arithmetic), computer science,and trade class, art class, geography or any other science, literary criticism... and just about anything else worth knowing.

      Frankly the only nutjob here is you.

      • Art class and history can be fun electives -- electives that are chosen by the student and paid for by the student. I don't see the need for a state funded 8-3pm education. Grammar/spelling/reading, mathematics (up to pre-algebra) and writing/typing are all I want to see the public system doing. Basic bare education, and let the parents fund the rest.

        I don't want to fund kids jumping up and down, that is the parent's job to make sure their child is healthy, not my job.
    • The proper role of education is to teach people how to think (not what, but how) and how to learn. It should also teach useful skills. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are only some of those skills. Basic health, including diet and exercise, are others.

      Morality is a hard one. The problem lies in figuring out what should be common to everyone and what should be left to the individual's family and culture.

      Most teachers don't want to be parents to their students; they want to be teachers. However, way too

      • Basic health, including diet and exercise, are others.

        So you want the same government that promoted the Food Pyramid death trap to teach your kids how to eat and exercise? Sorry, but I'm a pro-fat pro-protein anti-sugar anti-starch kind of guy, and I know that the teachers are teaching kids that bread is good, butter is bad. It is the other way around, friend, and you're going to poison your kids with that garbage.

        The problem lies in figuring out what should be common to everyone and what should be left t
        • I also wouldn't let my 2 year old be wandering around without me. I wouldn't let my 6 year old or 10 year old do so either. It is the parents' job to monitor their child completely until that child is a major,

          My wife was with him. I was at our table with my other son. She had no reason to expect some kid to just lash out and punch him as he was walking by.

          As for some of your other points...

          Another reason parents don't have time is because they both have to work to pay for all the things they think the

    • Like it or not, schools are effectivley daycares for children. Unless, of course, you plan on sitting with your children in each class. There's something to be said about home schooling here, but in its absence, yes, schools do provide "parenting" (in addition to education) for kids while mommy and daddy are working/etc.
  • Bringing the health benefits and enjoyment that DDR provides

    Health Benefits!? Seriously! Has society dropped that low. Whatever happened to PE class and casual sporting. Doctors should be to blame too for not telling their patients to lose weight miraculously solving many health problems without a pill.

    Less coddling more ass kicking!
    • Yes, health benefits. Can you maintain 90% of your max heart rate for a sustaned 4 hours or more? Without that pesky stitch in your side? Can you do this in a competitive environment? I can, thanks to DDR.

      The lower levels may be coddling, but you don't start out on the hardest step-patterns. Once you get there, and it's addictive enough to encourage advancement, it's seriously good exercise.
  • When I was in high school, we used to drink coke/pepsi/pop/soda whatever a lot and we never gained a lot of weight. I really believe that the switch to high fructose corn syrup is a big cause of obesity IMNSO (non-scientific opinion). Obese kids back then were few and far between unlike kids today. I don't really see what kids are doing today that was different in high school in the 80s. So diet may have changed but this country needs to make a stand on what they feed their kids.

    Perhaps, we should tell
    • umm.. unfortunately it is... obesity is a big problem in Canada. There are too many ppl here who would rather stay at home and watch TV rather than go outside. And the fact that its freakin cold all the time doesn't help too much either.
    • If you've seen Frontline's Diet Wars [pbs.org] a lot of it could be due to the "Low Fat" craze. Low fat foods are not low calorie foods. In fact, they're only a few cals different from the full-fat foods. The food makers make up with something else when they remove one ingredient. Low-fat could mean high sugar/carbs instead for instance. Full-fat salad dressing is healthier than low-fat, because veggie fats are good for you, etc.

      Dieting is actually all about restricting caloric intake instead which hasn't been t
      • Well, that depends... You are correct it is about calories. The way I look at it is this way though.

        1 tablespoon of fat (oil, butter, mayo, etc..) 100Cal
        1 oz dry pasta 100Cal
        1 slice of bread 100Cal
        1.5-2.5oz of meat (depending on animal) 100cal (40-70cal/oz)
        5-10 oz vegetables (depending on fiber content) 100Cal.

        The way I see it all diets that work control calories the differences are about making it easier to eat less calories. Atkins works because it easier to eat 800 calories of pasta, than a 12oz steak.
  • Look. I'm a father of two and soon to be three. I watch what they eat. I criticize and take an active role in their appearance, health and nutrition. I do this because somewhere in my past, my parents were like this and back in THEIR day, your children were viewed as an extension of yourself... and god forbid I ever embarass my parents by being fat or not being properly cared for.

    Perhaps fear of humiliation is not the best motivation, but it certainly worked for my parents and it works for me. I'm prou

  • Wow, it's not dead yet?! (Score:3, Funny)

    by uradu ( 10768 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @02:32PM (#14560253)
    Fifteen years after its demise, the East German communist state is infiltrating a US school system--talk about sneaky and resilient.
    • "Fifteen years after its demise"? Where have you been? The US school system has been the East German communist state for *years* now.

      Chris Mattern
    • Firstly, East Germany came to your computer as DDR-RAM, now we are in the US school system ... All Your Base Belong To Us!

      Seriously, the East German School system was one of the better ones. Actually, Finnland, which scores amongst the best in the PISA-Tests took a good look at East Gerrmany and learnt a lot.

      ... and besides, it is a common misconception that East Germany was communist - we called it socialist, and even that one might argue.
  • Only one person can be on a dancepad at a time. How many will be in each school?

  • My Highschool Has been doing this for a while .... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by neomage86 ( 690331 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @03:47PM (#14561069)
    I graduated from HS 3 years ago, and they had DDR and some kind of bike hooked up to a playstation for my Junior and Senior years (the HS is in a western suburb of Chicago).

    The thing is, that almost no one ever used them ...
    The kids who really wanted to get into shape used the weight room, treadmills, and other 'traditional' excercise machines and the kids who didn't want to get into shape weren't going to be fooled by such an obvious ploy.

    We were required to wear pulse monitors and our grade depended on our average bpm (I think something around 170+ was an A ...). They were easily 'hackable,' so the lazy kids just had them display the last person who got an A's statistics when the teacher came around to collect scores.

    No amount of technology is ever going to get people into shape who don't want to be. Working out, almost by definition, involves hard work. People who want to get in shape will manage to regardless of how few tools are available, and people who want to avoid it will always be able to do so (in fact, I think these high tech toys are easier to cheat with).
  • I have an image of an entire generation dancing like the DDR Asian kid in the "You Got Served" episode of South Park?

    The horror... The... Horror...

  • Well, about time! (Score:3, Funny)

    by pla ( 258480 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @04:48PM (#14561657) Journal
    DDR Coming To West Virginia Schools

    You mean those poor buggers still had machines running with PC133? Ouch!

  • Exercise and obesity (Score:4, Informative)

    by Budenny ( 888916 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @05:15PM (#14561900)
    Exercise will certainly do some good. However, the problem has come from the two great uncontrolled dietary experiments the US has undertaken in the last 50+ years.

    The first was the large scale introduction of vegetable oil, often hydrogenated, into the diet, to replace animal fats. There is not, and never was, any scientific basis for exposing mass populations to dietary elements which their evolutionary history could not have prepared them for.

    The second was the large scale move to a high carbohydrate diet. it was called low-fat. Low-fat sounds reasonable and uncontroversial. High carbohydrate, which is what it was, has neve been shown to improve the health of any population, and would have been very controversial if labelled as what it was.

    The results of the experiments are now coming in. The evidence is that the results are increases in heart disease and diabetes and obesity. The way to solve the problem would be partially exercise, but a more important step would be going back to the diet traditionally eaten around 1900, before the great increase in heart disease. This would be a diet fairly high in animal fats, generally eaten incidentally to eating meat and poultry or dairy products, and one with (complex rather than refined) carbohydrates accounting for a much smaller percentage of calories than today. We would eat grass fed meat, fish and eggs, with fresh vegetables and butter on them, and relatively coarse, though not whole grain, bread. Olive oil would be used in cooking and salad. There would be a total lack of polyunstaturated and hydrogentated vegetable oil, and little or no refined sugar.

    Exercise is fine, but exercise while eating faddish garbage is not going to solve the problem.
  • Like anything that pounds on your feet, watch out for shin splints. Always wear good supportive shoes when playing for extended periods of time. Don't use soft mats and bare feet.

    That is one bit of information that doesn't get passed around enough.

    Of course kids are less susceptable than us older folk, just be careful because shin splints take forever to heal (if ever). I actually built a hard DDR pad that would allow me to use shoes because I got shin splints after playing DDR for 6-8 hours a day for

  • Who needs consoles? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by OldManAndTheC++ ( 723450 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @05:54PM (#14562312)
    Why not just teach them real dancing [imdb.com]?

  • Stupid waste of money. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MaWeiTao ( 908546 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @09:34PM (#14563957)
    What an idiotic waste of money.

    Want to keep their weight down? Have students sweep and clean school grounds every morning like they do in much of Asia. This will have other benefits beyond just getting exercise, in the very least you'll save money and keep the school clean. Put them through a more rigorous exercise program than the useless nonsense that passes for gym class. Obviously the existing system has its problems if they continue having obesity problems, and a bunch of video games wont change this.

    How about teaching them dancing for real? It's a hell of a lot more effective than bouncing around like a fool on a giant pad and it will actually be useful outside of that game.

    Where the hell do they find the people who run these schools?

  • Dance Dance Revolution May Help Treat ADHD (Score:3, Interesting)

    by FleaPlus ( 6935 ) on Wednesday January 25, 2006 @11:26PM (#14564700) Journal
    (Some relevant info from a slashdot story I submitted a few months ago, which didn't make the cut)

    Besides the obvious exercise benefits [getupmove.com], it seems that the Dance Dance Revolution video game may also help out children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A recent study [gamesconference.org] in which sixth-graders with ADHD played DDR Disney Mix for an hour each week suggests that playing the game improved their focus and attention, although further studies are planned to get a better understanding of how it could help kids out.

  • First, the good...

    The intent is to address the growing problem of youth obesity.

    Now, the bad...

    The games, which will run on Microsoft Xboxes...

    Nothing like shoving more taxpayer money into Microsoft's coffers.

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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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