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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mirth" data-source="post: 509281" data-attributes="member: 5242">I just thought that I would impart this tale for everyone's benefit. Sometimes it's good to hear a positive story about the subject <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />My high school years were from 1982-86, the heyday of D&D bashing. I was pretty much your prototypical social misfit back then. My saving grace in school was the Gamer's Club, for which I served as the President for two years. We had our club picture taken for the school yearbook, with descriptive remarks about the positive & creative aspects of the hobby right alongside. All we did in that club was play D&D, most afternoons and pretty much every weekend at each other's homes (if you've ever seen the D&D episode of Freaks & Geeks, you'd know what my life was like back then <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> ). Looking back, it seems almost inconceivable that we were able to pull that club off, especially given the time frame and that it was a predominantly redneck high school in North Carolina. I think that one of the key factors to our success and survival was that we had so many "popular" people in the club. The student body president, the head of the Key Club, the captain of the wrestling team, a prominent member of the football team, the head of the AFJROTC (that was me - ubergeek), were all members of the club. What amazes me also, was how many Saturday nights we would spend playing D&D, when I know those guys were blowing off some REALLY hot girls to be there. We just had such a good time with the game that it superceded everything else, I suppose.All of those guys became my best friends, we kept in touch and gamed all through college (one of them was my college roommate). Even now, at 34 years of age, most of us still keep in touch, although none of us game together anymore because we have all gotten married, had kids and/or moved to different areas of the country (or out of the country). I didn't know how good I had it then. We kept one campaign going for over 10 years - all four years of high school, all four years of college and a couple of years after that. It was simply spectacular. I wound up getting a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in English Lit. in large part because of that time in my life. I own a book and music store today, mostly driven by my passions that were born in that time.Trevalon, I truly wish you luck in your endeavor. I will go out on a limb here and say that if your application for a club is denied, then take it to the local media (TV, radio, newspaper, etc.). Heck, even get in touch with Wizards first. I'm sure they have PLENTY of experience dealing with this kind of situation. Perhaps they would be interested in talking to the media and dispelling some of the myths, misconceptions and drama that is associated with our hobby. Just make sure that you approach the situation with a level head and that you have the paperwork to back up your claims (including copies of the memo that you sent to your AP and any forms that she has written about the subject). If you want to draw a stark contrast, you could research how sports (another type of game, natch) like football, basketball, baseball, etc. can be proven to sometimes be addicitive and detrimental pasttimes for youths who are not ready to handle the rejection and competition involved. Yet no one at that school would argue that those groups be banned, I assure you.I wrote more here than I intended. I just feel that our hobby gets enough flak and if we don't stand up for it and inform the ignorant, then it's just going to continue being a bad situation. My son is 10 months old now, and I guarantee you that if he ever wants to start a club at school in the future and is denied by the administration, I will be the first person at the school door the next morning to demand reasons why. I've said enough, I guess.Jay</blockquote>

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