Life
While schools are closing young Japanese students host fun virtual Minecraft graduation
Even the coronavirus can't stop these kids having fun
Khadija Bilal
03.26.20

The coronavirus crisis is affecting people all over the world in many different ways. It poses a very real threat to the health and safety of countless individuals, and governments have been taking drastic measures to combat the spread of the virus and attempt to save lives.

One common measure, introduced in many countries around the world, is the closure of schools.

Japan is just one of the countries to enforce a full school closure, meaning that many kids are sitting at home and won’t be seeing their school friends or teachers for several more weeks or months. This means that they may miss out on their graduation ceremonies, so one group of elementary school kids decided to stage their very own ceremony in a unique and totally safe way!

The group of young students decided to build their own auditorium in the video game, Minecraft. For anyone who isn’t familiar with the game, Minecraft is a virtual world essentially filled with building blocks, letting players construct their own houses, castles, cities, and more.

These kids are clearly pretty good at the game, as they managed to make an amazing auditorium, complete with chairs, flowers, and decorations of all kinds.

Then, at the scheduled time, they all logged into the game and carried out a fully virtual graduation ceremony!

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

They recorded a whole in-game video of the graduation, showing the students walking into the grand hall and taking their seats, before being called up, one by one, and handed their diplomas.

The whole thing was really cleverly done, and it’s quite inspiring to see how the kids resourcefully used different in-game items and systems to make the graduation ceremony feel real and authentic.

Even if they might be missing out on quite a lot of education at the moment, it’s great to see that they’re using some of their free time in a way that lets them be creative.

backyennew
Source:
backyennew

The kids themselves seemed to be having a lot of fun during the ceremony too, showing that even at a difficult time for people around the world, we can still find joy and positivity in the simplest of things.

And that was the message that one of the boy’s fathers hoped to spread when he shared some videos of the whole thing online.

The dad in question hoped that the videos could be some “bright news that shines in a gloomy social situation”, as well as being able to “open up the way games are perceived”.

YouTube Screenshot
Source:
YouTube Screenshot

It’s true that video games can sometimes get a bad rap for being violent or taking up too much of kids’ time in ways that aren’t really educational or productive, but this example shows that some fun and games can be essential, especially in difficult moments.

These kids spent the day playing together, laughing, and forgetting about the troubles in the world as they learned to work together, construct something beautiful, and celebrate a special moment in their lives. And we certainly can’t see anything wrong with that!

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