Meet the Raleigh teen who dropped out of school to play Guitar Hero
As you may remember, my eyes were recently opened to the joys of Guitar Hero. I don’t own the game, so I either have to urge my friends to invite me over to play or go to Fox and Hound on a Sunday night (which I have done … once and it was only slightly embarrassing to play on stage in front of the preppy patrons).
I would hardly consider myself an addict. I can’t even get through an entire song on hard. I have friends who I thought were pretty brilliant at the game, but none of them can even come close to the mastery of Raleigh teen Blake Peebles.
Blake counts himself among the top 10 Guitar Hero players in the world. He loves the game so much that he was able to work out a deal with his parents. He’s tutored at home now so he can spend more time playing video games. The News and Observer wrote an article about him.
Blake seems happy with his home school arrangement, as you would expect from a teenager who is allowed to stay up into the wee hours to play video games. Sometimes, when Mike heads to the gym before 5 a.m., his son is still playing video games. Blake calls it working “the late shift.”
He didn’t enjoy school, he says, and especially didn’t like the rules associated with attending the Christian academy. Shaggy hair is more his style.
He’s good at video games. “I wasn’t really good at anything else that I liked.”
I caught up with Blake during the Raleigh Wide Open celebration two weeks ago. He was playing Rock Band at the booth next to ours, so I pulled him aside for an interview.
Before you judge Blake or his parents for letting him drop out of school to be homeschooled, listen to what he has to say. And read the N&O article for more insight into how he’s doing.
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10 Responses to “Meet the Raleigh teen who dropped out of school to play Guitar Hero”
The kid seems intelligent enough and you have to applaud the parents for being “open minded”. But i find it hard to take the “I used to get b’s and c’s but now I get A’s” line without thinking, this kid is being taught either by his parents or a hired teacher. Neither of which I am convinced would be as objective in grading as a teacher in a public school.
By Gregory Ng on Sep 18, 2008
Wow…just wow. I like how he talks about having a “backup plan” in case his professional video game lifestyle doesn’t work out haha. I know there is real money to be made in that business but it just seems so odd to make you living that way. Maybe a job as a game tester is in his future if he can sit and play the same thing for 6 - 8 hours straight.
By Chris Hadley on Sep 18, 2008
@Gregory I was pretty impressed with Blake. As a former education reporter, I’ve interviewed my share of teenagers with attitudes. Blake was nice to chat with. He answered all my questions with thorough responses. Lots of teens just give you the: “yeah, xyz is cool. um, sure.” Not, Blake. And I like that he researched his plan and presented his findings to his parents in order to convince them maybe he would be better off homeschooled.
By ginny on Sep 18, 2008
He sounds like he’s doing fine and he has his parents support. So…I don’t have a problem with it really.
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By James on Sep 19, 2008
Wow. I’ve often said parents these days are way too slack and let their kids get away with just about anything, but this takes the cake. Good luck kid, you’re gonna need it. If I was a supervisor interviewing job applicants and I had one tell me he switched from public school to homeschooling to have more time to play this “Guitar hero” thing, I’d end that interview immediately.
By RaleighRob on Sep 19, 2008
Glad to see this posted! I have mixed views about the whole guitar hero thing, but hey, it seems to be working for him…
By Stacy on Sep 24, 2008
Call me crazy, as I’m sure some people will, but Blake has goals and dreams. That’s more than I can say for most teenagers these days. He’s got a shot at doing something he loves and I applaude him for it. He’s also getting an education. Yes, it’s different from the “norm”, but extraordinary people usually think out of the box and away from the norm, so again, I applaude him for pursuing his dream and his parents for supporting him.
By Jason on Sep 24, 2008
Unreal….This kids hands are faster than anything I have ever seen…He sounds like he has a Smart Head on his shoulders. I was just like him bored to death in school waiting for the slower kids to catch up. I’ve heard that he is famous all over the world now. Way to go Blake. Good Luck in the upcoming Tournament.
By Midkid2 on Sep 24, 2008
Choosing to homeschool your kids is not the same as letting them “drop out of school.”
By Valerie on Sep 28, 2008