Contrary to popular belief, D&D is not something that is purely for a nerdy type of person, and in fact, is fast becoming one of the best methods to engage people of all different educational backgrounds, beliefs, identities, and so much more. This is why a D&D club is the perfect solution for schools to incorporate into their lunchtime or after-school activities. Here are some reasons schools should start a D&D Club.
The Subtle Ways It Can Improve Learning
It’s never going to be at the top of anybody’s priority list but as a D&D club in an educational setting should at least appear to contribute to the educational benefits of the students, D&D actually provides a number of amazing methods to improve a student’s learning capabilities, These include strategic, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, which can be applied in academics or extracurricular activities, but one of the more obvious aspects of the game is the math side of things:
Arithmetic
Anybody that is not used to adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing can throw away their phone calculator and start playing D&D, as subtracting the results of the damage from remaining HP forces people to start building up their mathematical prowess.
Algebra
If you need to figure out how much HP a particular monster has without looking at the Monster Manual, you may have already been using algebra without realizing it!
Calculus
Calculus may sound too educational, but attempting to remember the numbers on any chart is employing some basic form of calculus.
Geometry
D&D 5e employs some basic geometry. For example, if you need to discover the maximum amount of goblins you could slay with a single fireball, this is, fundamentally, a geometry problem!
The Immersive Experience
We are all spending more time on our phones, and D&D is a very primitive tonic to this as it is an immersive experience that can take your enjoyment to the next level. The fact that you are playing a character and need to think in terms of how that character moves and thinks is an amazing way for students to take their minds off the everyday problems that come with school.
School is a tough time for any teenager as it involves so many internal battles, but battling with your nemesis is a great way for anyone to immerse themselves in something that takes them away from real-world problems for a short time.
The great thing about D&D is that you can set the mood; you can gather in the library and play music or the DM can encourage players to describe characters, actions, and attacks in greater detail. These are only a couple of ways you can bring the game to life, but it is a perfect distraction tactic for children undergoing emotional problems, whether they are getting bullied or feeling overwhelmed in terms of their mental health.
The Emotional Benefits
So-called analog gaming has had a bad rap in recent years and has been taken over by digital games, but D&D and other tabletop games provide a number of amazing emotional benefits:
Collaboration
As D&D makes players work together and get along, despite their differences in character, this fosters subtle collaboration, helping people who do not necessarily have those skills in abundance to practice them.
Empathy
Growing up during high school years is tough, and it can force you to retreat into your own world, which may limit the potential for empathy. Empathy in D&D encourages you to see the world from other perspectives.
Interaction
D&D and similar games have had such a poor reputation in high school settings because the players were considered outcasts. While Stranger Things has done a lot to offset this, D&D might be better at improving the interaction between teammates than real-life sports.
This sport involves people fighting against a common enemy, and because D&D is a more organic, structured, and arguably, welcoming environment, it allows people to get to know each other on a far more personal level than sports. This can create far stronger friendships and bonds, not just throughout high school, but throughout life.
Meditation
It can also be an amazing way to help people become more mindful. It is a game that involves total immersion which, much like “meditative” sports like golf, helps people zone their focus. Gaming, in general, has been shown to be an effective type of meditation, all without sitting cross-legged, and this spilled over into D&D a few years ago, when the Gardens of Fog adventure was created to help people in the gaming community confront the personification of anxiety.
It’s a Safe Environment
One of the best reasons a school should start a D&D club is because it’s an amazing way to be yourself in a safe environment. D&D can do so much to build skills like teamwork, and implement planning and problem-solving capabilities, while also helping to explore different ideas, and being comfortable with certain structures and strategies, but as anyone who has been through high school will attest, it’s a time where we all feel like we could do with something to anchor onto to make us feel like everything’s going to be okay.
This immersive experience helps us learn new things about the world around us, but predominantly, it helps us learn about ourselves. When you go through your teenage years, struggling to get to grips with who you are, this can make you feel at odds with the world. Many schools are starting to focus more on well-being and catering to the individual rather than the crowds, and D&D is an amazing experience that will boost anybody’s sense of self. Being with your friends, rolling dice, and telling stories can, in part, help you to figure out who you are.
At FanRoll, we love to give people the tools to start a D&D Club, and we’ve got a range of dice and accessories to give you the foundations to set up your own D&D club in school.
