'But mom, video games are my job'

These days millions of young Americans are paying real money to watch other young people play video games

Kyle Giersdorf is 16 years old. He’s a junior at Pottsgrove High School, about half an hour from my home in suburban Philadelphia. In July, he won the first-ever Fortnite World Cup, earning $3 million.

As a family doctor, I often hear from parents about how their kids push back at any attempt to limit how much time they spend playing video games. The parents will say, it’s after midnight, maybe it’s time to turn off the video game and get some sleep. But the kid — usually a teenage boy — responds that he wants to be a professional gamer.