Lycée Bel-Val

In an era where screens dominate young people's lives, Lycée Bel-Val has chosen a different path. With its LBV Game Lab project, the school provides a pedagogical and social alternative to digital dependency by creating an educational space centered on board games and modern role-playing games. This game laboratory embodies an innovative and inclusive educational approach designed to strengthen students' social, emotional, and cognitive skills.

We observed how screens could impact students' attention, well-being, and relationships. It was time to act, to propose another model of interaction and learning.

Gérard Kraus Lycée Bel-Val

A multidimensional project serving youth

Concretely, the LBV Game Lab takes the form of a furnished and equipped room where students and teachers can gather around intelligent and participatory games. The space doesn't just host players; it also offers a structured program, including:

Continuous training for teachers to use games as pedagogical tools.
Training of "student leaders", students trained to lead game sessions.
Creation of student clubs, driving the Lab's community dynamics.
Study of the social and psychological impacts of games from a reflective and scientific perspective.

The Game Lab is part of a vision of the school as a place of connection, awakening, and shared growth.

A direct response to a worrying observation

The idea stemmed from a very concrete observation: excessive use of smartphones and screens disrupts learning rhythms, diminishes concentration capacity, and weakens human interactions. Facing this reality, the teaching team wanted to propose an active digital detoxification: not through prohibition, but by reinventing shared pleasures away from screens.

Games, in their noblest form, teach, connect, and heal. They are a human and joyful response to very current societal challenges.

Gérard Kraus Lycée Bel-Val

A promising first year of implementation

The Game Lab room is now fully operational. Furniture, games, relaxation area—everything has been designed to promote conviviality and playful immersion. Colleagues have already experimented with the space, and an exchange group with a school in Cologne even organized an inter-school gaming session there.

To stimulate interest within the school community, a flyer was distributed in May, and awareness actions were integrated into the "Sustainable Week", in connection with a "cozy spaces" project for well-being at school.

The pivotal moment was undoubtedly the "Wantermaart" event, organized before the Christmas holidays, during which students, teachers, and parents could discover the Game Lab in action.

Seeing families play together, think, laugh, and learn—it's proof that this place is much more than a room: it's a catalyst for social connection.

Gérard Kraus Lycée Bel-Val

A space that promotes cross-disciplinary learning

Initial feedback confirms that the Game Lab offers much more than fun. It becomes a place where essential skills develop:

Collaboration and active listening
Initiative-taking
Problem-solving
Creativity
Emotional control and conflict management
Key skills that young people carry with them in their daily and future lives.

A long-term vision: learning together, without screens

The project's ambition doesn't stop at the school year. The LBV Game Lab aims to become a permanent part of the school's life, with regular activities, interdisciplinary openness, and integration into the high school's pedagogical practices.

"Learning through play, growing without screens” – this motto reflects a simple yet profound hope: that young people can develop in a healthy, stimulating, and meaningful environment.

We want to remind that education isn't doomed to be austere or monotonous. It can be lively, collaborative, and exciting. Modern games, far from being trivial, are a powerful lever for awakening, transmission, and empowerment.

Gérard Kraus Lycée Bel-Val