SPECIAL REPORT: Online Game Fortnite

The current craze sweeping the nation, is an online game called ‘Fortnite: Battle Royale’. Unfortunately, this highly addictive game is impacting negatively on the behaviour of adolescent kids everywhere. Despite it being inappropriate for primary aged children, there are still many kids in this age group battling online and teachers are reporting changes in classroom behaviour.

It has been described as a “gruesome, Hunger Games-like video game” which, as of June 2018, had 125 million registered players worldwide. In the game, up to 100 players battle each other in a savage fight to the death using weapons such as rocket launchers, grenades, assault rifles, cross-bows, pickaxes and shotguns. Disturbingly, many players post their “top 10 kills of the week” on YouTube which get hundreds of thousands of views!

Increasing evidence of young players suffering psychological distress as a result of gaming is of great concern to parents. We hope this special report will prompt parents to reassess gaming allowances and better manage technology usage at home.

 

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