As a parent and teacher, I am concerned about the growing spread, acceptance and addictive effect of the video survival game – ‘Fornite’, on our children.
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As carers we need to be super vigilant about the material our children are accessing online, playing and talking about, and that they are okay. If not, we need to stop it and not endorse it in anyway.
My son was bullied at primary school because he did not know about this game or how to play it and was excluded from playing a simulated game outdoors at lunchtime because he was not ‘in’ on this.
Furthermore, his whole class were talking about it, and accepting this as normal afterschool activity and so were students in my high school classes.
In my ignorance and non-knowledge of the game, I let my son download this game, thinking that this was the newest Minecraft craze and that if everyone else was doing it, that it must be okay.
On the weekend I discovered the addictive effects of this game on my son’s mental health and saw firsthand what this game is really about.
While the game encourages team work and communication with others, it is also a high adrenaline action game, where kids race and fight against others for their survival, to be the last one standing (similar to the Hunger Games) and choose their choice of guns to kill their opponents.
Yes, they can build walls, buildings and barriers, and even choose decorative skins and outfits to wear. But make no mistake about it; it is violent. And violence towards others is NOT okay.
The addictive nature if the game, means that you build points each mission, and can buy new materials and equipment, and progress in the queue and ranking to be number one or in the top 10. The adrenaline and excitement are addictive, and when I asked my son to stop, he picked up a chair and threw it at me.
My message is clear – please check and be super vigilant about what your children are playing, because it is up to us, our community to end this together.
Vicki Martin
Port Macquarie