Deputy principal turns gamer to gain pupils’ view of Fortnite
A deputy principal who played video games over the holidays to understand her pupils found herself regretting killing people in the digital world.
Pupils’ eyes are fixed to their screens from when they go to bed to when they come to school because of a particular game parents dread to hear about.
Fortnite is one of Mangawhai Beach School’s greatest causes of anxiety for its students so deputy principal Emma Grieve went online herself to walk in her pupils shoes.
However, a short time after playing the game Grieve began to think about the digital murders she had committed and the effect it had on the player killed.
“I soon found myself wondering as I axed someone to death and watched them simply disappear what impact that would have on them, have they lost yet again?”
Fortnite is a multiplayer online game in which players can choose to team up with friends or go it alone against 99 other people until there is one person or team left standing.
The game is free to play but cosmetic items like costumes and
Pupils are ganging up . . . and targeting the same child over and over.
Emma Grieve
weapon skins are purchased via inapp purchases ranging from $7 to $99.
She had concerns that some vulnerable players were susceptible to bullying in the game as some people would target them over and over again.
“The division between those that play and those that don’t, the anxiety as pupils are ganging up on the game and targeting the same child over and over again.
“The tiredness of pupils as they game until the early hours of the morning — unbeknownst to their parents much of the time.”
She said the game was better than some other titles pupils at the school were known to play.
Call of Duty was a very popular game with students, a game restricted to players over 16, which emulated a war-time environment with blood and gore.
“Fortnite has a lack of blood and gore and has a simpler cartoon quality,” she said.
University of Waikato’s Dr Gareth Schott, who has studied gaming for 15 years, said although Fortnite wasn’t overly violent, children who played the game with strangers could be exposed to other inappropriate content.
“You can [listen to] other people’s commentary so children playing it might be exposed to strong language as a result of that.”