How can a game where children fight each other to the death be harmless fun?
As online craze Fortnite takes over middle class homes, despairing mums ask:
LIKE many parents, Debby Penton allows her sons, Ben, 13, and Luke, ten, to play computer games — with much reluctance and strict time limits.
She also researches less violent options, so when one afternoon she heard Ben shouting at the television, she was concerned. Watching him gesticulating and snapping at the friend who was playing with him, she could instantly sense that Ben’s immersion in the game was too intense.
Debby, 45, from Surrey, says: ‘I noticed how, eyes glued to the screen, brow furrowed, he was really living the game — it was disturbing to watch. Then there was all the shouting and arguing which just isn’t like him. I unplugged it and he became so frustrated that I banned all electronics for a week.’
Welcome to Fortnite, the PlayStation, computer and XBox game which has taken the UK by storm. With more than 40 million players globally, connected to each other via the internet, there are thousands of schoolkids glued to it.
If you have children aged around ten, you will no doubt have heard the name. And perhaps, like Debby, you are starting to see a darker side to this seemingly innocuous game.
For the uninitiated, Fortnite: Battle Royale is an interactive game of survival where players create a superhero avatar and compete against each other on a dystopian island. Each game, or ‘match’ as each competition is known, starts with 100 players.
Inspired by the Hunger Games novels and films, children can play solo or team up with a friend — or a group of friends — to compete as a duo or squad, which adds a social element to the game and players can chat as they roam the island using headsets and microphones.
Hidden around the island are weapons including crossbows, rifles and grenade launchers, and players must arm themselves as they explore. The last survivors are the winners. Many parents were initially taken in by the cartoon-like graphics and seeming lack of bloodshed, believing it to be relatively child-friendly. All the same, if your character is shot, it crawls on the floor clutching its wounds, so there is certainly a macabre feel to it.
And some experts say that the fact no blood is shown may even desensitise young, impressionable players to the impact of such mindless violence.
Debby, who’s married to policeman Mark, 50, says the format of the game is designed to heap pressure on young players. She says: ‘They play with their friends, so they’re often shouting at each other not to let the “team” down. It’s a lot for an emotionally immature teenager to handle, there’s enough testosterone floating around anyway.’
These days parents are all too aware of the dangers of too much gaming — sleep issues, obesity and difficulty interacting with others. But the major concern with Fortnite is its apparently addictive nature, and the way it can affect a child’s behaviour.
ORDINARILY pleasant children are having furious tantrums or aggressive arguments when asked to stop playing. Some even demonstrate depressive behaviour. It is a creeping concern permeating many middle- class homes. A report on morning television a couple of weeks ago spoke to a mother saying that she felt she had lost her son to the game.
‘What you have to remember is that the metric for any online game, or indeed social media platform, is the “time spent” on it,’ says Dr Linda Papadopoulos, psychologist and Internet Matters Ambassador. ‘As such, these games are designed to make it hard to stop playing. Behavioural scientists are employed to ensure that the brain’s reward system is manipulated so that kids feel so excited and engaged that they just can’t stop playing. Do you really think a 12-year-old is going to win against a Silicon Valleyemployed behavioural scientist?’
And as such it’s more difficult for parents to impose time limits: ‘Companies know parents limit screen time,’ says Dr Papadopoulos. ‘They need to make their game the most compulsive, so that when kids are allowed to play, it’s their game which is chosen.’ She says it’s irrelevant that the game is ‘age appropriate’.
‘It still has the potential to become compulsive, so parents need to be on top of it, looking out for changes in kids’ behaviour, and balance how much game time they engage in with other social, physical, family and peers’ activities.’
Earlier this year, the World Health Organisation officially defined a condition known as Gaming Disorder. This, they say, is ‘characterised by impaired control over gaming, increasing priority given to gaming over other activities to the extent that gaming takes precedence over other interests and daily activities, and continuation or escalation of gaming despite the occurrence of negative consequences’.
It’s enough to send a chill down the spine of any parent, and especially those of us who feel duped by Fortnite’s relatively safe feel.
And it might not be a surprise to many that although some girls do play computer games, most are male focused.
Another source of irritation is that although Fortnite is free to download, children are lured by in-game purchases which boost their chances of winning.
Debby says: ‘I once let Ben buy a virtual outfit for the game called a “skin” — and he’s forever asking for more, but it soon adds up.’
Her main concern is the blurring of fantasy and reality: ‘You hear stories about crimes being committed after kids have been playing on violent games. This isn’t in that league, but it’s so vivid that I worry the real world is boring in comparison, and that’s why I’m imposing strict limits.’
Dr Papadopoulos agrees that the way some games blur the boundaries between real life and fantasy is a concern.
Not only is it a worry if reality becomes boring, but she reminds us that social norms are learnt from how we see and perceive things: ‘I wrote a report for the Home Office referencing the game Grand Theft Auto and the fact that you achieved game progression for beating up female sex workers, which is ludicrous.
‘Of course, not all children will react badly to violent games, and kids have played with toy guns since time immemorial, but if the message is to kill, and you aren’t discussing it with your child and getting them to consider it critically, there is concern that it may normalise anti-social behaviour.’
COMPANYowner Natasha Hassani, 39, is another who has become increasingly concerned about her son’s use of Fortnite. Like Debby, she says: ‘I originally thought this was a great game; it’s sociable, and at least I know what he’s up to. I can hear him when he’s playing which is better than him being slumped over an iPad.’
But then 11- year- old Sam became totally enthralled. ‘ His mood would really plummet when he was dragged off. From other mums I’ve heard of huge family arguments being triggered.
‘Nobody wants to ban it, as we recognise the social benefits — they’re interacting with friends and working as a team. And nobody wants their kid to be left out, but we’re all strictly policing the time spent at the screen.’
Spare a thought for teachers, who are subjected to the obsession day in, day out.
‘I’ve never seen anything like it in terms of addiction,’ says mother-of-three Julia Smithson, 42, who teaches at a school in London. She adds that although it doesn’t directly affect behaviour at school, it is affecting friendships and peer groups: ‘There is enough pressure on children as it is. Those who aren’t allowed to play Fortnite every day find they’re left out, as it’s all the others talk about.’
Unfortunately, Fortnite is ubiquitous. When American rapper Drake played it online a couple of weeks ago, more than 600,000 people viewed footage of him playing, and it has just launched iPad and iPhone versions.
Debby says: ‘It’s one thing to have it on in the middle of the house, where I can see what they’re up to. It’s quite another to be able to sneak off and play it anywhere.’
So what can parents do? ‘It’s unrealistic to suggest banning the game,’ says Dr Papadopoulos. ‘But it’s important that you talk to your child in a measured fashion about why playing too much isn’t a great idea, and that the morality might be a bit skewed.’
At least, she says, they can then learn to self-limit and hopefully appreciate that reality might be more fun after all.