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'Fortnite' May be a Virtual Game, But It's Having Real-life, Dangerous Effects (bostonglobe.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: "They are not sleeping. They are not going to school. They are dropping out of social activities. A lot of kids have stopped playing sports so they can do this." Michael Rich, a pediatrician and director of the Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders at Boston Children's Hospital, was talking about the impact "Fortnite: Battle Royale" -- a cartoonish multiplayer shooter game -- is having on kids, mainly boys, some still in grade school. "We have one kid who destroyed the family car because he thought his parents had locked his device inside," Rich said. "He took a hammer to the windshield."
A year and a half since the game's release, Rich's account is just one of many that describe an obsession so intense that kids are seeing doctors and therapists to break the game's grip, in some cases losing so much weight -- because they refuse to stop playing to eat -- that doctors initially think they're wasting away from a physical disease. The stress on families has become so severe that parents are going to couples' counselors, fighting over who's to blame for allowing "Fortnite" into the house in the first place and how to rein in a situation that's grown out of control. Further reading: 'Fortnite' Creator Sees Epic Games Becoming as Big as Facebook, Google.
A year and a half since the game's release, Rich's account is just one of many that describe an obsession so intense that kids are seeing doctors and therapists to break the game's grip, in some cases losing so much weight -- because they refuse to stop playing to eat -- that doctors initially think they're wasting away from a physical disease. The stress on families has become so severe that parents are going to couples' counselors, fighting over who's to blame for allowing "Fortnite" into the house in the first place and how to rein in a situation that's grown out of control. Further reading: 'Fortnite' Creator Sees Epic Games Becoming as Big as Facebook, Google.
A "vidogames are bad" story presented uncritically on Slashdot? My how we've fallen from a nerd-centric site. Jack Thompson would be proud of what Slashdot has become.
Err, high-UID Slashdotters do know who Jack Thompson is, right? Get off my lawn!
Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
It could be worse, they could be playing D&D and listening heavy metal.
"We have one kid who destroyed the family car because he thought his parents had locked his device inside," Rich said. "He took a hammer to the windshield."
Who finds out about that and then thinks its a video game issue.
Seems to me the parents suck ass.
Although, video games to have an impact on people, and to thing there is no effect, especially to a developing mind, would be foolish.
But this? this is bad parenting. Should have had his system removed from him a lot sooner.
Give him so old laptop that can't run it.
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Get real, folks. Breaking the windshield doesn't destroy the car; it's still completely drivable, it just needs the windshield replaced.
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In my day we had Everquest to ruin our lives.
I will say as a parent that it's very difficult to allow Fortnite as a "sometimes" thing.
The kids themselves have zero self control, there is no self-management of game play. You're literally yelling at them to quit.
You can prevent them from playing at all, but you wind up with the ironic situation where the kids who they used to do stuff with in meat space aren't available because they're playing Fortnite.
The best we've been able to manage (short of a total, permanent ban) is making play contingent on grades and barring it on school nights. You get all As and Bs in school, you can play on weekends or when there's no school. My kid lost it for a month when his grades slipped, and there was constant angling for exceptions or complaining about how unfair it was.
The other strategy we haven't tried is trying to organize a multi-family Fortnite "holiday" where no kid can play. There's multiple challenges here, from the fact that 8th grade boys have a very amorphous and weak social circle in real life to other parents refusing to go along with it for various reasons -- "my kid doesn't have a problem", parents you don't know, and some percentage of parents who see Fortnite as the greatest babysitter ever.
Posting AC for obvious reasons.
My parents attempted similar approach when I was teenager and was playing too much games. This decision nearly ruined my life, as when I went to university and there was no longer oversight I went off the deep end. Nearly failed out and it took me extra year to finish my degree.
Now I am in my mid 30s, have family, kids, and a well-paying job. I still play computer games, sometimes with my spouse, sometimes with kids. With everything else I do manage at least 5 hours of gaming a week, often more. I still pull all-nighters and book vacation from work when exiting new game releases.
The issue with your approach is that for your kids games are better than almost anything else available. All you are doing is withholding something very desirable. Instead you should try unrestricted game play one summer, once they waste entire summer playing games, with cutting into sleep and hygiene, there will be internal realization that some balance is needed. From there, it will be possible to find balance without constant external oversight.