Hey people - relax. All of our children's brains are not going to rot. Only about 10% of teenagers play Fortnite once a day or more. Only about 20% play more than once a week. There is no addiction epidemic here. Those who are prone to addiction get addicted - to one thing or another.
See survey by Common Sense Media for the statistics quoted above:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/research/quarterly-survey-series
6
As the author points out todays children are exposed to lots of media which can influence behavior. If they watch violence on Youtube they become inured to it and might imitate the violence in real life. I never heard of Fortnite before reading this article so I can't comment on whether or not it espouses violence or socialization as the author claims.
I do know that when my daughters were young they watched the two little brats on Full House and imitated the bratty behavior afterwards. I found something else for them to do and any subsequent bratty behavior was their own, not an imitation of something they learned from T.V.
3
I would feel better about listening to your advice if you first raised that son through the teenage years, watched his early adulthood, observed his own abilities as a member of society and perhaps as a parent, and then got back to us. You have no idea what all this means to his ultimate development.
8
Maybe these games hit harder when you have first hand experience of warfare, like Harry?
11
I am not at all sure why I should care about either Jennifer Senior's or Prince Harry's opinions about Fornite Royale Battle or why a whole column on the front page of the paper that used to advertise itself as Alll the News that is Fit to Print is featuring it at all.
3
The game sounds fine for children and maybe young teens. I am sure the Republic can survive. But grown men, 18 ? Come on, guys. Get a life.
5
I would like the entertainment industry to take a 10-year hiatus from gratuitous violence, especially firearms. Monkey see, monkey do.
2
If you know anyone who works in the upper ranks of Silicon Valley, you know they won’t let their own kids touch any of this stuff. That should be all you need to know.
43
Fortnight is trash, basically another form of pornography that reduces real, caring human beings into impersonal objects that you kill or maim. Third person shooter games are BAD for your kids. I am a child clinical psychologist. I regularly see kids that are obsessed with shooting animated people on screen. They form strong habits. These habits are not conducive to real relationships. They are destructive and generalize in subtle ways to how they treat others. Those from earlier generations may remember all the research that analyzed the relationship between on-screen violence - ie. television - and aggression. The research was clear even though the media industry did everything possible to make it go away: children who watch aggressive, violent TV became more aggressive over time. The correlation between the two was solid. Now our society has taken that relationship to another level. Do you think it is insignificant that our society is so full of hatred at this particular time? The author of this article is just justifying her own irresponsibility as a parent. I recommend not allowing third person shooter games like Fortnight or Call of Duty into your home.
36
"It’s Facebook for a new generation of adults — and tweens, like my son." Anything else you might have said in defense of the game stops right here -- or do you not read your own paper's coverage of that particularly corporate "citizen?"
2
This is a surprising and disappointing column from someone who, like me, has an 11 year old Fortnite addict for a son.
The author is remarkably blase' about the ridiculous extent to which Epic Games is engaging in social engineering. The near miss effect she describes is but one such way they are attacking, and attracting, their user base.
The whole game is set up to be addictive--so called "growth hacking" tactics. It's bad enough that we as adults are exposed to this but it's downright criminal when applied to children.
I used to think the dances like the Floss were funny; I only much later realized this is part of the social engineering.
Fortnite is a nasty game. I banned it for a while in my house, but it always makes a comeback.
I am really disappointed to see that this author is such an apologist for this addictive, nasty game.
11
Just think of the benefits of “socializing” without discussing politics or religion!
1
“Think of it as a rowdy block party...”
Where you shoot everyone.
Sorry, not good.
At least steer your kids to Minecraft.
8
Keep Fortnite
Chess is also a "pointless" game.
What are you missing, Ms. Senior??????
Bravo, Prince Harry!
3
So you're encouraging your 11 year old to virtually slaughter others on a daily basis? I agree with Harry - it's pretty unhealthy, not least because its more time in the day spent on sitting (the new smoking).
I know I'm a judgemental Luddite (I have an 11 year old too) but I honestly think it's bad parenting to allow this.
7
Violence. Competition. Winning.
You think this is good for your child?
This column reads like a paid advertisement.
But instead of Fortnite paying ,and thus helping subsidize quality journalism, its 0.1% owners are laughing all the way to their online casino bank, while our youth, their education, and our civic society pay through the nose for this needless, senseless and destructive gratuitous violence and screen addiction.
5
Why is it important whether Prince Harry is in favor of this or not?
1
Unless I am very much mistaken "laying waste to everyone in sight" means killing virtual avatars, doesn't it? With or without much gore, how is this a good thing and when did virtual "murder" on a mass scale become recreational diversion? For children, no less.
6
March on, Harry! My middle school students are obsessed with this game. I overhear conversations about "my first kill" and what kind of gun they used. Horrible! In my art classroom, now, I don't allow any such talk.
7
Dear Ms. Senior,
With all due respect, what precisely is your training in the area of media effects?
Here’s what 15+ of the world’s most eminent authorities on media effects have to say on the subject of violent video games.
https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/140/Supplement_2/S142
“Consistent with every major science organization review, the Workgroup found compelling evidence of short-term harmful effects, as well as evidence of long-term harmful effects. The vast majority of laboratory-based experimental studies have revealed that violent media exposure causes increased aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, physiologic arousal, hostile appraisals, aggressive behavior, and desensitization to violence and decreases prosocial behavior (eg, helping others) and empathy.”
Best wishes,
Alex
9
From what I've read, these games stimulate the production of dopamine in our children's brains, opening the pathway to some forms of addiction both now and in later life. I know it's difficult to resist a child's plea to participate in what their friends are all doing, but if you hear educators and trained psychologists alerting you to this and other dangers why would you take the chance that your child might be harmed?
Gather other parents together, learn what professionals in child development are saying, then collectively decide what good parenting requires you all to do. Don't leave these decisions up to your kids and the people who only care about making money off of them. Make the effort, do what's right; there are more important things than being a cool or easy going mom or dad.
7
Just like many drugs are illegal and alcohol and tobacco are available only to adults possibly Fortnite should at least be off limits to children as their minds are still forming.
Personally I think limiting "screen time" for all people would be productive. Impossible to do of course but it would have positive outcomes.
Just a thought.
4
We did not have a mass shooting epidemic fifty years ago. Access to guns has not changed. The suicide rate is going up. And we are told that guns have become more aggressive and decided to start mass shootings and killing us.
3
@3Rs Access to guns is way easier today than 50 years ago!
1
I teach young adults and the number one challenge these young people have to successful in their studies is video games and social media. You have no idea how hard they have to battle the addiction. They are constantly checking their phones, hiding from the teacher, cannot focus. Imagination, dying. Critical thinking, dying. Creativity, dying. What are we doing to our children? And parents expect teachers to pick up for their slack. A Greek tragedy.
8
Only time will tell for sure if video games and social media are good for society or not. I am of the opinion that we should proceed with caution, especially with regards to children. In the real world (not the virtual world), interactions with other human beings is critical. Team work is hard in the real world, and keeping kids away from the real world when they are so young is not going to help (my intuition). When the child in this story says “I am going to meet my friends” when playing video games he has no idea what real friendship is or means. It is so hard to have one or two real good friends in life, and he thinks he has hundreds. Video games and social media should be used to enhanced our life not to become our life. Video games as entertainment when you have absolutely nothing else to do and social media to keep in contact with your family and friends who moved to a different city or country. But there are strong economic interests behind these industries. Like the tobacco industry in the past highlighting how chic it was to smoke while getting people addicted and literally killing them. They killed the body, but these new companies are killing the mind and the spirit.
1
@3Rs I think time has already told us. Excessive use of video games or social media is harmful. Can you ever imagine 50 years ago children coming to the table to eat a meal with their faces in a phone? Even bookworms were made to put the book down for the family meal. Family meal? What's that?
2
I'm not a parent, so I suppose I many will feel I shouldn't speak on this topic, but I do wonder why the majority of video games seem to involve domination, violence, brutality, and murder. Is it wise to let children be involved with all that mayhem? Is there any lasting damage done by being immersed in such cruelty, even if it is pretend?
2
"....what’s happening inside the room.” This is always the most important part of any multi-player virtual reality. The players who stay with 'the game' always focus on the interpersonal relationships and team work. Go for the game, stay for the people who are behind the avatars in the room.
1
The author professes to be an expert in Child Psychology as a result of having children and being an author of a book on parenting. Fortnite is anything but benign and the dangerous rationalizations of the author are far too ubiquitous amongst parents and educators alike. My child was addicted to Fortnite despite significant restrictions on his access. He did get in some trouble from his addiction to technology which was insidious and unbeknownst to myself and my wife. His teenage peers still play hours per night while my son has no access to games nor social media....with the School showing little if any leadership. My son is now excelling in sports, music, languages and life and his social interactions are actually meeting and connecting with his friends....just like the old days. My wife and I, both with doctorate degrees in science, have done much reading and attended many lectures on this subject. A child’s or teenager’s brain is not equipped to deal with the ravages of fortnite nor other games and social media. The games impede the structural and intellectual development of a young brain. The author is intellectually dishonest to suggest that she has the expertise to applaud and embrace her son playing fortnite without having done her own homework on the potential consequences. As a scientist I suggest the NYT has a neuroscientist with the knowledge and expertise on this subject to opine. One’s opinion is never equivalent to facts....
56
@Concerned I couldn't agree more. I would like to see more op-eds in general from people with actual expertise on the subject about which they are writing. We are dumbing down our society's ability to make good choices when we give loud megaphones to individuals who are simply expressing their own opinion backed by anecdotal evidence.
5
@Concerned--More and more Americans no longer have the ability to distinguish fact from opinion, and no longer recognize a specialist's expertise. We deny the facts themselves if they disagree with our own point of view. The findings of scientific testing and analysis are questioned, and we embrace 'alternative facts'. We're reaching a point where all we'll be left with is a conglomeration of opinions and impressions, but no real knowledge.
5
@Concerned
I agree with setting time limits, but I think many people who would ban games are naive, presenting idealized alternatives as you do. Some kids will read literature, join art classes, or participate in sports, but the average kid will hang out in malls and watch TV. Or worse. Personally, I think the dramatic decline in violent crime in recent decades across the Western world is mainly due to young men now playing computer games instead of joining street gangs.
If you’re too lazy to raise your kids and plop them down in front of a screen, I hope you enjoy having them in your home, they will be there until you die of old age.
There’s a word for those obsessive gamers: losers.
5
Any kid that prefers to stare at a screen instead of actually doing things is a bore. They’ll still be bores when they are adults and will bore the people taking care of them at the nursing home when they get old. Once a bore always a bore. Go ahead and waste your life, I don’t care what bores do.
2
The author wonders if her eleven-year-old son dreams in Fortnite. It's certain that he does.
I got hooked once on a video game that came with my computer. It was rather primitive by today's standards. It involved driving a space vehicle around and shooting lasers at an enemy. Each night I'd go to bed with the sights and sounds of that stupid game vividly playing in my head.
Ever since then I've been concerned about children playing games that are probably a thousand times more violent.
I got lucky. That computer didn't take long to die, and I could go back to a more pleasant sleep. Now the only game I play on the computer is Scrabble, but even that shows up in my dreams.
7
George Kvidera, the violence in video games is not real! It is not any more real than the violence that is shown in TV shows, movies, and described in books.
I am one of those fortunate people who has never heard of Fortnite and could not care less about what Prince Harry likes or does not like. Are there not more meaningful issues that we might read about in The New York Times?
3
Not mentioned: The chief reason it's so popular is that it's free. The other reason is that it's about as violent as a sedated hamster. When eliminated a teleporting robot beams you out of the game and you get to watch your opponent doing a celebratory dance, or applauding you. No blood. No injury. Instead of the realism of some modern vid games Fortnite animation is simple and cartoonish. You have to look hard to find Fortnite Youtubers spewing hate speech.
5
I am sorry but Jennifer Senior has drunk the Kool-Aid!
She’s a “pro.” For her to be a pro she would have to have dedicated tens of hours.
How can she judge what is good or bad for our children?
I think anything moderation is OK, but Fortnite is designed to be played in any way but moderate. Each round drives you to top your last score. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars trying to satisfy our two sons social pressure to have certain skins or weapons. It’s nuts.
It’s anything but a healthy pursuit. Glad Ms. Senior has made peace with it , but she’s in no position to deny its harmful effects.
3
For parents who are okay with their kids being on things like fortnite for so many hours, do you put much effort into activities that have no such immediate gratification? or do you give up on that when push comes to shove? a friend does one thing. a parent does another. all us parents are a tired lot, and all of us are pushed and shoved. balance is tricky. and it is absolutely key.
1
The answer is yes, he does dream in Fortnite.
2
The writer lost all credibility in the first sentence. Yes, I know kids all say it's a "third person shooter" game, and I guess the company that sells it has conditioned them to believe that. They obviously think that sounds more harmless than what it is, a game where the player ("first person") shoots people.
4
My kid is outside in the yard by herself slaying imaginary foes with a wooden sword.
Better to play online with friends or alone in the “real” world?
Parenting is hard, man.
2
Encourage your child to play alone in the real world. Exercises the imagination. That is great. Einstein biggest asset was not his smarts but his imagination. He imagine how time and space works and then proceeded to prove it. TV, video games, social media kills the imagination. As a parent you may feel bad that your child is bored or have social issues. Well, social media is not going to solve your child’s social issues. It may actually end up making them worse by making him or her believe all is ok.
3
This piece reminds me that I’m glad I’m not raising kids these days.
1
My 11 year old girl plays Fortnite with her friends, most of whom are boys. She proudly wore a Fortnite hoodie out and about recently and I was amazed at how many boys and grown up men said to their friends within earshot, “that girl is wearing a Fortnite hoodie” and they’d compliment her. A lot of her friends (the boys) play as girl skins, or the tomato head and proudly floss and dance. It is their generation PAC-Man, Nintendo or whatever but waaaaay more social.
11
Reminds me that time back in the 60’s when the news was we alll were going to live to 135. We hadn't even seen the Macdonald's generation grow up. Now with one nutritional fluke after another....
The Fortnite kids are interacting with each other, but it seems they’re playing a postmodern version of wargames. We have no idea what this may become. More young folks ganging up on others? A renewed interest in military service? An arrival of understanding NATO and the United Nations? And, what if these war gamers actually manage to live to 135? There's a puzzling idea.
1
But, I wouldn't bring a 10 year old to a rowdy block party.
My generation had Diablo2 and WoW and TF2. I played hundreds of hours of games like these. And frankly it was an overall positive experience in my life. I was able to have fun, get used to interfacing with a computer and servers, and socialize with people.
How did I turn out? I’m married, with a great job, a house and a baby on the way. I STILL play games with friends who are spread all over the world. This is just a modern moral panic.
Stop clutching your pearls and grab a controller, n00b.
2
You were able to manage it. But perhaps we lost the next Einstein or Steve Jobs if you would have spent your time differently. We will never know. Every child is different. I drank alcohol when young and I am not an alcoholic, but some of the kids I grew up with could not handle it and wrecked their lives.
1
Fortnite is "old" now -- this piece is a little late!
I think it is a disgrace to call this pathetic display of giddy violence as a party..if Miss Senior knew the damage done due to adrenaline/junkie behavior, and the loss of a sense of reality in the real world, maybe she would look at this low level of entertainment in a different way! I expect more from the NYT!
2
It’s fun to listen to my two grandsons, yelling at the computer or at each other, in their two separate rooms. They jump around so much you can call it exercise.
Sorry, I just don't see how a "shooter game" where the object is to "lay waste to everything in sight" is a positive thing for an 11 yr old.
So sad that this is what it takes for your son (and millions of others...) to be social.
1
Things sure have changed from back when my Mum used to warn the teenage me that Doom would corrupt my mind. Now the Mum’s seem to be joining in!
My old Dad expressed an interest in “having a go on” Red Dead Redemption 2 the other day. I’m a little perturbed.
Encouraging kids to find high powered guns and murder strangers?
What could go wrong??
3
"And when he is not playing Fortnite, he is often watching YouTubers play Fortnite, yowling men-children who go by names like Ninja and Tfue and Fearless, spelled Fe4RLess, narrating their virtual exploits." 'Nuff said.
2
Time for kids to get back to creating their own toys and things to entertain themselves with. Time for them to really interact with others. Video games are "killing" the creativeness of children as well as their ability to interact on a one on one level. They simply don't know how. Most video games are noisy and use a lot of material to kill or maim. Wonderful that this is what the kids learn and enjoy. What are we raising?
2
This is exactly the kind of hysteria that existed when Dungeons and Dragons first became popular. Ministers railed against it from the pulpit, some parents were terrified of it. Kids (mostly male) loved it. Are our memories so short? It’s just the next big thing. It will come and go and something else will be the next big thing.
@Jean Sims are you sure Dungeons and Dragons did no harm to the generation which was addicted to it? What is the cumulative effect of games which glorify violence? Do you not even consider the fact that our world is growing increasingly violent and these games might have some part to play?
When my son was a tween it was Halo and then, mostly, World of Warcraft. He played obsessively. He joined tribes or gangs or whatever they are called. Try getting him to come to dinner on time, but if his tribe planned a raid at 9pm, he was not a second late. One of his best IRL friends was Korean and joined his tribe, which meant they could meet in the game and in our apartment at the same time. My son learned strategy, protocols for succeeding as a large diverse group, and a deep curiosity for the technology making it all possible (he is now pursuing a PhD in cosmology and theoretical physics). I of course was concerned about adult predators. So I made him let me monitor the games while he played. After a couple of weeks, I lost all fears. The players cared only about the game, talked endlessly about strategy, and bored me to tears. Monitoring stopped, though I remained neutral on the value of virtual gaming. Then his friend went back to Korea for the summer. I was concerned my son would be forlorn. But then one evening he said he was going online to play with Brian, hanging out as avatars but conversing live as two buddies half a globe apart. I was totally won over.
2
On the other hand....didn’t the NYT recently run an opinion-essay discussing the link between “right-wing”/“white nationalists” and gaming?
1
With the line between fantasy and reality successfully blurred by clever game makers it doesn't seem fair to blame the young who minds and hearts are exposed to a sanitized apocalyptic vision on their screen. Rather, blame their adult supervisors who fail to link Fortnite with Sandy Hook or Parkland, who view it as another way to keep the kids harmlessly occupied. These so-called parents or guardians will never see the harm coming...
1
OMG - the sky is falling ! or not ...
as a historian I was also bemused that the invention of the printing press by Gutenberg around 1440 (hmm - nearly 600 years ago) was met with horror by the elites - what would happen if you let important knowledge fall into the hands of the poor people - a REVOLUTION !?!!!
just read - it led to 'the decline of Latin as the language of most published works' (oh no !)
- and 'was associated with higher levels of city growth. The publication of trade related manuals and books teaching techniques like double-entry bookkeeping increased the reliability of trade and led to the decline of merchant guilds and the rise of individual traders' - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_press#Gutenberg's_press
so I wait to see what horrors - and benefits - arise from this new technology ...
thanks for the great article.
@FrankThis isn't new technology. It is technology which has been around for years now and has been twisted into some very dark uses.
Better for kids than hanging out at the mall or using Facebook would be damning with faint praise, intended irony or not.
2
I got yelled at for letting my kids go and order a pozza by themselves last week. Some helpful person told me it wasn’t safe. I was in the supermarket next door and the kids are 8 and 10.
When I was 10 I was taking the subway around New York City by myself. The world has gotten much safer since then but people have gotten much more fearful, so much so that any unsupervised child activity is an occasion to call the police.
So what the heck are kids supposed to do? Play video games, of course. Nosey, safety-obsessed busybodies have ruined childhood.
And then you have the nutters who say that Fortnite is too dangerous for kids. That’s pretty much the only unsupervised recreation kids have left. A third person shooter game. Yeah, dig that irony.
3
Your boy needs to see the sun, Helicopter.
2
It seems you and prince harry have a wide difference of opinion regarding this subject
Sure, why worry. Shoot, blow people up, if you think its fun. Disassociate. The alt right recruits on Fortnight. Just disgusting. You all need a new hobby.
2
I’m stuck at wondering how many people take a pick axe to a neighbourhood cocktail party?
2
Sorry, Ms. Senior, but I'm a high school English teacher with 9th grade classes full of Fornite addicts, and the damage is real.
These kids don't read. Anything. At all. Ever. Books are a fear-and-sneer for them.
They all want to grow up to be 'You Tubers.'
They actualize horrible behaviors that are reinforced online- the taunts in and out of class are learned in the kill-or-be killed virtual world, but the insults and ostracism are real.
My kids are always exhausted because of limitless weeknight play, often until the ghastly wee hours beyond one AM. No one seems to be monitoring them.
Their attention spans are withering. My best lessons and novels- high engagement, lots of activities- don't hold their interest compared to the kids I had just a few years back. Their eyes glaze when they read anything, and they groan when they see that something is over a page in length.
I have an 11 year old. He has an Xbox and a computer. He doesn't play Fortnite or any other games during the week. We limit play on weekends. He is learning- and loving- chess. OK, nerdworld. But what are parents doing while kids pour their souls down the Fornite drain?
Not modeling better habits or reading, that's for sure.
58
Fortnite is a vice, just like smoking, drinking alcoholic beverages, or watching pornography on the internet are vices. They serve no useful purpose other than to divert the abuser from living life in a real world (especially when that world is an unhappy one).
Time has proven that banning a vice is not an effective way of lessening its most harmful effect, addiction. Instead the solutions lie in education, publicizing the the problem, and outreach efforts to help abusers recognize that this is a problem destroying their lives.
The author avoids the very real problem of RPG addiction. College students miss classes or flunk out, employees miss work, weekends are wasted sitting in front of a screen. Most severely, RPG addicts have murdered or have committed suicide. There is probably someone each of us knows who fits within one of these descriptions.
The authors facile conclusions that it must be You Tube users or Facebook users are just as bad sound more like rationalizations for an addiction rather than looking at its root causes. RPGs are so dangerous because they create the fiction of relationships in a hyper-stimulated world. When the stimulation ends, the craving becomes unbearable. I applaud Prince Harry for starting a conversation on a subject which society as not really addressed.
1
Your son's life is not representative of the working-class and very poor kids -- many of whom have been my students -- who are spending their parents' hard-earned money -- by "hard" I mean minimum-wage agricultural -- to buy new skins.
Enjoy your own peace of mind, but DO NOT promote this as some larger indication that Fortnite is anything but destructive.
20
@Sarah, I think you are being a bit dramatic. Fortnite isn't what kills the kids in our classrooms. It isn't perpetuating poverty, hunger, systemic racism, and other real-life problems we have.
1
Man-children? Ninja makes over $1 million per year, and does it without stomping on employees, exploiting poor people in the Third World (aside from the basics of buying electronics), or expropriating wealth from the elderly and ignorant....you know, the way most millionaires make their money.
Call these people the misandrist term 'man-children' all you want....I guarantee you they are having the last laugh.
Anyway, video games are not a problem. They just aren't. They can, sometimes, be a symptom of a problem (think of Gabor Mate's work on addiction!), but in and of themselves they are not a problem. This is one of the very few articles that actually seems to GET this. Bravo.
3
I do not aspire for my kids to participate in a "rowdy block party;" I'd much rather they continue to learn to communicate face to face, understanding the nuances of human interaction. If that means they are the "only" kids in middle school who don't have cell phones or play video games, so be it. In 10-15 years, they will be far ahead of their peers in being able to successfully navigate adult communication, assuming adults actually talk to one another anymore.
3
I don't think Harry is entirely off here, but he is engaging in my favorite activity to behold: judging parental decisions when he has no kids of his own.
4
@Sarah A You don't have to be a parent to show concern for a perceived danger to a child. Perhaps you think taxpayers without children shouldn't have to pay school tax? As the old saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child." We all have a stake in the future generation. They will shape our world.
2
@Sarah A perhaps not yet experienced as a parent but he has first hand experience of real warfare.
1
@Beaglelover - one can express concern without condemning parents.
I've been teaching filmmaking at University level for almost 30 years. During this time I've witnessed my students game more and perceive less. The two arcs are perfectly inversely related.
I hope someone tells these kids (and the author) that we have only one life - that there's stuff to see, things to do, people and cultures to learn about - beyond their screens.
11
Interesting that some contemporary philosophers say that, probabilistically, we are most likely already living in a simulation. In the simulation we create more simulations, eventually forgetting each new simulation is just that, like Russian Dolls. These video games and virtual worlds are only going to get more real-seeming and more interesting (and addictive) than real life. Maybe it’s for the best, as we move to a fully automated world where huge portions of humanity will be useless, that there is somewhere to plug people into to keep them entertained. And maybe they’ll even forget they’re living in a simulation. Once the interface is no longer on the outside (screens, keyboards, fingers, eyes) and the interface is inside the brain as is already being developed (ask Elon Musk about that) then it will not take long.
6
I disagree with the naysayers now that I read your op-ed. This was an informative piece that comes from the observations of a parent who is neither a snow-plow parent nor a helicopter parent. Whether she missed Prince Harry’s point or not, her observations regarding her son cannot be dismissed as simply an outlier in the endless debate on the evils of video games.
3
When I was a young boy, around 9 years old, my sister, ten years older, voiced concern to my parents that I was watching too much television, spending hours after school transfixed on "Batman," or "The Monkees," or a movie, rather than being outside, running around, connecting and exploring with friends, or on my bicycle carving out paths to who knows where.
Then one day, as she observed me yet again in front of the tube, she had a realization: I wasn't watching television, I was studying it. True enough, as she would watch me grow up to study drama in high school and earn my college degree in theater. I turned out ok. I suspect the Fortnight kids will too.
P. S. Oh, and I recently had a (real-time, in-person) conversation with a close friend about how The Monkees were way ahead of their time in how their show was produced, with music video and breaking the fourth wall. That analysis courtesy of a 9-year-old's syllabus.
4
You entirely missed the point of Prince Harry's criticism. His criticism was that the game is designed to be addictive. You addressed a complaint, though not that of the Prince, that the game encourages bad (violent) behavior. Among the quotes I saw of the Prince's comments was the following: “It’s created to addict, an addiction to keep you in front of a computer for as long as possible.” That video game designers intentionally craft games to be addictive, to hit that button in our brains that releases a little bit of dopamine, is no secret. Personally, I think Hay Day, a farming game with no gun play whatsoever, is guilty of exploiting precisely that design at an extremely effective, and unhealthy, level. If the argument being made by the Prince had been that violent video games present a serious concern for actively encouraging widespread violent behavior, I too would question the veracity of the weight of concern expressed in that statement. But that is not the concern that was expressed. And I do believe the concern that was expressed is worthy of serious consideration.
18
@Erik K. Designing a game to be 'addictive' is exactly the same as designing a game to be fun and compelling. It is not some evil conspiracy; it is, rather, giving people what they want. This characteristic is precisely why the game is enormously popular. I don't see how it could be otherwise.
@Erik K. A well-known secret in Silicon Valley is the business model of many of the "free" games depends on the selective hooking of people with clinical mental illness, such as obsessive compulsive disorders. The majority of players, of course, don't, but the people who spend vast amounts of money for virtual objects as completists are almost surely could benefit from professional help (in some cases, medication; in order, therapy).
This business model has be the foundation of many well-known consumer crazes, particularly those that have some collectible component.
The legendary Franklin Mint, Webkins, Ty Babies, and of course, gambling casinos all selectively filter for this.
I don't know that it should be made illegal, but it would sure be hard to sleep at night making stuff that's likely to damage the very cust omers that they depend on.
4
@HR No it is not the same. Fun and compelling are positives, addiction is negative.
..it's the way things are...you can't stop them. It's part of the violent nature of our society - especially here in the US. We glorify violence - even the NFL has violent looking robots which resemble football players. I was wondering if you've seen the recent ads for Grand Theft Auto or Hitman 2. Our children are now exposed to such brutality at younger and younger ages. I still can't believe UFC is legal - watching 2 individuals in cages knocking each other out - gladiators at the Coliseum - we've gone backwards by thousands of years. The US, with it's gun violence and lunacy about the 2nd amendment, is at the forefront. I can't criticize Prince Harry for wanting to curb the some of the violence - unfortunately, I believe it's too late.
14
Simon Sinek, amongst other, speaks to the dompamin impact social networking has on young forming brains. Is this addictive quality no less alarming in a gaming culture? Adults who have formed thier earliest social patterns and mechanisms with people vs. technology now play games and argue intensely for the right to do so. Childhood exposure is brand new territory. Children having the means to obliterate everything in site, and encouraged to do so without any moral consequences is unknown territory.
Wait... it is known. Children armed and trained in war zones with the same drivers to obliterate for the good of all. Those kids will turn out to be model citizens for sure.
8
Stuff and nonsense. I'm in my 70's and I've been playing World of Warcraft for at least 14 years, and before that role-playing, strategy, shooters and arcade games going back to Pong and early Nintendo. I love it.
When I've needed a break from work, from stress, from the everyday grind I've sat down for an hour, or two or more, in an environment that absorbs me, occupies my attention, gives me pleasure, makes me think, all while raising and providing for my family, home and pets.
One of my sons is a gamer, the other is not, and both are very successful professionals. Over the years online I've grouped with all sorts of people but more often played a multiplayer role-playing game by myself without much social interaction at all, and there are benefits to both.
Now I'm devoted to the latest expansion on Warcraft with multiple characters that require different types of game play, in a wonderful, absorbing and often exciting environment. It's another fun of entertainment and involvement in addition to gardening, traveling, reading mysteries and science fiction, watching so much Netflix, HBO and Prime, reading the papers online, spending time with friends.
Gaming is a part of life, healthy, stress-cutting, healing. If you haven't tried it, I would suggest you do so. It can improve your life, or not, but you won't know until you try it.
12
I wonder whether it’s the author’s justification for the fact that her son has fallen into the vortex. Watching youtubers play a game, playing the game yourself or bantering with “friends” while playing the game is not a social interaction. It’s not a conversation. It’s not a connection. It’s a virtual experience that I just do not believe is constructive.
I may eat my words in years to come when my young son is itching to join in. But for now I’ll take the higher moral ground and say that justifying your child’s addiction with a defence of “it’s social” is naive and EXACtly the response the game developers intended.
24
Seems to me there's enough video-game playing in Harry's life.
1
We recently traveled with our 12-year-old son to visit friends who have a 10-year-old boy. Our son’s friend is addicted to Fortnite. The main problem is not the aspects of the game itself, but rather the intense screen time. Our son’s friend wakes up in the morning and stares at the blank TV screen for about 10-minutes. Then he turns on the TV and begins to play. He will play literally for hours. He rarely goes outside anymore, he doesn’t want to play sports at school, and only does other activities when threatened with loss of Fortnite. His entire childhood is slipping by in front of a TV set.
24
@Skip Bonbright
But it's social! He's interacting with kids from all over the world! He's collaborating and problem solving!
His parents must believe this baloney or they would change the wifi password and start parenting.
2
I'm a recently-retired pediatrician and I'm somewhat agnostic about the psychosocial arguments here. The one thing I'm less sanguine about is the fact that we are in the midst of a MASSIVE epidemic of obesity, child and adult, in America. My patients and their parents didn't even SEE their obesity: what they considered "normal" and "healthy" was always clearly overweight or obese. I live in Thailand now and all of the teens and children here look like 1950's American kids. Most Americans would think them "too skinny." I've got news for them: children and teens are supposed to look skinny!
Obesity is multi-factorial, of course, but one of the clearest co-factors is daily screen time. Gaming and screen time addiction is literally killing teens and adults. This generation of Americans is the first in which life expectancy is actually going down, thanks to obesity-related type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other co-morbidities.
Get rid of the screens. Or, at the very least, put a time-limit on their addictive power.
40
How sad that Ms. Senior seems to equate the benefits of human to human social interaction with her son going to the "place" of Fortnite to see his "friends." She has fallen into the tech web that has caught most everyone these days, even those who are old enough to know better. It has been thoroughly documented that the obsession with tech games and with computers in general has resulted in a generation that has lost the art of communication and display deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors, and deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships. The future of the human race would be better off if screen-time were severely limited for children, and even for adults.
23
I agree with the author completely. I think that playing Fortnight is similar to talking to a friend on the phone. It just gives a context to talk about. In addition, it relies on cooperative play, giving kids more experiences with working together. Everything in moderation, including activities like this one.
8
@B Baumann- working together but unable to have the social skills to just have a normal conversation, face to face. If I interview a person who can't look at me in the eye, who can't communicate in written or spoken language, who seems lost in the "real" world...I'll be giving the job to one who can. And many of these kids are like zombies when faced with a real world scenario. You can't hit the reset button in life.
I rather have kids figure out what to talk on their own, and learn about their interests (not necessarily mutual interests). Not every person they meet is going to be a Fortnite player, and the sooner they learn that the better.
Some commenters, prompted by a reference in the essay, assert that Fortnite is an "actual place". No, it's not; saying this reveals a disconnect from the real world.
We raised two sons, and rationed their access to video games. We're glad we did.
I'd be interested to see Ms. Senior's followup essay 5 years from now.
16
Several years ago a friend of a mine, a union pipe fitter came home from work on a nice summer evening. Both of his young teenage sons were engrossed in a video game. He calmly asked for the controllers, unplugged the Play Station and deposited it in the middle of his front yard. The family lived on a 5 acre rural lot across from a public golf course. The Play Station sat in the yard, untouched, for several years. People who knew the story would drive by the house and smile.
Both young men went on to play college sports for a Patriot League school and were all-conference. One is now an investment banker with the help of his college connections and the other son is a successful coach. Both are a joy to be around and happily married with young children of their own.
Now, there may not be a direct connection between what happened that afternoon and the success they have achieved. But, that father’s action was preceded and followed up by years of other such acts of consistent shepherding of his children along the path he and his wife thought best. It was a lot of work, but generally you reap what you sow.
There are enough unknown traps and hurdles along the parenting trail. There is no need to take chances with the obvious ones. Thanks, Prince Harry.
24
@Conservative Democrat
I agree that obsession and delusion are issues to be addressed. Nothing wrong with computer games, everything wrong when they are the only thing.
13
@Conservative Democrat
Yep, you are right - there’s no connection between the father’s acts and the sons’ success. I’ve been playing ‘games’ since dungeons and dragons was played on paper. I went on to be a good soldier, then earned an honours degree in law at one of the toughest law schools in my country. Since then I’ve worked in a number of international law firms and institutions and now run my own law firm - all while continuing to play video games (although not fortnite). During that time I also skydived and sailed at a level where I was frequently invited to sail with professional and semi-professional sailors.
So those boys would probably have done what they did anyway.
All you have to do is use your common sense.
3
@Dave- the key is common sense which seems to be sorely lacking in so many scenarios with kids these days.
In the future, society will disintegrate because of the pervasive, addictive nature of vicarious reality.
7
It's hard to imagine that exposing kids to violent video games has zero effect on their development into sensitive, feeling adults. I don't have kids, but there is really no way I would ever allow a young child of mine, or one that I was supervising, to take part in this kind of activity, whatever the pretext. And, I'd like to suggest that if you think it's just harmless fun, that perhaps you really need to take a good look inside and see whether you have become numb to scenes of killing, perhaps because you yourself were raised or took part in the same kind of video games.
12
I know growing up, my parents from the hardscrabble times during the depression, would see Loony tunes, specifically Bugs Bunny, and think with all that violence there would most certainly be an effect on us, well apparently there was, we accept our children’s playing of extremely violent games, and brush it off saying “we’re ok”....yes we are, however the mass killings and violence we accept I believe can be traced to a permissiveness started decades ago...a slippery slope and hard to control.may God bless us all.
1
My son and I bonded over fortnite. While my son played, I often watched him. He'd explain it as he played, and it was really interesting. I never thought that watching a video game would be exciting, but fortnite is. I highly recommend that parents watch their kids play at least once.
9
An anecdote: My son hates Fortnite, because so many of his male classmates has are so obsessed with it that it's all they talk about and he feels socially isolated because he doesn't want to play it.
18
@reader That;s exactly how it is with most real sports as well.
1
Some commenters say kids still go outside and play. I live where I can see three parks from my house. A skateboard park. A regular park with equipment like slides, swings, a jungle gym. And the city swimming pool. It was a beautiful, 70 degree Saturday today. I saw 0 kids in the parks. In the summer, I see four or five kids a day at the swimming pool. Sometimes the lifeguards outnumber the children.
Today was typical. No one, adult or child, walking, running, riding bicycles, playing in the parks or their yards.
35
I am a 41 year old woman who definitely dreamed in Mortal Kombat. I LOVED that game. And Megadeath. I still love Megadeath and Guns and Roses and I have Buckethead tickets this week.
I am also a happily married school counselor in my home town of Brooklyn, NY. Lighten up everyone.
15
I do not aspire for my kids to participate in a "rowdy block party;" I'd much rather they continue to learn to communicate face to face, understanding the nuances of human interaction. If that means they are the "only" kid in middle school who don't have cell phones or play video games, so be it. In 10-15 years, they will be far ahead of their peers in being able to successfully navigate adult communication, assuming adults actually talk to one another anymore.
7
Children do not need to be playing ANY video games. The parents can control this pretty easily - don't buy the game consoles and provide more appropriate outlets for them, ie bike riding, having friends come over to play (with Lego or outside).
Gaming is highly addictive to young people who are socially awkward. It becomes their "drug of choice" until they can get their hands on the real stuff.
Personally, I think Prince Harry is an intellectual light weight, but he's right that such games are not good at all.
15
I’m sorry - I truly find it hard to believe that as a result of playing hours of Fortnite a week tour child wants to see his friends in person more. It runs contrary to every teenager I know. And being a middle school teacher, I know quite a few.
20
Completely agree and not our experience with two boys.
1
Bottom line it here.
Gratuitous R/X rated gun or sex films should be banned for those under age 17.
I don't know whether this game fits that category since I never saw it. However if the kid is playing it 24/7 then limits should be imposed.
13
My neighbor is astonished that my 9 year old still plays with cars, trucks and army men. "My 3 year old only wants the ipad," he said and asked for my thoughts. My advice: limit the devices as much as you can for as long as you can. The more they play, the harder it is to tear the kids away. (Mostly boys it seems.)
One of my son's friends can't bear to take a car ride without his Nintendo switch. He can't be alone with his thoughts. What kind of life is that? These games, ipads, iphones etc. are designed to stimulate the brain and be addictive. There's a reason tech execs won't give them to their own kids.
39
Keep your young precious and precocious uber-children away from video games and in 20 years they will be managed at work by someone who learned how to communicate, team build and resolve conflict by playing them. Also, what’s with the either/or? You can play video games and do the full host of sports and academic curriculars — mine do.
12
This is well said. I have three kids who often have 16-20 athletic events( games/practices) between them each week.
As long as they get their school work done, I’m happy to have them take advantage of some of the less active time devices can offer.
1
@Ananda - but you obviously put limits on your child/childrens access. Many parents don't. There is the problem. That's where these socially inept kids come from.
I've heard the horror stories. The games start out innocent enough and free. Then you start paying to buy the "extras". the hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars for "extra" this and that. The hundreds of hours spent in their rooms or in the basement, often times by themselves, addicted to the latest craze in video gaming. They could've been riding their bikes with friends, playing soccer or baseball, acting in school plays or playing in the school band. But we're too lazy to encourage our kids to get out of the house and be a kid. Let's face it, plunking them down to watch an endless stream of Teletubbies, Spongebob and "insert kids show here" worked when they were babies & toddlers so mindless tech should be ok now.
I too plunked down a few thousand for my son and he ate it up and wanted more. MUSIC. Yes the clarinets, saxes and a used flute cost me some cash but my son has now played about every genre of music and performed at Carnegie Hall twice. In high school. His talents helped get him into Dartmouth where he still performs musically but also discovered his singing abilities as well. He may not do this for a career but be assured it's talents he will carry with him and use the rest of his life.
How many music, sports, chemistry, singing, "insert anything" prodigies are in their basement every day playing a game for 10 hrs straight that next year will be forgotten.
Is it any wonder our once great country is not anymore.
35
@DesertCard
You would be surprised by how many music, sports, chemistry, "insert anything" people play games. For a lot of them, myself included, the imagination that was stirred by video games allows them to pursue their dreams.
Games are not bad. Gamers are not bad people. Some are great people. One of my good online friends is a theoretical quantum physicist. Another is an airline pilot. Several are independent business owners. I am a former professional musician who is now president of a chemical packaging company.
Just like anything in the world, there are bad people who give games a bad name. It's no different than bad politicians, bad teachers, etc. Those bad ones always get the attention and make everyone decry the profession or the hobby.
I do believe the children should have strict times that they are allowed to play video games, but not allowing them only creates resentment.
9
@Bret - I agree but there are far too many kids who are terribly addicted to video games and that is the only extracurricular they have. Who play games for hours on end, even when the parents think the xboxs/playstations have been shut down for the day/night. Whose social skills are non existent and can only communicate virtually via technology. It's become a virtual babysitter for many parents too lazy or busy to do the right thing. I'm not saying gamers are bad per se. But like heroin or alcohol it is an addiction that is thought by many to be petty. It's not. And I was clear in my comment that it's the 10 hour a day gamers who are wasting their lives. Aided and abetted by their parents lack of parenting.
3
This article is a game but pitiful attempt to rationalize an imbecilic squandering of life energy. "Barking orders" and "passing the joystick" are but the slimmest of positive outcomes. Meanwhile, the real world goes on--people working and struggling, trying to create real communities or teams for tangible real-world betterment--human investment in the living commonwealth, in which actual physical and mental fortitude is required, and one's mind, body, and soul are called to the task. Games like Fortnite are simply holding patterns until children are really ready to grow up and take risks to become actualized and useful adults.
16
@Tal Birdsey And we know that real actualized and useful adults play poker.
@Tal Birdsey
Do you have nothing in life you enjoy? From your post, life is nothing but toil and resentment.
Millions of people enjoy games as a harmless diversion. To decry a hobby because they are not focused on the condition of the country and world is ignorant at best.
Just like anything in this world, there are people who take it too far. Parents need to control the access their children have to games (time, content, etc.), but to deprive them of a great hobby because of real world issues is ludicrous.
1
Rereading these comments has reminded me that my youth not only was of a different time but a different place. I grew up in the countryside in a small town in Mass. surrounded by other small towns. Different than life for a city kid by far.There were only a few television stations and nowhere near the music content then as now. We found things to do...mostly outdoors. Some complain their parents won't let them go outdoors or be out alone for various reasons.In my day it was no issue. Sadly..maybe my day was part of the Good Old Days. We weren't worried about School Shootings or being Cyberbullied etc. I don't even know what an X Box is ...but I have friends who complain their kids and employees spend too much time online. I recently went to a motorcycle dealership willing to sell me a new leftover Sportbike at their cost to get rid of it because they claim...young people aren't riding anymore and can't get loans.Some have no interest in driving at all.I hear all the time... kids spend too much time on their phones and the internet. I wouldn't want to be a kid today.I really appreciate my youth even more after reading these comments...and am glad to have grown up when and where I did.I was fortunate.Times have changed...for sure I didn't realize how good I had it then but I do now .Oh to be a kid again...knowing what I know now! All the Best Kids..I wish You Well !
13
@Dave. Thanks for the comment, Dave! Somehow, my husband and I ended up with an old fashioned kid: he's not interested in video games or videos or phones or computers. He likes reading and drawing and being outside. He's not very athletic in the competitive sports sense, because he's not very aggressive, but he can run fast and forever and has boundless energy. In our daily lives, we walk miles without blinking. He loves to play board games and chess. He likes to go to the bookstore and library. He has a great sense of humor and can hold his own with adults. He works with me in his school garden. We didn't put him in any special school; he goes to public school, so I don't how this happened (although we are a bit old fashioned at home as well, and neither my husband and I ever spend time on our phones or play video games, and we don't watch tv). Our son is 9. I hope he finds a place in the world, and that there are others out there like him. So far he hasn't found any, and feels a bit alone amongst his peers.
21
@reader Sounds like my son. He's 16 now. It's hard to find your tribe sometimes. Maybe he can find others who also like art? My son found a nice group of kids rock climbing. It's a great sport for kids who aren't that aggressive.
1
@reader This was my daughter. Although she had a few good friends in high school, she soared socially in college, when she nearly wept to find people as quirky as she. Book readers! Film lovers! Artists! At 26, she's happy (most important) and making six figures in an industry that demands superior writing skills and imagination. I think your son will be fine. Oh - and there were no video games in the house, and very little television. I didn't have hard and fast rules around TV, I simply wanted to do other things more, and rarely watched it.
It's not just the kids. We're all being conditioned to live in "virtual reality" - where "life" comes at us as images, words and sound on our tiny screens. And due to complex, profit-driven algorithms, we have almost no control over what we experience in "virtual reality".
And that's why America voted to put a virtual reality cartoon character into the Oval Office.
41
Hi! Real-live Fortnite player here! I'm a teenager living in the suburbs. I go to a private school thirty minutes from my house. Most of my friends live across the city from me, so we connect mainly over technology. We FaceTime and text each other almost daily. Our extracurricular activities keep us busy, plus the two hours of homework a night we have. I enjoy most video games. But I'm not the screen-addicted, computer-slave I see most adults on here describe me.
I read books and I enjoy drawing. I make my own schedule that includes an hour of exercise and drawing practice and time to play three instruments (piano, bass and guitar). I get good grades and I finish my schoolwork most of the time. I'm not a saint, but I'm not an outlier in the teenage population. Most of us enjoy video games and social media the way other generations enjoyed comics and television. But I do wish I had more personal freedoms. I'm not allowed to ride the bus alone, or take walks at night. I'm already preparing for college before high school. The way your generation has prohibited me from independence is why I spend time online, where I can do what I'd like to with very few constraints. Thank you!
78
@Gee - Well said. It has become a society of over scheduled, highly rigid parenting. Sorry for that. I wish that more of your generation had the opportunities to just be you that we had growing up.
18
Dear Gee, I am so sorry about how narrow your life is. I’m 66 and I’ll describe my life at your age. My parents had no idea where I went or who I spent my time with. I walked out of my house on a Saturday morning and just roamed the city, all by myself. Walking. Taking the bus. Hanging out with friends. Riding my bike all over town. And no one, meaning parents, ever asked. As long as I was home at 6pm sharp for dinner, I was cool. I could not have imagined a hemmed in and super protected life like you and your friends have.
This was before computers. We listened to a new Beatles album together. Just sat and listened. Didn’t talk. Didn’t check social media. Or texts or email.
We could go out and eat a good meal for under $5. Adults didn’t wonder why we were alone.
I feel sorry for you. I didn’t know it at the time, but my life was as good as it was going to get.
Please give your own kids more freedom. Hopefully it will get better once you’re out of your parents house.
47
@Jet Phillips I'm 62. Back in the 60s and 70s, I and my nieghborhood friends walked out of our houses on Saturday mornings to explore the woods, hills, streams and farmland in northern NJ. We'd build treehouses and forts. We'd catch tad poles and frogs. We'd make small fires in a fireplace we assembled from rocks. We got lost in nature.
Other Saturdays we'd play stick or kick ball for hours on end. Of course, no matter the Saturday, we had two hours of mandatory chores -- lawn mowing, raking or cleaning out the garage. Note, we lived in a very comfortable upper "whatever" neighborhood.
Fast forward to 2012 when Sandy hit NJ. Our neighborhood was without power for 10 days. For the first time in the 20 years living in my current town, the park across our street was filled with boys and girls. They self-organized and played all sorts of games they seemed to invent on the fly. As they ran around, you could hear their laughter and see their joy. For the first time, they interacted with the adults in the neighborhood and I finally got to know their names. For 10 days, there was a real sense of life and community in our neighborhood.
Then the power came back on. I haven't spoken to any of those kids since. When they walk home from school, their heads are down in their phones. I occasionally see them in sports uniforms hoping into the parents car to be driven to an "official" game somewhere in our town or one nearby.
And the park has returned to its lonely silence.
8
Brainrot for future business students.
My 17 year-old kid doesn't play Fortnite. He studies differential equations and exercises regularly. Will likely wind up better off than Fortniters.
22
I have lots of happy, successful students (who volunteer for the local fire department, who participate in sports, who are very social) who play Fortnite.
Playing it or not playing it doesn’t make a 17 year old either a failure, or a success.
13
I guess the weird attitude that a kid getting enjoyment out of something grown people don't understand is basically a moral failure hasn't changed either.
1
@Human It’s not the playing, it’s the WAY they are playing. Sitting and staring at a screen for hours a day, “killing” all you encounter, and considering anonymous people your “ friends” does not make for a healthy or happy mind.
1
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it - Proverbs 22:6
A mother wants what's best for her child. She looks out at the glories of this world with all its magnificent literature to be read, music from the minds of masters to move the human heart to heights of joy and wonder, the twists and turns in tongue of foreign languages to be relished , art to be enjoyed for the sake of its beauty alone and studied to widen young eyes towards the aesthetic vision of the ages, the discipline of science in engaging the brilliant spectacle that is the dance of the natural world, the sight of sunsets and mountain ranges drifting in morning mist, the call to the unknown depths of the oceans, a literal kingdom of animals, flora and fauna, and above it all, the inexplicable mysteries, pleasure, and purpose of human congress both individual and social -- And that mothers says,
"NO. I guess that's all very nice, but my son's better off spending his formative years glued to an 8 x 10 LED screen training hand and heart to master slaughter and cruel dominance."
Shame on that mother, shame on Jennifer Senior, and shame on all those parents who choose to allow their children to become addicts in that small-minded, digital world of errant values instead of encouraging them to flower and develop into thinking, caring human beings attracted to the wonders of this world and the richness of its people.
42
Sounds like this was written by a parent feeling guilty.
Kids should definitely learn to use tech and that means learning to be in control.
Parents should learn not to use tech as a way to get rid of kids. Just hand them an iPhone and we will have some peace and quiet.
Remember the movie Surrogates? Thats where we are headed if we let VR replace real ife and parental responsibilities to prepare kids are forgotten because it's difficult and we have better things to do. Just don't have kids and do what you want.
13
Such negativity in the comments! To be clear, It is heart breaking to here some of the stories in which children have been led astray, but temptation abounds in all areas of life and even an altruistically designed video game could not substitute for good guidance from responsible adults.
What the author wrote totally resonated with me. My kid is hyper-scheduled (with plenty of physically demanding activities), I can’t just send her out into the neighborhood on a whim because I do worry, and I absolutely recognize the community that she is building through the gaming.
In a perfect world, she would channel all that energy to learning new things or picking up an instrument or volunteering in her community. That world does not exist and never has, but I played video games relentlessly as a kid and now I do all the things as an adult that I wished my kid would do in a perfect world because that’s what my parents did and that’s what I emulated, not the 10,000 hours I spent playing Metroid with my friends (though it sure was fun at the time).
6
@Ben
"In a perfect world..." Oh, please, do you really think playing a notoriously violent game for hours is better than picking up an instrument (a lifelong talent/skill!), reading a book, or volunteering to help other people who aren't so lucky?
What has happened to our society's values? When the child applies to college, will his/her essay describe how many hours a day he/she played addictive video games...or about what he/she learned by playing an instrument (socialization is part of this skill!) or reading a book and discussing with a friend or parent or teacher, or how he/she helped children who are extremely hard of hearing (deaf) or helped deliver food to poor, incapacitated elders?
Please help me understand how video games make a child or adolescent better? I don't buy your explanations. I may be a grandmother, but my teen and tween grandsons balance their lives with many things (music, art, reading, sports, volunteering, etc) much more than they play video games, which ARE in deed controlled by their parents. A child of 11 is not ready to control; parents need to guide them.
16
I think people like to make excuses about what all these video games are "teaching" their children to make themselves feel better about allowing them to play them. And that goes for the toddlers on Ipads and kindergartners on phones. I'm scared for these kids and the upcoming generations unless people get a real handle on the screen exposure vs. living life in real time with real people. I have friends who tried to limit and control their sons (in the cases I know of) but at a certain point and certain age it was impossible to control. One of my dear friend's son became addicted to World of Warcraft and even though he had everything going for him, brains, looks, personality, athleticism, you name it, is now living at home barely holding down menial jobs and playing on his computer all day and night, failing out of 3 different colleges. It's really sad. Guess what...parents don't have to buy this stuff for their kids! What it takes is a parental backbone.
30
I'm 36. It's kind of amazing how the conversation among adults about video games has barely changed at all since when I was a kid. I don't get Fortnite, but I'm pretty sure it's not for me, and I'm ok with that.
13
Totally agree. I’ve been pro video and computer gaming since my kids were in middle school largely because I recognized it allowed them enormous autonomy and adventures in a way in which we don’t allow them in real life anymore. (And it probably is safer. I have no patience for those who wish today’s kids would buy a fifth of Jack Daniels and cruise the roller rink as one critic wrote). They key as with everything is talking with them, checking out the games yourself and finding the quality and fun ones. And not misunderstanding the time needed. If you used to allow your child to spend a whole rainy Daturday building Legps, you should not have a problem letting them be on Minecraft the whole day. Mine could talk and play in real time with friends IRL and online as well as friends in other states. My oldest joined a flight simulator group and is now well on his way to being a pilot IRL so just like all play it is preparing for adulthood. And if you see teens sitting somewhere all staring at their phones and bemoan that they are not talking to each other? They ARE talking (texting) to each other.....just in a way that avoids adults jumping in on it as we don’t let them go off on their own.
9
I've been using Fortnight (and YouTube... etc) to teach my son (he's eight) how to use devices responsibly. He's aware of the potential for addiction (I was personally addicted to Facebook a few years ago, which he hated) and understands why he doesn't have unlimited access (even if he doesn't like it).
The more he begs, the less he gets. I've made it clear that the amount of screen time he'll get is directly proportional to how responsibly he acts with his device.
I've also given him a beginner tablet loaded with reference and productivity apps -- but no games, not even educational ones -- which he uses to surf Wikipedia and message family on FB Messenger for Kids. He gets to play Fortnite occasionally on other devices.
Pardon the virtue signalling but I just thought I'd share with other parents what's worked for me.
3
@Barry F Thank you for sharing. I'm a grandparent & do so agree with your methods. Hate to hearken back to the past ages. It is not politically correct, in that only the the modern world need apply for that classification, but what you are employing in the raising of your son, prepare yourself, is plain & oh so very old fashioned, common sense.
1
The only reason for a parent to like Fortnite is that it is a cheap babysitter for a non-confrontational parent. But you get what you pay for in life and in child-rearing, and I estimate most parents will rue the day they took Ms. Senior’s advice.
61
I must admit, I’m all over the place with this Fortnite thing. I have 3 teenage boys; two of whom could care less about it and one who may be described as addicted to it. I have played it with him in the room guiding me through the intricacies of the game and I have watched him play it attempting to spend a little time in his world with him. I have read about it and listened to NPR panel discussions and have generally tried to educate myself as best I can.
My first thought as a second amendment protecting, former soldier, responsible, legal gun owner, is that I am a bit appalled by the violence. There isn’t much in the way of gore, but it does amaze me that there are so many people shouting for banning certain types of firearms who then let their pre-teen/teen children use terms like SMG and AR (clearly having no idea what that really means) and screaming in to a headset to “KILL HIM!”. Maybe we can all at least agree that a growing culture of violence amongst our youth needs to be addressed.
My other thought worth sharing is how to allow my teen to play responsibly. All children are different, as so many comments have alluded too, and for some addiction is a distinct reality especially with the marketing techniques the developers use to get people hooked. We limit the time spent on Fortnite Island and have mandated that when he plays, he plays with friends to allow for a “social environment”. Hopefully, he’ll grow out of soon; until then we’ll do the best we can.
15
For a very good article by an author taking the opposite point of view, you can search for: The Agony Of Fortnite Addiction, by Rod Dreher. An excerpt:
"Leaving aside all the childhood things that these kids are not getting because they’re on Fortnite all the time, and leaving aside what may be happening to their neurological development, why is it not crystal-clear to parents that a child whose body becomes accustomed to that dopamine rush is not likely to turn into an adult who can manage his passions?"
32
I am a 51-year-old doing a teenage-quality eyeroll right now as I read these comments. I am married to a man who has been an avid gamer for 35 years, and in fact has a secure job within the industry using his creative talents (attention parents--gaming creates legit careers). He also is an amazing cook, runs half-marathons, reads books, and likes to socialize over a beer or two. He plays on average 10-15 hours of games per week, but has been known to play up to 40-50 if he loves the game that much. We know many kids who play games like Fortnite, and while they might play it for many hours per week, it is far from their only pastime. Games have in many ways replaced watching TV. Are you all still on the "TV is damaging our children" bandwagon as well? How about the "comic books and rock music are damaging our children" bandwagon? Look, if you don't understand why people play games, that is fine. If you don't want your children to play games, good for you. I'd even agree that there are individuals in the margins for which gaming may not be healthy. But those are the margins, like in any group. I love that this mom took the time to learn and observe, and made a decision based on her kid.
47
I’m delighted that you are happily married to a man who spends up to 40 hours a week gaming and still has the time and energy to read, cook, run, and have a beer or two with his friends. But most of us, be we young or old, are not so wondrously gifted.
I teach at a university where I have seen the effects of gaming and the other digital obsessions of our age at close hand. Most of my students have shorter attention spans than was true 20 or 30 years ago. More than a few are hard pressed to write, or read for that matter, anything longer than a tweet.
The warnings of years ago about the dangers of television may have been exaggerated. But no one back in those days carried a TV in their back pocket, or kept their eyes glued on a screen as they walked down the street or sat in a classroom oblivious to the world around them.
40
Here's the thing. He is not "wondrously gifted". He is the norm among everyone we know, and we know a LOT of people who play games regularly. My husband is not a purple unicorn. Have you seen people exhibit the behaviors you describe? I'm sure you have. Is that the norm among gamers? I'd be suspicious of that, as well as your implied assertion that games are the cause.
2
@SueN Who would have thought that nowadays a person can actually earning a living making digital entertainment for children, and childish adults? No telling what you're liable to lurn on the internets.
1
....As for my daughter (9), I remember when we downloaded Fortnite. We playfully switched turns and argued about whose turn it was. Then I got that first elimination. We jumped and cheered from the couch. We were hooked. Then came the arguments. We only had one PC. So I built another to alleviate the problems. But that led to wife problems because I spent thousands of dollars and played constantly. Also, I would forget to mute my mic, so the other players would hear the argument (plus I accidentally gave out my phone number and quickly began receiving robo calls). My daughter played, yet we wouldn’t let her chat. But after playing for a while, I found nice players that I allowed her to chat with (kids her own age) and I play with her since we now have two computers. But I feel like I need to protect her in the game and give her all the good loot because I’m her Dad. She chats with kids and knows how to mute and leave the game. But what is fun about Fortnite, if someone is rude or trolls (and they are definitely out their), we can make their life miserable for the remainder of that game. And my daughter actually stands up for me when someone is rude. We are a team. But I still monitor her games on Twitch just to be sure she is playing with decent people. They do exist in Fortnite and she is one of them now. Plus, Fortnite is coming to NY this summer. We may be there too.
3
Games today that target young kids are so much more calculating in their design trying to keep players active. Before game developers sold a title cash up front and had little incentive to make players addicted. Today the business model has changed and developers make their money by in game purchases, vanity items or game advantages. They cannot make this money if the kids do not actively play it. So what do developers do? They deploy a range of strategies to ensure the game is not put on the shelf, effectively creating addiction. It can be by making sure unique items are given every so often, and if you are not there you will not get it. It can be that you loose progress if you are not in regularly. It is by constantly update it content. Sometimes they send sms messages and emails to try and get players back. This change of business model is the big problem, it drives scruple-less design with no concern to kids prone to addiction. I think certain of these design strategies should be banned one way or the other for kids.
18
What I find so baffling here is the number of readers who can read a whole article on Fortnite and then still type Fortnight in their comments. Our brains really can be resistant to new information. As to the article itself, I basically agree with Ms. Senior. My son and his friends spent about 10 months playing Fortnite until the appeal waned. That doesn’t, however, mean there isn’t danger to those who have different vulnerabilities. For example, most of us can handle alcohol in moderation, but for those who cannot, exposure in the developing years can be devastating.
3
I have two boys, 11 and 13, both Fortnite addicts. Yes, I put limits on their play time and sympathize with concerns about gaming. I do appreciate Fortnite’s social and narrative aspects (it tells a series of stories in which players are involved), but my very favorite thing about Fortnite is that my boys would just as soon be some of the female characters as the male. The girls are just as cool and competent! As a single, professional Mom, I can not teach or model that lesson better than this game does. My boys’ respect and embrace of female characters bodes well for the men and women of their generation—and I have Fortnite to thank, in part, for that (but NOT lots of other games!).
12
“Everything, in moderation.”
9
Wait till they move into Dota 2 or CS:GO.
Every night I get called a N or a very derogatory word for a gay person. Also, women are treated like second class citizens. Most women will not use voice chat for this reason because they will be lashed out at. Game developers do not care. They want you to pay and play.
That's what happens when repressed beta males get anonymity.
59
@Scott
Ah, another "unintended consequence" of anonymous game playing: No accountability for one's actions or behavior.
13
My two grandsons (8 and 10) are not allowed to play Fort Nite. Most of the time, they are on their bikes, playing some sport, going to fill in the blank practice or building a complex lego structure. They have an XBox but a timer is set. Both are doing basic coding, do their homework as soon as they get home and then disappearing on their bikes until dark.
25
@MyDogLucky- the good ole days when we made our own fun instead of having to hook in and zone out. I think our children and our children's children have and will miss out on so much of what life's about. Next year when the newest gimmick comes a long all those wasted hours will mean nothing. If the child played some sort of musical instrument he could be playing it the rest of his life.
5
At the heart of all creative work, is the skill of persisting in a solo endeavor without instant feedback on one’s progress. My primary worry about video games is that they habituate kids to getting constant feedback on their progress, because the sounds and stimulus work to trigger the brains reward centers. I worry it is even more of a problem that they are social, because it turns socializing into an experience choreographed by computer programmers. The value of old forms of playing with friends was all the downtime. In the past, kids did not have an always-on answer to the age old question “what should we do?” It is in the boringness before finding an answer to that question that brains develop their creative problem solving skills as well as their social interaction skills.
25
But why are these games always centered around violence and weapons? Wouldn’t the real-life version be roving street gangs? What does that mean for our future? That’s the analysis I want to read.
32
@Kathy
Implications for our future? We've seen an increase in the US of mass killings of innocent people with machine guns and other weapons. People walk the street staring down at the iPhones, averting eye contact. Boys and girls are no longer playing outside and learning to socialize -- with implications for their future ability to deal with other humans. Anonymity online allows atrocious behavior with no consequences.
That's off the top of my head. I'm certain there are plenty more.
33
@Kathy Not to be disrespectful, but I've always found this line of reasoning about video games to be silly. Why do elementary school kids enjoy tag or hide and seek, mimicking the thrill of hunting other humans? Why the allure of foam swords and Nerf darts? Why do kids and adults alike enjoy action movies -- do they lust for the unfettered right to kill as they please, like some secret agent? Do Breaking Bad fans want to sling meth and slowly dismantle their lives? Why are kids the world over engrossed by Harry Potter books, projecting themselves onto, of all people, a child who grew past a criminally abusive family life only to come to the brink of death like clockwork at the end of each school year? Do they want to live that horror?
Escapism, an externalization of fear and excitement, a release valve for crude evolutionary urges that so many of us are fortunate to find irrelevant to modern-day life? Whatever it is, it's nothing new, or unique to video games, or to my mind unhealthy, short of its most extreme forms.
@Kathy
Because we are one of the most violent nations on Earth. There is now 120 guns/100 people in the glorious US of A.
Apparently the American dream now is a family living in a house with a picket fence and 1.2 guns.
Fortnite teaches violence without consequences. How in the world can that NOT be a bad thing?
98
@John Jabo
kinda like Homer's Iliad.
Ok...I get you, but my dad's generation played cowboys and Indians, we played Cops and Robbers. We yelled, "Bang, you're dead!" We " died" dramatically and popped up for more. Violence, without consequences.
2
Nothing like coming home from a hard day and settling in with the loved ones for an evening of slaughter and gore.
78
I think you “miss the boat” when you don’t address the addictiveness of gaming nor state the fact that a minor cannot enter into a legally binding contract, only their parent or guardian - thereby putting the responsibility and liability of online behavior on the adults.
https://techandparents.wordpress.com/tech/
57
Let's just give in to all the trash that video game designers come up with, as our children become less and less connected to nature, and cannot figure out how to entertain themselves without this type of extreme stimulus. As a teacher, I am already seeing the "fortnite effect." Jennifer Senior, while I am glad you see the silver lining in this madness, you are not able to see how this has added to the inability of boys to focus, sit still, and add to their desire for constant stimulus in the classroom.
54
@JGolub
Console players have been around since the 80's - the first generation teen players are now in their 40's.
9
@SteveRR Atari introduced its first console in 1977, when I was 15. My family bought one then. First generation teen players are in their late 50s. I swore off playing decades ago, though, finding it both frustrating and time-wasting. The most violent game I ever played was Space Invaders.
6
Teacher here as well. I think it’s wishful thinking to talk about the positive social effects of Fortnite. The best that can be said is that there are worse games out there for young minds, and that if allowed to play, your kid will have something in common with many of his or her peers.
What I see more broadly is that many parents find it easier to put a screen in front of their kids as a pacification device, rather than have to actively parent. Don’t kid yourself that video games are creative, mind-expanding play designed by companies with your kid’s best interests in mind (even in part!). Video games are fun (since-the-Atari-2600-gamer here), but they aren’t “good,” and should be treated like dessert.
I won’t even touch the ugliness of much of online gaming culture or the possible effects of FPSs on borderline kids.
31
I am sitting next to Fortnight's target demographic as I type this.
When he first started playing, the game would reduce him to tears of frustration and he would quit with a loud and dramatic cry of "I WILL NEVER PLAY THAT STUPID GAME AGAIN!"
But the next day he would be back and he would try again. These days he is a pretty good player. No more tears, and a good understanding of when he needs to stop playing and do something else.
With some gentle guidance from me he learned to self regulate and how to deal with frustration without falling apart.
I fund the sky is falling attitude towards kids today pretty silly. As a Mom, soccer coach, and active PTA member I can assure you kids are still kids. They are playing outside and riding bikes and reading and learning and doing.
And yes-they are playing Fortnight.
12
@betsyj26
I would not underestimate the power that these "games" are having on your child.
You have no idea how off base your acceptance of this violent video games is. It makes me sad for our future!
sorry but video games are a stupid addictive waste of time. one of my children is so deeply addicted do video games he won't leave the house does not have a job and is over 35 years old. if this is life give me death.
33
I’m 75 years old, had a stroke at 66 and have been able to recover most of my dexterity thanks to video games. I’m not good enough to cope with the fast pace of Fortnite, but there are plenty of games that give me great satisfaction and exciting challenges. Dominating the multibutton three dimensional joystick of the PlayStation has done more for me than any medically supervised physiotherapy.
13
@JM I'm 80 and have been playing video games for about 5 years. Fast paced, shooter and looter types. I try and play at least an hour a day 4 or 5 days a week. Not only is it fun I consider it my brain/reflex training, so let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. The reward factor for improvement is not so bad for the self esteem either. Moderation is the key. For children and adults that have no control there may be other factors at play - look at our culture and what is going on in our society and the helplessness than many feel.
7
@JM
Ingenious idea for people up in years. I'm almost 60. Maybe I should start playing?? :)
Maybe try googling “gaming addiction” and you’ll see where your son might end up in a few years. My son has been a gamer most of his life and it has ruined his life. He is 32 and plays every possible minute he can to the detriment of his wife and 3 kids, completely escaping reality and handling almost no adult responsibilities. He can’t keep a job more than a few months mostly because he has terrible social skills. I could go on and on. These games might be fine for some but are deliberately intended to keep users “engaged” but I would argue it’s more like “addicted” and in those cases it is ruining lives in very large numbers.
51
"A great deal of the answer is that Fortnite is social. More than social, actually: It is, as the tech writer and developer Owen Williams has written, a destination, an actual place. “It’s like going to church, or the mall."
Military units are also "social" and feature a shared obsession with weaponry; perhaps the better simile might be: it's like going to Afghanistan.
11
I remember when N64 blew the lid off multi-player gaming. Four players at the same time? Unbelievable! At least for the technological ability of an 11 year old.
Then there was the mind blowing capabilities of Xbox with Halo. At the time, every college dorm had a local area network. Plug your Xbox into the LAN and suddenly you had floor against floor death matches throughout the dorms.
Fornite is no different and in some ways better. I consider Fornite the networked version of Thunderball Island. It's essentially a competitive adventure game scaled to massive online playing. I don't see much harm in that.
However, yes, I would still prefer to see a child go to the park with friends. We had tons of online gaming when I grew up. My favorite memories are still playing cards on a picnic bench in the park. There were no parents around to formulate an opinion about our behavior one way or another.
That experience dear readers is priceless.
8
Non-stop wars, lasting for decades, without resolution...
PTSD afflicting vets by the thousands suffering...
a military/weapons investment worldwide that exceeds
the same military investments
of nearly all other industrialized nations combined...
Violent video games, violent revengeful movies...
showing identifiable images of one of us doing the unthinkable
day after day, night after night, somewhere...
and we wonder why we have so many crazy shooters,
wasting innocent people for no reason at all,
just around the corner.
And if your existence just happens to predate T.V.
and the media explosion, you see clearly
that things have changed in a real big way,
since 1960.
"no, violence is not the answer" says the hero,
"you can't just take the law into your own hands."
the truth will out...
"live by the sword, die by the sword"
7
The funny--maybe sad--aspect about the article is what it says about the royal family: As the UK rips itself apart, the only peep out of the House of Windsor: "don't play this video game."
4
@Scott Cole the House of Windsor does not comment on social issues, political ones, or anything else. It is not their place.
6
@Mary - how is Harry's comment not related to a social issue?
I guess I am a dinosaur. I've never played video games, although I've certainly had many opportunities. All I can say is what is the scientific literature on the subject? Does it have developmental consequences? If there are proven harmful consequences I say ban them in their entirety for children under the age of 16. If not, well, I guess impose whatever guidelines are appropriate.
Childhood has become immensely complicated since the 1960s. A parent has to worry about strangers kidnapping their children. Online menaces that include predatory adults as well as bullying children. There is internet porn, and everything else that is evil on the internet. There are now very dangerous drugs, synthetic heroin et al that can kill you and your children. All of this must be bifurcated from childhood.
So video games are just one potential danger among too many too count. Frankly, I don't see the point of what appears to be an intellectually useless exercise. However, I am a dinosaur. I would prefer my children, if I had them, to watch classical music on You Tube, take online education courses and when they are teenagers all of those fine and free college courses including those from Coursera and EDX. Of course, once again, what do I know?
6
@Yankelnevich
-----"A parent has to worry about strangers kidnapping their children. "
Actually, they don't. Kids are safer now than ever (way safer than when I was growing up in the 60 and 70's, statistically wise), and the kidnappings are normally from family members.
It is the mass communications that is making people fearful for no good reason. A kids greatest danger is from people who know them.
7
Four children in this house between 10 and 18. YOu can imagine the amount of Fortnite that takes places. This happens to be spring break. Last year we went to Paris; this year everyone stayed in and played Fortnite. (Had we gone somewhere they would have played it anyway.) There is comfort and perspective in what you say.
1
@Dan- So maybe the parents take the kids to Paris and we don't play Fortnite. Not that difficult and the time spent as a family communicating and having life experiences has much more value. I fondly and vividly remember my family trips to, enter destination, decades later and darn if I can remember anything I ever accomplished in a video game. Maybe it's time to be a parent.
6
@Dan. How sad!
1
Our son has special needs and this evil game has ruined his formally, productive happy life. He never sees friends at all, never speaks to his family and, constantly prodded by the manipulators of the game, has stolen over $1000 from us (his family) to spend on "skins". It took the police to figure it out since we couldn't believe our loving son could be so morally and emotionally wrecked so quickly. He's now headed to a rehab and our family is devastated.
This writer should be ashamed.
166
@keith While I empathize with your situation, how much of the blame should be allocated to the creators? I believe your answer would be all of it which is fair given your circumstances, but I would argue in most cases parents should not blame a game for the lack of control over their children. Everything in moderation, Fortnite has been a tremendous social platform for kids.
10
@Dave. I think the problem is that the game is specifically created to make moderation very difficult. And most people's anecdotal experience is that, indeed, people and especially kids are having trouble moderating themselves with it, and when parents try to moderate it, an ugly side comes out that makes the parents wary of what's going on.
22
@Dave The game is created to addict children and encourage them to steal money. Kids with special needs are particularly vulnerable. Our child has always been impulsive, but was happy, polite and engaged in life, sports, family. In a few months all of that has ended. He has threatened to hurt us and himself when the game is taken away and he means it. None of this happened before fortnight.
I am certain this was exactly the level of addiction the creators hoped for. They sure got it. I hope they are enjoying their bloody billions.
25
Jeez! All of this handwringing and idealized versions of childhood many decades ago...
Not every kid was gallivanting through the fields and streams or playing stickball in the alley with the gang. Some kids were bullied and humiliated or simply didn't like sports. Autism and ASD didn't just spring out of the ground. There have always been kids who were outliers or lacked the social skills to be a part of the neighborhood gang. I guess those were the kids glued to the TV after school or who sat in their rooms, simply miserable.
Thanks to the online gaming platform, the social field has opened up quite a bit since the 70s and 80s. As a special educator, I can tell you that many children who would have had no social network or friends pre-internet now have an entry point and a way to fit it. Kids who are social and athletic and popular are still that way. But, maybe kids who were completely isolated in the past are a little bit less so thanks to games like Fortnite.
4
I’m a father. When my son comes home and tells me his friends are in the TV I’m handing him a ball and telling him to go outside.
47
@Jason, Better: Go outside WITH him.
1
Fortnite has allowed my son to integrate into a new school, connect with kids who would otherwise never encounter him, learn the common vernacular and make social connections that were elusive in this hyper-scheduled world that now dominates childhood.
Like everything, limits and boundaries are necessary. Time constraints work. But, even better, it causes alarmed parents to inspire their kids away from screens, rather than litigate them away from video games.
Video games also provide a cognitive puzzle for kids to continuously solve, using practice, technique (in the realm of Fortnite, cooperation amongst players.)
If you look at a gymnast on a beam, they may look at ease, but balance requires every muscle in the body. This is the same with balance in life. Why in the world would anyone that this should be easy to navigate? When in human history have major changes been without consequences?
Fortnite is not evil. Codependent parenting is. Rigidity is. Willful ignorance is.
Probably the biggest risk of video games is posture. If you want to nag your kid, tell them to sit up straight.
12
The ought makes a good case for engaging with our children to discover what sort of entertainment attracts them and why and to try to share some interest in what our children are doing, rather than criticize, control or ban activities based on limited knowledge.
However, she glosses over the fact that this particular game, Fortnite, has as its foundation, the objective to murder people. Until or unless my children discover (or create!) video games that do not have murder and/or destruction as their goal, I will continue to encourage other forms of entertainment.
9
@LD My British mother came to America in 1949 and raised three sons. For the longest time she would not even allow us to own toy guns. Eventually she relented. But then she was appalled at the fact that every Saturday morning the three boys would put on their toy pistols, strap on their rubber knives, and shoulder their toy rifles. Then they would go out and play with all the other young boys, similarly equipped, with the intent of "killing" each other. These battles would last for hours. This was in the 1950's in Los Angeles. All three sons grew into men who never owned guns and never went shooting or hunting. I think this is typical.
4
@Colin Barnett I agree there is a possible inconsistency in my argument. My brothers and I played "cops and robbers" and otherwise ran around with some version of "bang, bang you're dead" (with or -- usually -- without toy guns). All of us (as well as our friends) are well-adjusted, non-violent adults. Are murder and quests to kill on video games any different than the sort of games we sometimes played/
I think they are different in three ways:
i) Many video games are much more realistic than "bang, bang you're dead" using a pointed finger as a weapon, or perhaps a plastic snap gun and, as such, can desensitize people (young and old) from what is actually being simulated
ii) video games are much more immersive, much more compelling. more addictive and potentially more time consuming than backyard games
iii) for most people, backyard "shooting" games are a short phase of childhood and do not carry on into teenage, college or adult life
If one can avoid the addiction and can vary entertainment with other activities (social, athletic, musical, academic, etc) than you are correct that perhaps the violence of many video games does not necessarily lead to long-term negative behaviours.
4
@LD I had not thought about the issue carefully enough. I agree with all three of your differences between childhood playing and video games. You could be correct that the video experience has a more lasting effect.
So interesting to read Jennifer Seniors take on her kid's relationship with the game and her largely positive spin on how she has reached to a detente with her boy's Fortnite play, and the many comments about what our culture is loosing by embracing this form of entertainment.
Does the Dr. Strangelove reference in the article's title seems to hint at a conclusion that differs from her "all is well" stance? As our kids hurtle down to their islands to play at last man standing with their friends; and as we condone this, we all actually riding down, whooping and waving our hats, like Major Kong, toward the demise of a more pastoral, world, where people relate to each other in real space?
What's true is that we can not recall that last bomber, even if we wanted to. These games are part of our culture and are here to stay. My sense of how to approach this goes back to parents doing the hard work of establishing boundaries with kids around how to structure their time. We need to accept that there are very compelling aspects to the game, and that most kids will need help creating a balance between game play and other parts of their lives. This is a microcosm of the broader developmental tasks that all children need to go through, on their way to adulthood. I know that this is easier said than done, but is there really an alternative?
Showing interest in, and then helping guide what a kid is fascinated with, will probably be more helpful than trying to invalidate the interest.
3
I will never understand why parents encourage their kids to be obsessed with video games. They literally take over a kids life and it's the lens through which they process their life experiences. I was at a relative's son's high school graduation last year and the salutatorian spoke for 15 minutes about the life lessons he learned from Fortnight. All the time spent on studying, extracurriculars, etc and the best he could come up with was Fortnight. If I were his parents I would've demanded my tuition money back.
11
Kids should be outside getting fresh air and exercise and should not be allowed to have cell phones or play video games. End. Of. Conversation.
An entire generation of obese, sedentary, socially inept individuals with nanosecond attention spans has been spawned as a result of technology and lazy parenting.
32
Some kids can handle fortnite, some can’t. I generally think if they beg and plead with you constantly to play it, destroying the peace in the house and unable to come up with an alternative way to spend their time...well, then, they aren’t ready.
14
I have been a gamer since I was young. As an adult, I quickly moved into this new thing called D&D. I became part of a small group running an annual gaming convention. I joined World of Warcraft very soon after its release, I even created an account for my teenage daughter to play. I am now retired (after being a business programmer and high school history teacher) and I still play.
All of this does not mean that I eschew social interactions. I was part of another small group that put on bimonthly Victorian dances with hundreds in attendance, including teaching a pre-dance, two hour workshop. I have worked in theatrical productions almost every year. And I was a union rep for my teachers union.
When I was a youngster, no one decried the time people put in collecting baseball cards, or coins, or stamps, or comic books, or Coke bottles. Online games like WoW, Fortnite, League of Legends usually have more social interactions in them than any of those collection activities. And many of these online games demonstrate the advantages of working together to accomplish a goal, and of perseverance in chasing those goals.
So to Ms. Senior, I say “hurrah” for learning about something that your son enjoys and engaging with him and it to find much of the positive in the experience itself.
11
Before I retired earlier this year I worked with scores of young people in their early to mid 20s who grew up on these sorts of video games. They shared in common many traits: discomfort with direct eye contact, inability to accept constructive criticism, a sense of entitlement and a very strong need for immediate gratification.
It seems to me that the author of this column is attempting to rationalize her doubts about what this game is and what will be its impact on her son. I remember how hard it was to impose restrictions on my kids, but now that they are well-adjusted young adults, I am glad I did.
221
incredibly accurate description of video game culture and the way it affects young men.
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@Arthur
I forgot to mention another trait, applicable to boys and girls: a propensity to stare down at their iPhones while walking in the halls, crossing crosswalks, into elevators. Presumably so much easier for them than to risk saying hello.
35
In my elder son’s generation the video games had the same negative connotation. He and his cohort bonded in their obsession with the game. He’s got a doctorate in Occupational Therapy, his buddies in video games are all likewise successful well adjusted drug free thirty somethings. In my generation we were supposed to fail because we were anti social wanted to overthrow the society etc etc. every generation seems to have a cohort that is convinced their approach to life is the only solution and is convinced the following generation is bound for failure.
5
I think all teenagers must go on a Vision Quest. That will stop the cycle of mindless consumerism.
2
@Mogwai Native American Vision Quest is normally only undertaken by males (although Vision Quest in English is an umbrella term). Some Native American leaders also state that people who are non native engaging in Vision Quests is cultural misappropriation.
10-15 years ago parents worried about their kids drinking, driving, taking drugs and getting each other pregnant. Has anyone wondered why kids don't do that anymore? All I'm hearing is more complaining.
Also: What in the world is Gchat?
4
@Adrian -----"Google Talk was an instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service is colloquially known as "Gchat", "Gtalk", or "Gmessage" to its users. Google Talk was also the name of the client applications previously offered by Google to use the service."
Google is your friend to look stuff up.
@Mary My point was that no one uses GChat, contrary to what the article says. Even your quote says so (note the past tense).
I think before this article was published there should have been more research applied to not base the content only on the experiences of your child. By mentioning your child browsing the item store you missed one of the biggest threads of today's succeeding games which is the free-to-play aspect. Free-to-play means you can download games like Fortnite Battle Royale or Apex Legends for free but are invited to buy character or weapon skins which are pretty expensive. The rising appearance of streamers on Youtube and even more on Twitch (where you watch popular players in real time) are the main resource for companies that publish free-to-play games, because these streamers always buy the most expensive skins, creating a need for the casual gamers to be (as you mentioned) like the streamer by purchasing these skins as-well. This is maybe the biggest thread to young players for which this seems to be the best alternative to spend their money on.
I myself am a university student and have a lot of fun in playing battle royale games with friends and fellow students. This fun is definitely a thread because it makes other activities less attractive. As a grown-up I luckily know this danger and can actively handle it and I think my social activities aren't affected by gaming, because I still meet my friends in person (and all of my female friends don't play). But for a casual evening after university, playing Fortnite with friends is way better than consuming the trash on TV.
6
@Johannes
Thank you for bringing up Fortnite's item store, I think a lot of the discussion here about the dangers of the game is misplaced when the real reason for scrutinizing Fortnite is Epic's psychological trickery in getting players- including vulnerable underage players- to spend a great deal of money on an ostensibly free game. We should be criticizing Epic's business practices in this discussion, not going over tired arguments about the merits of video games versus other activities. I wish the article had focused on this more, and think your comment is on the right track.
1
I remember when my kids were young, and all we had to worry about / get used to were scrapes, bruises and cuts from playing outside.
9
I teach college art courses. All of my students are familiar with computer culture. However there seems to be a divide: some only occasionally dabble in video games, and some are deeply committed to Fortnite, and a handful of other (usually violent) fantasy games. Here is the distressing part: the gamers tend to be less engaged with their fellow students. They devote less time to their homework. They make art work that is about (surprise!) things they've seen on video games. In other words, their work is derivative, lazy and utterly stale. It is a pattern I've seen time and time again. I wish I could shrug it off as just a natural generational shift, but I find it much more troubling than that.
132
I have seen similar things in a K-8 school setting. I STRONGLY urge people to look up the ABCD brain research study and read about how the researchers notice differences between the brains of kids who have a lot of screen time and those who don’t. As parents, it is not our job to be “cool” and let things happen. Teen brains literally are not developed enough to make good choices, and they desperately need an adult to help them make the right choice.
32
@Maine Dude...Seems most teachers agree with you..I've never heard of a Game Inventer or Champion Player become a famous household name. People who spent hours.. many times alone.. trying to accomplish something.. often eventually became well known athletes, musicians, artists, craftspeople etc. Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Eddie Van Halen, and Norm Abrams are just a a few examples making my point.
3
@Maine Dude
Thank you for putting one more puzzle piece in place.
Parents please listen to the teachers (at every level) and take their phones away and hide their ipads. Yes your life will require you to interact with your kids and engage in conversation much more frequently, but you have to be more meaningful to them than a screen.
Just wondering why all these survivalist games, TV, sports and maybe even politics? I think it’s the American way gone mad. Our currrent President is about winning, even if winning may bring about the ultimate destruction of this country and the world. They hate “socialism”.....people working together to help one another. Winning is a sickness in these country and at the end of the day we’ll all be losers if we don’t change.
16
@Roscoe the online gamers are playing with others from around the globe. This is not only an American thing ,but maybe it is a developed world thing.
I noticed the same thing when my boys were young. Once the games evolved from single player, you-against-the-machine into group efforts, the kids were interacting with each other---with people from around the world. My one boy would be on his headset w kids from across the country and across the sea. This was a kid who had trouble being around and talking to people in person but he made friends easily online.
And let's not be quite so rosy eyed about the good old days. When I was a boy we ran around the woods with sticks playing "Army" pretending to shoot each other and arguing about who "got" who and who had to play the heroic warriors of the emperor or the stalwart defenders of the fatherland (we used quite different terms back then). Same doggone thing.
14
To sum up. The game is good because:
--It's less gory.
--It is inherently social. involving an "actual" place that is safer than where uptight parents aren't letting their kids go to anyway.
--It's better than Facebook
--Parents who complain about how habit forming it is are merely hypocrites because adults are the pathological ones.
--Youtube is worse.
...I don't know. Not very convincing. Maybe we aren't asking the right questions.
Is there anything more productive, creative, interesting to be doing?
Is a virtual, "actual", social place better than an actual, actual, social place?
Is it good that otherwise our children's lives are hyper-organized and scheduled? or that they don't have the freedom anymore to go outside and play with their friends in the street?
We are over-protective and keeping our children inside, so we might as well let them play social video games?
Maybe it's just me but something seems weird about this.
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@ETC
Yeah, the Fortnite GOOD /YouTube BAD equation is an ignorant one.
People with addictive tendencies get addicted to things. Tweens and teens are even more sensitive to these kinds of addictive schemes and access should be monitored if possible.
Interesting take, but it seems to take as a given that "Middle-class children today don’t have much freedom to find such places. They’re rigidly scheduled and aggressively sheltered " Um, so, how about NOT doing that? If we're not raising our children in that paranoid, awful way, I, for one, don't see the benefit of socializing around violence and apparently adult-driven selfish, destructive behavior. Seems a bad place for my kids to be...
24
How about "Activity you thought was bad and time consuming actually is not so bad in moderation since it is predicated upon social interaction and less isolating than your traditional video game" and let it be at that.
I think much of this stress is overwrought.
The opportunity cost is a great point though -- around that age inquisitive kids tend to start asking about the world -- history/politics/current events. If they are playing video games and not taking in that it can be sad trade-off -- not one that will destroy their psyche or social development but just a sad trade-off.
And, you know what? There are still kids around that age that love to read about history and read the op-ed pages even and learn about things from talking to grown-ups. Your own personality matters so much. I (late 30s) was playing basketball at my neighborhood court and a 11yr old kid was playing too and we started talking about how the Ebola epidemic was going to be contained when that happened -- he just sort of asked me about it. I was blown away by how much that kid knew about it.
He might have played video games a lot, he might still be into Fortnite, but it didn't consume him -- and I walked away thinking he might be a scientist, aid worker, politician, or corporate executive who does something to rid us of that virus.
5
If you like your kids annihilating players with various semiautomatic weapons, then I guess Fortnite is a good use of their time. It sounds like this author couldn’t stop it, so she joined it. That’s one way to deal with it, I suppose. Seems lazy to me, though,
A major problem with the game — aside from the violence — is the extent to which users become obsessed with it. I would submit this advice to parents who are currently struggling to reclaim their teenage sons, as it has been somewhat effective for our family: restrict access to weekends only, not on the phone, earned only when grades have met a certain standard; 90 minute max at a time, then do something active or read/do homework; try desperately to do things together as a family: go for a hike, go to the grocery store, go out for coffee, walk the dog. Fortnite doesn’t have to take over, but it can when parents get complacent.
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"Fortnite is its own social network. It’s Facebook for a new generation of adults — and tweens, like my son."
Quite sure the last thing we need is another Facebook. Recommend reading reading Zucked by Roger McNamee.
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@Jeff Freeman Amen!
What a waste of time and one that depletes the will forces in a child while pretending to do the opposite. This is also why the obtaining of a driver's licenses, that mark of your sixteenth birthday, is now being postponed until the early twenties . Why visit your friends in person when you can meet in an electronic world. Why exercise when you can instead perform a facsimile of exercise. Why restrict the amount of time spent on the game when you can instead join your children and be their friends. As a teacher, I get writing samples that are based on these games, children who forfeit on their imaginations and simply write a fortnight scenario. It should be no surprise where the low-information voter comes from
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@Buoy Duncan
Great comment. Something bad is happening to our society. I hate to blame it on the internet, but the latter is seductive beyond all measure.
23
@Buoy Duncan I really don't want to offend you but do you not think not having experienced battle royale games in a community of friends or having read scientific papers about this topic makes you a low-information commentator?
10
@Buoy Duncan
I teach first grade and have students who are unduly connected to their devices. Last year I had to "ban" talking about video games or writing about them in my classroom.
Here's the salient point: these same children would play with simple wooden blocks and old match box cars during indoor recess. We had to take turns for who was going to get to play with the blocks.
Parents: if you take the devices away and get through the "detox" period, you will get your children back.
20
Technology, specifically computers/internet/video games/social media, good or bad for society?
It seems to me in widest view most human beings have disliked living in a state of nature, have always been at odds with the natural world, and no matter the curiosity of human beings it appears politics/economics, power/society, has removed humans from a state of nature in about as profound sense as we place animals in a zoo; we place animals and ourselves in a situation we declare is better, more safe than the natural world but it amounts to determining how much we can make most any animal happy with the least amount of effort.
Relatively few humans in any age like books, want to know, dream of having a complete blueprint of society and nature and seek to transcend themselves, and power certainly has always been at odds with such humans, which leaves most people and power calculating and manipulating each other to determine where and how and when a person can be made content with his or her lot, a determination of human limits not so much so we can break them but to contain humanity, have the perfectly run zoo which is an improvement on nature.
It's shocking to have heard of all the promise of computers, internet, etc. only to find that with each passing day you're becoming attached to something which is perhaps even more effective than walls, physical barriers to keep you in place. Imagine a caged gorilla so engrossed with a computer game it never notices its cage is gone.
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@Daniel12 I really enjoyed your comment. Very insightful. As a 20 year old in college, I see something interesting. I think that video games can be addictive, like I was for a while. And the players don't realize that they are becoming addicted to such things. What really intrigues me is the affect people have from modern isolation doesn't only come from videogames. The attention span effect and search for instant satisfaction comes from technology itself. People that don't play video games are isolated in their phones. I don't know. I think that there is a need for educating the youth on how technology can be used. How it can be abused. It should not be something we veer the youth away from since technology inevitably is shaping our society. But that doesn't mean we can not educate people on how to use the technology. The biggest problem with technology is entertainment. For example being able to read the news so quickly on our phones wasn't as feasible if we would tried fifteen years ago. One would need a laptop. I think that the subject of importance in our society is the use of technology for entertainment. It is a communication tool, education tool, but at what point does the entertainment part create the idea that technology is only for entertainment? With educating people on technology it will leave consumers more aware of their purchases and their use. It should not be up to the companies to educate us on healthy tech use, not just for the youth but for everyone.
2
It seems like the comments are filled with concerned parents who haven't actually played online videogames.
As someone who does regularly, let me assure you: videogames will not be the cause of your child becoming "less social" or "more violent". Me and my friends would be quick to point out we've never felt the urge to fly to an island on a bus, jump off with a pickaxe, and take out others we may find there.
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@I actually play videogames
"My friends and I......"
5
@I actually play videogames I agree about the violence part. It's a game not a real life sim or anything like some make it out to be. I also played many videogames until recently I decided to quit completely. But the problem many people aren't really pointing to is the fact that some younger people and many adults as well, don't realize the effect technology has had in our society. I think the focus should shift on if videogames are are bad or not. Everything in excess is a problem when it interferes with one's daily life. That is true for videogames, work, social media, water, carrots. I think the focus should be on educating people that technology is not harmless. We shouldn't leave it up to the companies to educate us on how tech affects us physically, emotionally, or anyother way. We as a population should focus on understanding how technology is good and how it can be of productive use. It is also for entertainment. And the problem exists since whenever I'm walking around campus, most students are addicted to their phones, for "social purposes." It is a problem we need to address as a society since our tech use has been deemed as normal by most in my generation.
3
As others note...when I was young..in the 70's...we played multiple sports in the neighborhood all in the same day. Baseball in the morning ..Soccer in the Afternoon..Football. Basketball...Street and Ice Hockey. Built Forts in the Woods,made Models...oh and then there was ..Fishing which kept us out of the house so long we had to be warned to make it back in time for dinner !! Then there was the paper route I had that took some time and effort. At night many times I would have trouble sleeping. My leg bones would ache so much from all the running around . I haven't seen anyone skate on a pond in decades..much less fish! Street Hockey etc....forget it! My father did not appreciate my basement modeling habit...he called it going to the Mole Hole! He'd tell me to get outside and get some exercise with the neighbors etc. I just can't understand the gaming interest...in kids and esp. adults ! As a kid I often wondered how my father knew how to work on his house,car etc..doing plumbing,painting,carpentry,gardening,and cooking .. amongst other things. Guess what it boiled down to is that....he wasn't playing games !
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@Dave First thing: When did you go to school, if your days were crammed with all that stuff? Did you do homework?
Second: A lot of kids aren't allowed to do that kind of stuff anymore. In order to just go skate on a pond, you have to have your own ice skates, which is not something many kids have these days. When do you see kids playing stickball or street hockey in an actual street? Pearl-clutching mothers would scream about how unsafe it is, and drag their children off into little plastic bubbles to protect them. Or the police would come by and take them to jail for potentially damaging property.
The world is a very different place now than when you were a kid, and it's not the fault of these children. The fault lies with people of your generation, who decided that children were no longer allowed to play outside because they might be kidnapped and were no longer allowed to have free time because they might not get into a good enough college.
I'm 31. I enjoy gaming with my friends on Xbox and I enjoy a night spent unwinding in front of the computer by myself after a long day of work. I also enjoy Yankee games, days spent in Prospect Park, and Coney Island. I was the last generation of kids who was allowed to "go outside and play" in the 90s. Kids younger than me didn't really get that; their parents were too afraid of kidnappers and germs to let their children be children. And now these same parents whine about how their kids play too many video games. Go figure.
15
@Samuel...Generally the neighborhood sports we played went year round but the multiple sports, ,fort building etc. were mostly done in Summer during school vacations.Paper route was year round including during school..I was 8 or 9 when I started.I got the route from a high school neighbor who was moving away.I had to pin the loop on the paper bag because it nearly dragged on the ground due to my small stature. I was told I was too young and forbidden to get the route by my parents..but I didn't get an allowance and wanted my own cash so I took it ! Got pretty good grades through school and went to college taking pre med courses though I quit and worked as an Electrician and eventually became self employed caring for Commercial Properties and doing office renovations etc. I learned the basics of 8 trades working 6 and 7 days a week off and on for over 30 years. Perhaps as my friend Raquel likes to say I'm a bit of a Multi Tasker. So are many of the others I've worked with for so long. Though none of us would recommend our work habits. I see your point though that times have changed..but in my mind not necessarily for the better . For example in my area...today.. fort making would be out of the question.Too many ticks and the risk of Lyme Disease etc. All older contractors I know have no fear of the upcoming youth.They lack experience and don't want to work as hard.Everyone complains ..all the kids want to do is stare at their phones. Kind of sad to me.
3
I also struggle with balancing my sons’ (interestingly my daughter doesn’t care to play) Fortnite habit. Personally, I don’t agree with the content nor do I like it. I also grew up playing outside, coming in when the street lights went on and all that. Those were glorious times that I value and look back upon with find memories. But I also realize that’s not my kid’s world. We live right in the middle of the city, there isn’t a park close enough for them to walk to on their own, there aren’t other kids on our block so when they are home their entertainment choices are limited. I have decided that what works for us is absolutely NO screen time during the week. Luckily, we instilled this rule prior to Fortnite so it isn’t a battle to uphold that rule. On the weekends he plays in increments, an hour and half while we go for a run or before soccer etc. then maybe another 2 hours while we chill on a cold night before dinner or something. What I’ve learned is to stop comparing my kid’s youth to my own. I do draw from my own experiences but I also realize it’s a totally different time and space and want to honor their youth with it’s own unique circumstances and not constantly compare it to our childhoods. I try and look at the big picture and remember that my kids play sports, are creative, social, do well in school, generally make good choices and are mostly pleasant etc. if any of those major traits should change then We will re-examine their Fortnite/screen relationship.
3
Jennifer hits on an idea that's been burbling in my brain since I, too, game.
When I was a child kids went outside and played with others in the neighborhood. We divided up into teams (without adult supervision) and made merry mayhem on each other. We caroused. We did everything kids back then did, and we knew the neighborhood better than the adults did. Why shouldn't we? It was our whole world at that time. Do you remember? Sure you do.
But in these days of worried, obsessive, parenting ,heightened by the histrionics of modern media. the idea of allowing a child to go out and experience such as what we did is almost a taboo. In fact we even have a term for it if we do; free ranging your child. These days god forbid there might be a child running around loose. When did we get this way?
So kids, being kids, now do the same thing we did only now the neighborhood is digital, and global. A virtual Universe that allows them to engage in exactly the same way as you did as a child.
I will pass no judgement on whether this way is good or bad. It's only to say that kids will always be kids, and part of their development as social beings will be to explore relationships with each other, in whatever avenue and venue is available to them.
So loosen up parents and adults. The kids will be fine. After all, you didn't turn out so badly did you? ;-)
John~
American Net'Zen
18
@John Exactly. Nowadays, parents get arrested for telling their kids "go outside and play, I want you back here at 8 for dinner."
And yet these same parents, who created the atmosphere where every child must be wrapped in a protective shell, whine about how their kids never want to go outside and play the way they did as children.
2
Sure, let’s all sit in our rooms in front of our screens and make believe we’re searching for stuff on an imaginary island, with 99 people we’ve never met and likely never will meet. Let’s do it for hours and hours a week. When we’re not actually doing it, let’s talk about it incessantly. And while all of this is going on, let’s avoid human interaction, social skill development, nature, being a part of our physical communities, and making ourselves into better and more productive people.
I know I sound like the old man who tells kids to “get off my lawn”. But since kids don’t play on anybody’s lawn anymore because they spend all of their time on their couch playing Fortnite, you’ll need to find a different analogy.
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@Jack Sonville As someone who’s played various MMOs for 20 years, I can confirm that you sound a bit dismissive of what online gaming can offer.
I spent a good portion of my college years playing EverQuest, raiding dungeons with 54 people I’d never met. And yet... I did meet them. Some of the anonymous friends lived 45 minutes away. As a single woman, I took appropriate precautions when I met them the first time, in a public restaurant. They were unfailingly lovely guys, sweet, funny, and caring.
I joined a guild. Half of the members were European. While I was studying in the UK for a summer, I decided to go to Copenhagen to meet some of them. Other women in the guild had met them and didn’t die, so I gave it a shot. I found instant chemistry with one of the Danish guys. Long story short, after 14 years and two children, we’re still together. And we regularly visit our other guildmates in the UK.
As far as your concerns about social skills, community building, and being productive - gaming challenged fundamental notions I had about myself. Being a healer showed me I was far more empathetic than I’d given myself credit for. Raiding teaches organization, discipline, and teamwork. These are skills that are easily applied - and desirable - offline.
Gaming has taken me places that I never imagined, online and off - Budapest, Scotland, Copenhagen. It’s given me enduring friendships. It’s given me confidence. So, maybe you should consider trying more pew-pew and less q_q.
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@Celimene
I'm glad this provides you with joy and fulfillment, but something about it is also deeply sad.
9
@Jack Sonville One of my best friends from college, Tony, to whose children I am now "Uncle Sam" I met through playing World of Warcraft. I have a friend in Kansas who I regularly play Xbox with, who I've never met but I'm going to meet next month when he comes to NYC for a vacation.
Just because you don't understand how it works, doesn't mean that people can't create meaningful friendships and even romantic relationships through these games. It is a community where people must work with each other to achieve goals, where people have common interests that they can discuss. It's no different than any other kind of club, except your not physically right next to each other unless you choose to be.
If you don't think that you need to learn about social interaction and tact when you're part of an online community, you clearly have no clue what you're talking about. Maybe you should try actually learning about and experiencing a thing, before you start waxing poetic about how awful it is, and how lame the people that do it are.
9
Food for thought. My greatest concern is tweens hanging out with adults. Since when do adults allow their children (and tweens are children) to hang out with and be influenced by unknown adults. I’m sorry, I think parents need to step up and do the hard parenting and push for some age filters if such a thing is possible. Otherwise figure out a way to keep your kid away from adults they don’t know. And why would you let your kids watch YouTube and again join in community with unknown adults? A game focused on hunting other humans sound bizarre to me but that is not my biggest concern.
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@Kathleen
Excellent point. Also, someone else's point about the focusing on killing other people. Yes, yes, presumably everyone knows it's a game, blah blah. But maybe the focus could be on completing a quest or building something (ala Minecraft) rather than eliminating 99 other characters?
16
Someday, someone will figure out a way to entertain people without pretending to kill people. It'll be really hard to do, it'll take a particularly creative and imaginative person, but it'll happen. Maybe a kid will do it. Meanwhile, kids will be kids and all we can do is try to show them enough other stuff to keep them occupied away from the screen, at least for part of the time.
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@James
Totally agree with this. Why does violence have to go hand in hand with fun? I know that violence in TV, movies and video games supposedly dont cause violent behaviour. Nevertheless the continual exposure to violence in all aspects of daily life cannot be the best example for behaviour for young people. I think if we really want peace on this planet we have to stop using violence as a form of entertainment.
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@James
The biggest, scariest, most exciting phenomena that humans deal with are sex and death. Most movies and literature for adults prominently feature at least one of these. For kids, we stick to death.
3
“As a mother, I’ve never been much of a calamity howler...I know enough about the history of childhood to understand that most new forms of entertainment are met with gales of protest that in hindsight seem ridiculous.”
As the child of a mother, whose adherence to the capitalist herd extended well into her approach to parenting, I know that my own thoughts about the physiological impacts of video games on the developing mind are both biased, and anecdotal.
Marshall McLuhan famously said that, “All media work us over completely.”
May the buyer beware. Also, a fortnight is two weeks. Words have meaning.
11
I could write a diminutive book on father/daughter Fortnite relationship dynamics.
The game is simply fun. I grew up on single/dual player Nintendo and Sega in which I played against the computer or played against a friend sitting next to me. Fortnite combines the elements of a great game (intuative gameplay, challenging and rewarding) and a new element for me that Senior highlights: social environment. True, most of the people I play with are essentially strangers, yet there is an odd satisfying instant bond that is created once we are teamed together, skydive off a flying bus while wearing surrealist costumes (skins), then go to war against 96 other people on a cartoon island. We small talk while waiting for the bus commenting on new costumes or updates or glitches. If someone is injured, I feel compelled to heal them if possible which is an altruistic element of the game. The game’s ebbing and flowing of action, then healing, then preparing, then action creates an incredibly satisfying experience. And would argue that although I may not be closer to being a top player, I am undoubtedly a more competent player in seasons 8 than season 4. And while I see my ceiling, I know I can continue to improve which I have proven to myself. Addictive, sure, because there is that poker type element of flopping a full-house when I get the best weapons or hit an unbelievable shot. But that unpredictability creates those “Wow” moments and “I hate this game” on the receiving end
13
Exactly. It's just a fun game with a simple premise. It isn't nearly as graphically violent as tons of other games.
2
Great article, but a little late, the kids have moved on.
It was a fun because kids played together each from their own home.
Judging from my own kids, (early teenage) there are no good games around now; Which could not make a parent so glad, back to hanging out at school games/sports and biking around after school.
2
My boys play these games. I'm fine with that.
The problem I have is that far too much of the gaming world mistreats women, mistreats the very idea of women. My daughter has made that VERY clear.
This can be addressed. My daughter saw to it that my boys are not doing things like that, and don't play with those who do.
I lent my voice to that effort, since Dad's declaration that someone is . . . well, bad enough to laugh at, has a real effect. No boy wants to be the thing his Dad will insult and laugh at, and his sister says is worse (in a very bad way).
Not every family has an older sister participating with real strength, nor a father who is aware of the game ("aware" as in daughter ready to say Daaad!).
This aspect of Fortnight and other games needs to be cleaned up. That part is unhealthy for our boys.
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@Mark Thomason Yes! My husband who came from a family of 4 boys learned early on that our only two children, both daughters, had a lot to say. And, "Dad, you better listen."
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@Kathy Lollock -- In my experience, it is very common that Dad is so charmed by his daughters, and so protective of them, that it would never be possible that he wouldn't listen. I've often enough seen that with nieces too.
I confuses me, how we can treat so many women so badly, when they are all someone's daughters and someone feels so protective of nearly every one.
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@Mark Thomason. “Unhealthy for our boys”? What about our girls? Do you really think that this will not affect girls and the women they will grow up to be?
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It is the opportunity costs of games like Fortnight that should concern parents. Children playing video games are children who are not doing all the other things that are, unarguably, more worthwhile than getting good at Fortnight, such as physical activity, face-to-face conversation, reading, homework, or learning practical skills. Certainly there are worse pastimes-- but there are many better ones. And increasingly, of course, their "pastimes" require far more of our childrens' time than their actual lives.
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@sd there are a lot of hours in the day. There should still be time for reading, homework, and practical skills. A lot of kids don't want to make face-to-face conversation (I sometimes didn't when I was growing up), which is very scary to introverts.
And sports? Certainly nobody could claim that Fortnite is worse than playing football? The whole world could benefit a lot from everybody being a bit less interested in sports.
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@sd yes, it is the opportunity cost — not doing more valuable activities instead — but also the corrupting power — being less willing to do more valuable, effortfull activities instead — of Fortnight that should concern parents.
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@sd "It is the opportunity costs of games like Fortnight that should concern parents."
EVERYTHING is an opportunity cost. Your assumption that these kids are not working hard in other areas is totally unfounded.
Besides, as more and more literature is now proving, PLAY (in all its forms) is a critically important part of youthful learning, even into adolescence. You cannot treat children like 'little adults' and expect them to 'train' all their youth in preparation for adulthood. Doing so will produce exactly the sort of broken young adults that grace college campuses across the Western world...
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