Is Fortnite violent?
In my opinion, the violence in
Fortnite is minimal. The game revolves
around gathering weapons and shooting
the opposing players, so there is some
level of violence, but the vibrant, color-
ful, cartoon feel to the game sets it apart
from games like Call of Duty. The vio-
lence contains no blood. Eliminating an
opponent is often celebrated by goofy,
light-hearted dances called emotes.
What Should I Be
Concerned About?
Three themes emerged when re-
searching parenting concerns related to
Fortnite. The game connects up to 100
players from around the world for each
match. Gamers have few options for
controlling who they are playing with.
Players can communicate through a
voice chat, as well as an onscreen text
chat. These communication channels
are unmoderated so profanity can be an
issue. Strangers chatting with your child
is another major red flag. The voice and
text chat are options that can be turned
off in the game settings. You may want
to consider disabling these features de-
pending on the age of your game.
Addiction was the second concern
raised by parents. The game’s design
uses rewards to encourage gamers to
play at least a few matches every day.
This is a common tactic in the gaming
community. The instant gratification
players receive by gaining a tier, pick-
ing up a new skin, or earning a Victory
Royale can be compared to the short-
term high felt from taking drugs. Re-
search studies in recent years led the
World Health Organization to declare
“video game addiction” an official
disorder at their annual conference in
January 2018. Younger players run the
risk of becoming addicted to the game.
Properly enforced time limits along
with parental supervision can be used
to avoid this in your household.
The final common theme was un-
intentional or uncontrolled spending.
Many parents shared reports of un-
authorized Fortnite purchases. Some
of these were innocent transactions in
which the gamer did not understand
the consequences of clicking purchase.
Other stories were not as innocent. In
some cases, the child knowingly chose
the instant gratification from the game
over the potential future repercus-
sions of their actions. This is one of the
many symptoms associated with video
game addiction. All the major gaming
systems, as well as smartphones, have
controls in place to avoid situations like
this, but if you don’t periodically check
your settings, unwanted purchases can
occur.
Opportunities
with Fortnite
Fortnite provides parents with a
fantastic opportunity to get children
talking about what’s going on in their
world. Here are some questions parents
can use as conversation starters:
● What’s your coolest skin? Is
there one you really want but
don’t have yet?
● What’s your favorite mode? Why
do you like that one?
● Do you have a preferred weap-
on? Can you show it to me?
● What tier are you?
● How many Victory Royales do
you have?
● Who is your favorite friend to
play with online?
● Would you show me how to
play?
Like it or not, Fortnite is an inte-
gral part of adolescent culture right
now. Take advantage of that. Use the
information above to make a connec-
tion with your young adult and get your
own Victory Royale!
Mike Daugherty is a husband, fa-
ther of three young children, author,
speaker, Google Innovator, and pos-
sible Starbucks addict. He is a certified
educational technology leader who has
served in a variety of roles through his
eighteen-year career in public educa-
tion. Currently, Mike is the Director of
Technology for the Chagrin Falls Ex-
empted Village School district in North-
east Ohio. As an IT director he has
developed creative, well thought out so-
lutions that positively impact teaching
and learning.
October 2018 WNY Family 49