A recent post from a mom friend on Facebook read: “Is there a Mom’s Against Fortnite group I could join?!”
At first, I laughed off this post, as the joke it was intended to be. Then I started following the comments – all 61 of them!! I couldn’t believe how many parents took the post seriously and were really worked up about this game. More surprisingly were the number of parents who had no clue what happened in the game even though their kids play it all the time!
For those of you that don’t know, Fortnite is a first-person shooter game available on most gaming platforms. What gets most parental types revved up about the game, besides the fact that their kids never want to stop playing it, is the Battle Royale playing mode in which players seek to destroy every other player in the game to be the last player standing. For many, the lack of true enemies – zombies, bad guys, aliens – make this a dangerous platform not found in most games. It’s too much like the Hunger Games.
While I understand this concern, I am a parent of twin 11 (and a half) year old boys who are known to be late for supper in order to finish a round in the addictive game. Last week, I sat one of them down and asked him what he liked about the game and why he thinks parents should ‘lighten up’.
ME: So, Jack, you know that there are lots of parents out there who really don’t like Fortnite. Why do you think that is?
JACKSON: I think they don’t like the Battle Royale mode, but they worry too much. I mean, it’s just a game. I don’t want to go out and shoot people because of it.
M: Yes, but, they have some real concerns. Like that there are no real enemies in that mode. You just kill everyone you see without asking questions. Do you think about that when you are playing?
J: No, and lots of times I am playing with my friends or people I know. Seriously, mom, it’s just a game. It’s not real. Just like it’s not real when I play an assassin game and kill people in it. Bad guys or good guys, they are just characters on the screen.
M: But you do get frustrated with the game. You have had to take several timeouts when you were yelling at the screen. Do you think you get more violent with this game?
J: No, I also get mad when I don’t score a touchdown in Madden or lose a race in another game. And I get in trouble then too for acting that way. You tell me that I have to learn to control my anger and not be a sore loser. Everybody has to learn that. I have friends whose parents don’t ever say anything to them. They just keep playing and yelling. You and dad never let us do that.
M: So what would you say to these worried parents?
J: I would tell them that it comes down to being good parents. And that you can learn a lot in the game, too.
M: Like what?
J: You’ve never even played a round. Try it. Then you’ll know why I like it.
And he was right. I had a basic level understanding of the game concept, but I never actually watched him play and certainly never tried a round myself. So I took him up on his offer, and here’s what I learned.
First, his hand-eye coordination is incredibly better than mine. Jack could spot another player at unbelievable distances and could take them out with a single shot long before I even recognized what that tiny moving dot was!
Second, strategic thinking and logical processing are required to be successful at this game. While your objective may be to be the last player standing, your ability to quickly make decisions and determine a course of action are tested again and again.
Finally, the game has a violent premise, for sure, but I didn’t walk away worrying about my sons or whether they would be more violent for playing it. While Jack got frustrated with how he played or even with another player, he never expressed a desire to seek out that player or take that frustration out on something tangible.
The experience was enlightening. I was glad to have the conversation with Jack and to play a few rounds with him. I definitely think that this was a better way to understand the game and how it impacted my kids than reading some online comments.
Having achieved a top 10 finish in only my second try, I can also understand how the game becomes so addicting. Now if you’ll please excuse me, I need to go finish my round.
