A ‘Fortnite’ Education
But first, a little background on the game itself. In the most popular version of “Fortnite,” Battle Royale, your character drops from a floating bus onto an island with other players where the goal is to be the last survivor. You run through forests, urban landscapes and fields, collect weapons and health potions, kill other players, build structures, and dance.As one who spent several weeks playing the game, I can attest that the game speeds up your heart rate, makes you laugh, enables you to communicate with other people, and teaches you strategy—all within the realm of a fantasy world.
People play on the most sophisticated gaming platforms as well as their home computers and cellphones. I myself played on a cellphone.
A Time-Consuming Habit
Students play or watch “Fortnite” in the evenings, on the weekends, at the library, and even in class. According to a survey by financial education company Lendedu, the average player spends between six and 10 hours per week playing the game, with 7 percent of the respondents saying they play more than 21 hours per week. The average player also spends about $85 on the game, according to Lendedu.Ill Effects and Individualism
Society should also think about the health consequences of having children play violent video games for long stretches of time. In 2011, researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine performed an analysis of the brains of a group of men with low past exposure to violent video games. Half the group then played a shooting video game for 10 hours in a week, while the control group did not. When the researchers did a brain analysis after two weeks, they discovered that the group that played violent video games showed less activation in the parts of the brain that control emotion and aggressive behavior. According to the lead researcher, Yang Wang, “These findings indicate that violent video game play has a long-term effect on brain functioning.”Alternative Views
One should not be quick to blame video games for acts of violence; most children who play “Fortnite,” of course, will not re-enact the game in real life. Defenders have noted that “Fortnite” is more “cartoony” than other shooter games such as “Call of Duty” or “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.” That said, “Fortnite” still involves hacking other people with an axe or pointing your gun at them and trying to kill them. At a minimum, the game is not teaching young people to settle disputes with words.Finally, and most problematic, “Fortnite” trains children to think primarily of themselves and maybe a small circle of friends.
Threat to Democracy
An op-ed in Education Week argued that playing “Fortnite” “is very similar to playing army men in the woods and building forts.” This is, in my view, false. Playing with your friends in a forest building real things and using your imagination is one thing. Playing by yourself in front of a screen, building virtual things and manipulating ready-made images is another. You don’t have to care about, cooperate with, or talk with other people to play “Fortnite.”In “Fortnite,” the combat zone contracts as the storm pushes you into closer proximity to other players. That is an apt metaphor for the game. “Fortnite” shrinks your world so that you only think about the survival of yourself and maybe a few members of your squad.
“Fortnite” may not be the only violent video game that emphasizes individualism and survival. But given its current popularity and appeal on the planet, it pays to examine its effect on the individuals who will make up society as a whole.
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