Fortnite....Just....Fortnite

You may have heard of it. There is this game called "Fortnite". It's really popular for kids and Zach's friends have spent the year trying to get me to let Zach play it. I had one big reason for saying "no". It's rated T for teen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortnite_Battle_Royale

Developed by Epic Games, it was free to download on the Xbox from the Microsoft Store. You have to have Xbox live for it. But, we already had that so that wasn't a problem. It's rated T for teen because you fight, kill other characters, and apparently dance a lot. You can get it for other game systems too.

I asked other parents. A couple of other kids couldn't play Fortnite either. Parent friends of Zach's friends told me "when someone dies they evaporate and it's very addicting." So, my original plan was for Zach to get it when he was 11 and a half. But, he was allowed to play it on playdates.

But, a fortnite ago (ironically), I remembered something that I learned about developmental psychologist Erik Erikson. He classified pre-adolescence as being ages 10 - 13 and adolescence as ages 14 - 19. In reality, actual teenagers are playing games rated MA for mature audiences. Game makers know this and take that into account when creating games. Zach will be 10 in a month. A pre-teen in a month. T for teen games are made for pre-teens with the understanding that actual teenagers are playing MA for mature audiences games. Zach officially meets my developmental requirement for Fortnite.

But, we also had to consider the addictiveness factor. He can play it, but not enough to get addicted to it. The original plan was for 30 minutes for an entire weekend Friday - Sunday. He can also watch one youtube video of Fortnite games.

We downloaded Fortnite on Friday and through the weekend learned that he would need a little more then 30 minutes. But, I still wanted it to be one gaming session and that's it. So, we changed that. He can play for 45 minutes at some point, once, over the weekend. Weekend defined as Friday - Sunday. He also can still watch one youtube video of a gamer playing Fortnite a week. Yes, he sets the timer on his cell phone and has been excellent about doing that.

All of that came after a conversation with my mom. I was having trouble gauging what is reasonable. She pointed out that we were mostly playing Super Mario Bros. and Tetris on Nintendo 64. She never had to make a decision about a game like this. But, she thinks what we have laid out is reasonable.

It's important to be aware of what your kids are doing. It's also important to think about what is reasonable and not just agree to something because it is popular. Just because it's popular doesn't mean it should be. Zach still prefers Minecraft. But, after a year of "get your mom to get you Fortnite." He is finding those same friends aren't talking about Fortnite that much anymore.  He likes it. But, he doesn't like violence to begin with.